Canada joins the hunt for rare earths to make chips — setting up a new mine takes 10-15 years, so it may be too late.

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Canada joins the hunt for rare earths to make chips — setting up a new mine takes 10-15 years, so it may be too late.

The ********* government released its ********* Critical Mineral Strategy Annual Report 2024, highlighting the progress and further plans the nation has made in expanding its mining industry to produce critical minerals, including rare earth elements. The

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says that Canada’s Critical Minerals Center of Excellence at Natural Resources Canada works “to identify and support strategic projects within the semiconductor supply chain.”

The report defines a critical mineral with a threatened supply chain and must have a reasonable chance of being produced in the country. Furthermore, it must meet one or more of the following criteria: it is essential to ********* economic and national security, it is needed for Canada to hit its net-zero target, and it allows the country to be a sustainable and strategic partner in the global supply chain. Currently, there are 34 critical minerals on the ********* list, but the following six are a priority for the government: lithium, graphite, nickel, cobalt, copper, and rare earth elements.

Rare earth minerals are used to make the latest chips, but, as their name suggests, they’re not as abundant as other minerals like silicon or iron. The ongoing tensions between China and the rest of the Western world have even moved the former to tighten export controls for its supply of these crucial elements, leading to increased pricing of these products. This has led other countries like Australia to find alternative sources for these products to help alleviate the supply crunch and keep semiconductor production going. Aside from this, lithium, nickel, and copper are also crucial elements in producing EVs and the battery technology they require.

However, one industry executive says this move is too little, too late for Canada, noting that putting up a new mine in the country takes at least 10 to 15 years owing to strict regulations. CMC Microsystems CEO Gordon Harling said in his personal capacity that the U.S., China, and Australia already have a head start in production and are “much less likely to slow things down for environmental reasons” compared to Canada. He added, “The other fly in the ointment is that a new battery chemistry could show up at any moment, which eliminates the need for lithium.”

Despite that, there is still a growing global demand for these elements, mainly because we rely on them to produce our next-generation technologies. Just as humanity once relied on bronze and iron to advance, we now rely on these critical minerals to move our society forward. Global geopolitics’ threat to the supply chain for these crucial elements means we need as many resources as possible. This will help us avoid shortages like those we experienced during the height of the 2020 Global Pandemic.

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