News

The NRCan CanmetMINING REE Research & Development Program has successfully came to a close in 2021.  We are grateful to have collaborated with so many brilliant research partners and stakeholders both in Canada and internationally throughout this program.  CanmetMINING would like to thank the REE Program Steering Committee for their time, leadership and insights in making this program a success.   

The CanmetMINING REE Program Achievements and Outcome Summary Report (french version here) is now available for download.  This report provides an overview of the program and the key advancement made. In addition, we have compiled all of the research conducted under the Program in a five-volume CanmetMINING REE Program Technical Report, also available for access under the Achievements and Reports tab within R&D, along with the 70+ research reports completed under the Program.

This program has been an excellent public-private collaboration that successfully gathered a critical mass of expertise and advanced the knowledge base of rare earths in Canada. Through technical workshops and meetings during this 6-year program, the Program has reached 404 REE stakeholders and formed a collaborative Canadian critical minerals network. The Program has contributed to furthering the development of the next generation of leaders to support the vitality of the nascent Canadian REE industry. CanmetMINING has collaborated with 27 Canadian research organizations in the advancement of REE Science, involving a total of 71 researchers and experts. In addition, 21 federal research scientists and postdoctoral researchers plus a 14 co-op students from various Canadian universities were equipped with scientific expertise in REE at CanmetMINING. Overall, 15 Made-for-Canada early-stage technologies for REE processing were invented and/or adapted to extract and recover REE competitively from Canadian resources. The Program has also generated 70+ technical reports and 45 peer-reviewed scientific publications. 

The need for producing and supplying critical minerals has become very evident in recent years. CanmetMINING is continuing the momentum built from the Program towards the establishment of an active and viable critical mineral industry in Canada through additional research directed by Budget 2021 and Budget 2022 funding.  We look forward to continue the collaborations with all stakeholders in the R&D of critical minerals.