Canada’s only rare earths mining company is pausing all construction at its Saskatoon processing facility.

Vital Metals said in a news release Wednesday the pause will allow the company to conserve cash and seek other sources of funding to potentially build a sustainable business model for the facility.

The company had planned to complete a calcine circuit that would produce an intermediate rare earths oxide product for potential sale to a third party, but it said it has been unable to secure such sales on “commercially satisfactory terms.”

It said a review of the economic viability of mining and processing ore at North T, a deposit in the Northwest Territories, has indicated “the scale of operations and associated unit operating costs will not achieve positive cashflow from the project.”

The company said it intends to retain Saskatoon employees as it conducts a strategic review, which is expected to take three months.

Prior to pausing construction, Vital Metals had deferred plans to complete circuits that dealt with rare earth hydrometallurgical leaching, purification and precipitation.

The company has spent roughly $19.7 million on the Saskatoon facility, which is half built. 

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