Mining company pauses construction on processing facility in Saskatoon

Canada’s only rare earths mining company is pausing all construction at its Saskatoon processing facility.

Vital Metals announced the pause Wednesday, saying it will allow the company to conserve cash and seek other sources of funding to potentially create a sustainable business model for the facility.

The company had planned to complete a calcine circuit that would produce an intermediate rare earths oxide product for potential sale to a third party, but it says it has been unable to secure such sales on “commercially satisfactory terms.”

The highly touted facility caught the attention of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who stopped for a tour during a recent visit in Saskatoon.

Vital Metals said it intends to retain Saskatoon employees as it conducts a strategic review, which is expected to take three months.

— With files from The Canadian Press