Cheetah Resources, the private company mining rare earths minerals at the Nechalacho project southeast of Yellowknife, is receiving a $1.26 million, interest-free loan from the federal government to purchase its high-tech ore sorter.
Cheetah recently announced the completion of a funding agreement with the Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency (CanNor) that will allow the company to buy a Tomra COM Tertiary XRT 1200/B sensor-based sorter, which costs close to $3.2 million in total.
“Cheetah will use the funding to demonstrate the environmental, technical, and economic advantages of single-step sensor-based sorting of rare earth ore to produce a value-added mixed rare earth concentrate in the NWT,” said David Connelly, a company spokesperson. “It is estimated that the project will create 22 jobs and expand and maintain seven others during the demonstration phase.”
The sorting device, manufactured in Europe, sits in a 12-metre shipping container. It takes in crushed rock on a conveyor belt where X-ray technology identifies the minerals that need to be separated. From there, a blast of air separates the minerals. No chemicals, reagents or processed water is used. No tailings or pollutants are left behind, according to Cheetah Resources.
The separated minerals are then bagged and shipped by barge to Hay River and on to a facility in Saskatoon, where the concentrate is cracked and leached.
Leftover rock can then be used for future stockpiling or potential infrastructure development, such as road construction.
The first mining blast took place at Nechalacho’s North T Zone in early May and sorting of the ore with the sensor-based sorter equipment is expected to begin this month. The process will continue until the end of the season, likely late October or early November.
Cheetah is projecting that its first shipment of rare earth concentrate will leave the site by barge in September.
“With mining underway, we are focused on ensuring the ore sorter is installed and commissioned for operation,” said Geoff Atkins, managing director of Vital Metals, Cheetah’s parent company. “We are pleased to receive support from the Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency which validates our strategy to create a low-impact rare earth production facility in the NWT that will generate significant Indigenous and Northern economic and employment benefits and establish the NWT as Canada’s first producer of these critical minerals that enable the green economy.
“CanNor’s support for adapting and adopting sensor-based ore sorting technology for the extraction of rare earths will result in a much smaller environmental footprint than would otherwise be the case,” Atkins said.
Cheetah has 10 years to pay back the loan.
Harold Cline, area sales manager with Tomra, stated that the company has provided more than 200 sorters around the world for precious metals, base metals, industrial minerals and diamond operations.
Thousands of others have been shipped for food processing and recycling, so the equipment isn’t rare.
“What is unique is the optimization of the sorter for each application, such as will be accomplished during commissioning of the sorter at Nechalacho, where we will work with material on site to achieve the sorting objectives as set out by Cheetah Resources,” he said. “Cheetah Resources has been a pleasure to work with because they have a well-defined business plan and direction.”
A perk of the device is the reduction of environmental damage it presents to mining projects, Cline said.
“Where it is applicable, sensor-based sorting can have a large impact on sustainability of mining operations,” he said. “Sorting can reduce the size of downstream operations, like grinding, reducing energy consumption and thereby also reducing the size of fine tailings generation.
“Water requirements for sorting are minimal. Also, by allowing mines to upgrade lower marginal-grade material, sorters can extend the life of (the) mine, meaning that the usable life of the same resource can be extended.”