Keeping Nechalacho’s Indigenous stakeholders involved in the mining project is “the single most important part” of Lisa Riley's new job as the CEO of Vital Metals.
“I think that natural resource projects in Canada — at the very least — should not go forward without substantial Indigenous engagement and, ideally, indigenous investment,” Riley said.
Australian-owned Vital Metals commenced operations at Nechalacho in 2021. The site, which sits about 100 kilometres southeast of Yellowknife, produces rare earth elements (REE), critical minerals used in electronics, green energy, automotive, aerospace, military defence and more.
Riley took the reins as CEO in July, replacing outgoing executive director Geordie Mark, who had been in his role for less than a year.
Vital’s work at Nechalacho had been bumpy up to that point. Perhaps the greatest drama involved the company’s plans to sell a 9.9-percent ownership stake — and all the resource it had extracted from the mine to date — to a subsidiary of Chinese rare earths company Shenghe Resources last year. Not only would that deal have strengthened China’s dominance in the rare earths industry, but little consultation with Nechalacho’s Indigenous stakeholders took place on the proposal.
It was that turbulent saga — among other things — that compelled Riley to pursue her current position as CEO.
“I joined the board of Vital in December of 2022,” she said. “I was sitting there for a while, watching how things played out — let’s put it that way.
“When we discussed who would get into the [CEO] seat, that was something I had thought about and was keen to do… I could bring some different things to the table.”
In the end, the federal government nixed Vital’s controversial Shenghe deal. In place of that deal, Natural Resources Canada arranged for Vital to sell its existing stockpile of 1,900 tonnes of bastnaesite ore to the Saskatchewan Research Council (SRC) for $3 million — more than the company would have received from Shenghe. That deal was a one-off, according to an SRC spokesperson, but also included funding "for SRC to create a new domestic capacity for bastnaesite processing."
Vital also seems to be doing a better job keeping Nechalacho’s Indigenous stakeholders apprised of what’s happening — in keeping with Riley’s comments about her priorities as CEO.
The project has five Indigenous stakeholders: the Tlicho Government, Deninu Kue First Nation, Lutsel K’e First Nation, Yellowknives Dene First Nation (YKDFN), and North Slave Metis Alliance (NSMA).
Back in January, NSMA President Marc Whitford told NNSL Media that Vital had gone silent on his organization, but it seems things have indeed changed.
"Right now, we're pleased with the communication that we've received in recent weeks," said Noah Johnson, the manager of NSMA’s environment department. "There was a bit of a pause for a while. I think they needed some time to kind of figure out what was going on on their end, but we've actually been engaging with staff from the project this fall and we're committed to creating a more regular relationship with more regular dialogue. I think it's going in the right direction.
"From my perspective, from what I've seen, I believe that they are taking a renewed and fresh approach to taking people's rights seriously," he added.
Vital is preparing to update the public on its dealings at Nechalacho at the 52nd Yellowknife Geoscience Forum, slated for Nov. 26-28. Before speaking to NNSL Media, Riley warned that she was limited in what she could say about the company’s plans before that event, but confirmed that the focus is still on Nechalacho’s Tardiff deposit.
At the moment, Vital is in the process of doing a “scoping study” of the deposit, according to the CEO — or “a preliminary economic assessment in Canadian terms.”
“Tardiff is a massive project with a massive resource,” she said.
The focus on Tardiff follows what she called a “false start” at the smaller North T deposit.
“North T — let’s call it a starter pit,” she said. “At North T, the resource is higher grade than Tardiff. It’s much, much smaller, but it is higher grade, so the concept of mining there first makes sense. The issue is that parameters need to be put around that. In order for that [pit] to be workable, we need to do some more drilling. We need to have a much clearer idea of how big the resource is, whether it's actually bigger than we think it is — which we think it might be — but we don't want to get to a position where we're making promises that we're not delivering on… So we are focused on the Tardiff pit and what we can do with Tardiff, because that's something we know."
As Vital forges ahead, Riley is adamant that the company still views Nechalacho as a worthwhile investment.
“This is the only project that we have,” she said, alluding to the fact that Vital was previously involved in mining projects in other parts of the world, such as West Africa. “I’m very, very excited about it.
“We’re feeling optimistic about where this is going to go.”
While YKDFN could not be reached for comment on Vital’s work at Nechalacho, Riley’s upbeat view about the project is shared by NSMA — albeit with a degree of caution.
"It's early to say, but I am optimistic," Johnson said. "At least more optimistic than we were in the past."
