At least three critical minerals companies in the NWT will have huge implications for Hay River in the coming years, attendees of the Yellowknife Geoscience Forum heard on Nov. 25.
David Connelly of Cheetah Resources’ Nechalacho rare earths mine, Jeff Hussey of Osisko Metals’ Pine Point zinc and lead mine and Robin Goad of Fortune Minerals’ NICO cobalt, gold, bismuth and copper deposit all spoke of the importance of Hay River’s existing barge, rail, airport and highway infrastructure for developing critical minerals projects.
All of the projects are either expected to operate within the next decade or are producing already.
NorZinc president and CEO Rohan Hazelton, representing the Prairie Creek lead, zinc and silver project in the Dehcho, was the only one of the four not to make direct ties to Hay River.
“The company has evaluated various options for trucking and rail, including Hay River/Enterprise, Fort Nelson and Fort St. John, ” Hazelton said. “Given our location, prior indications were to truck south versus east. However, we are still working on an updated feasibility study and all options will continue to be evaluated. Transportation economics can change over time, especially if there is a critical mass of volume or economies of scale.”
Cheetah Resources’ Nechalacho mine
Cheetah Resources, which has been extracting rare earths at the Nechalacho mine 100 km southeast of Yellowknife, was dependent on the Marine Transportation Services barging system to initiate its first shipment of ore this fall.
The ore is being further shipped by rail and truck for refinement at a Cheetah-owned facility in Saskatoon. From there, the product goes on to other separation facilities outside of Canada.
Connelly said Nechalacho, as Canada’s first rare earth mine, needs a secure supply chain to serve an emerging green economy, especially following Canada’s COP26 decarbonization commitments and to supply the demand for critical minerals in the West, providing an option other than China, which dominates the market.
The main mineral at Nechalacho, bastnaesite, is used in several “green” products, most notably for electric vehicles motors, Connelly said.
“Rare earths are critical for most technological developments, including the green economy and implementing the fourth industrial revolution,” Connelly said. “There’s been a ban or growing ban on internal combustion engines. Electric vehicle motors need rare earths and rare earths supply chains are currently controlled by a single country (China) as a brief summary of why they’re so critical. ”
He also spoke of the company’s practice of hiring and training Indigenous people, most notably for its ore sorter, and the mine’s low environmental impact as its operations involve no water, no chemicals and no tailings.
Perhaps most notable is Cheetah’s plan to expand to a nearby area of Nechalacho called Tardiff that will see years of production, if successful. The company recently received Mining Incentive Program funding from the GNWT to develop a mining plan for the expansion.
“Two kilometers from the Nechalacho camp is the Tardiff zone,” Connelly said. “It’s a multi-generational expansion opportunity. We’re looking forward to putting it into production in 2024-2025.”
Osisko Metals’s Pine Point mine
Hussey, president and chief operating officer of Osisko Metals, owner of Pine Point Mining Ltd, provided an update on his company’s development plans to reopen Pine Point for zinc and lead production.
He explained that the demand for zinc is growing sharply due to an anticipated supply crunch in the coming years.
“We anticipate a 35 per cent drop in North American zinc production in the next three years,” he said.
The Pine Point output will be key for a green economy and products related to construction infrastructure and conventional and electric cars, according to Hussey.
Another use will be for zinc air hybrid flow batteries or energy storage batteries, which help large structures like skyscrapers store and use energy created from renewable sources, such as solar or wind.
Hopes for Pine Point, when it reaches the operational stage, will be 200,000 tonnes of ore per year, Hussey said.
Like Connelly, Hussey pointed to the close proximity of Hay River and its infrastructure as being important for the mine’s success. He mentioned the double-lane highways, CN rail already in place and the nearby Taltson hydroelectric dam all as beneficial.
“With zinc and lead, it is high concentrate, so you have to get it out by rail,” he explained. “You can’t go by truck or any other method so rail is essential. We’re very happy we’re located so close to Hay River.
“The thing to remember with Pine Point is we have the critical mass. It’s a large deposit. We have the infrastructure which is needed for a project but we have premium high-grade concentrate, which really makes Pine Point a standout project and it’s being recognized globally for its potential.”
Fortune Minerals NICO deposit
Robin Goad, president and CEO of Fortune Minerals, provided an update on NICO’s cobalt deposit 50 km north of Wha Ti. The site would also produce bismuth, copper and gold.
He projected average annual production of 1,800 tonnes of cobalt units during the first 14 years of the 20-year mine life.
Cobalt is used primarily in rechargeable batteries but also has other diverse purposes including in cellphones, portable computers, electric vehicle batteries, superalloys, pigments and magnets.
While the Nov.30 opening of the all-season road to Wha Ti will benefit Fortune Minerals, which plans to build a 50-km spur road to the project site, Goad said the CN Rail line in the South Slave will be important in getting the product to the final refinery stage.
Following extraction, the mineral will be separated on site before the concentrate is shipped south.
“We then filter and bag our materials for transport to the refinery,” he said. It’s loaded onto gondola cars after trucking to Enterprise probably, but also possibly Hay River and then that material will be conveyed to a refinery site.
Goad said that a refinery site is still being finalized in northern Alberta, but he would not elaborate.