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Saskatchewan Research Council (rare earths)
A Saskatchewan provincial Crown corporation building an integrated monazite processing, solvent extraction separation and NdPr metal smelting facility in Saskatoon, designed for about 400 t/yr of NdPr metal, with most output committed to REalloys under a five-year offtake.
Points to check
Facts from the sources on this page that a reader should weigh before relying on the company's own figures.
- The target for full operation has moved from end-2022 (Aug 2020) to 2027 (Dec 2025, Apr 2026).
- Through Dec 1, 2025, metal output was about 20 t of toll-smelted NdPr metal from client oxides; the integrated monazite-to-metal circuit has not been commissioned.
- In April 2026 SRC's CEO said one of eight stage-3 furnaces was operational.
- The capital budget rose from C$31M provincial funding at announcement (Aug 2020) to C$216.5M (Apr 2026), which SRC attributed to COVID, inflation and a larger scope.
- The monazite feed contains uranium and thorium, which SRC's CEO said required additional processing steps.
At a glance
- Founded
- 1947 — SRC was established by the Province of Saskatchewan in 1947 as a research and technology organization; it is a provincial Crown corporation. The Rare Earth Processing Facility was announced and construction began in August 2020.
- Headquarters
- Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada
- Ownership
- Owned by the Province of Saskatchewan (provincial Crown corporation); not listed.
- Stage
- Developing. A publicly funded integrated plant under construction (C$216.5M budget); toll smelting has produced about 20 t of NdPr metal since 2024, and commissioning of the full plant is targeted for late 2026 with ramp-up in 2027.
- Listing
- Government-owned. Saskatchewan Research Council, a provincial Crown corporation.
- Revenue
- Not publicly disclosed. This company does not publish revenue and no named third party has published an estimate of it.
Capacity
Each date below links to the document the figure came from. A capacity figure with no source is not on this page.
| What | Figure | Status | As of |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monazite concentrate feed (about 60% TREO), Saskatoon facility | 3,000 t/yr design feed | Under construction | Aug 2021 |
| NdPr metal, integrated facility | about 400 t/yr design output once fully operational | Under construction | Apr 2026 |
| NdPr metal after REalloys-funded expansion (SRC figure) | about 600 t/yr target (from about 400 t/yr) | Announced | Apr 2026 |
| NdPr metal, Dy oxide and Tb oxide after upgrade (REalloys figure) | about 525 t/yr NdPr metal, 30 t/yr Dy oxide, 15 t/yr Tb oxide (targets) | Announced | Aug 2026 |
| Metal smelting furnaces, toll conversion of client oxides to NdPr metal | 40 t/yr furnace capacity; about 20 t toll-produced to Dec 2025 (actual, cumulative) | Operating | Dec 2025 |
Narrative
The Saskatchewan Research Council (SRC), a provincial Crown corporation founded in 1947, began building its Rare Earth Processing Facility in Saskatoon in 2020 with C$31 million from the province; at the August 2020 announcement the plant was expected to be operational by the end of 2022. In July 2021 SRC procured up to 800 t of monazite concentrate from Indústrias Nucleares do Brasil (INB) and set the design feed at 3,000 t/yr of monazite concentrate (about 60% TREO). The integrated plant combines monazite processing, a solvent extraction unit with more than 400 SX cells, and metal smelting; the target for full operation moved to mid-2024 (August 2021), early 2025 (September 2024) and 2027 (December 2025). SRC produced its first rare earth metal ingots in 2022 and began commercial-scale NdPr metal smelting in summer 2024 under tolling agreements, converting clients' oxides to metal; in December 2025 SRC's CEO told the legislature it had toll-produced about 20 t, with furnace capacity of 40 t/yr. In April 2026 SRC gave a total capital budget of C$216.5 million (province C$187 million, SRC C$16 million, Natural Resources Canada C$13.5 million) and expected construction to finish around December 2026 to January 2027, with ramp-up in early 2027; SRC's website gives substantial completion in September 2026 and commissioning by December 2026. Design output is about 400 t/yr of NdPr metal plus Dy and Tb oxides. On December 8, 2025, SRC and REalloys signed a five-year offtake under which REalloys buys most of the NdPr metal and Dy and Tb oxides; SRC's CEO described it as 70%, rising to 80% after a REalloys-funded expansion from about 400 to about 600 t/yr, while REalloys gives about 80% of a targeted 525 t/yr of NdPr metal, 30 t/yr of Dy oxide and 15 t/yr of Tb oxide. In August 2026 REalloys said upgrade work would start in Q3 2026 and that it expected commercial intake from SRC in Q3 2027. SRC has also signed feedstock agreements with suppliers in South America and Africa and a 2024 memorandum of understanding with Arafura on toll processing of heavy rare earth material.
Where public sources disagree
- REalloys offtake share: the Government of Saskatchewan and SRC release of Dec 8, 2025 says REalloys will buy 'the vast majority of annual production'; SRC's CEO told the legislature on Apr 15, 2026 that it is 70%, rising to 80% after the expansion; REalloys' releases of May 26 and Aug 13, 2026 say 'up to 80%' and 'approximately 80%' of expanded output.
- Expanded NdPr metal capacity: SRC and the province give 400 rising to 600 t/yr (Dec 8, 2025 release; Hansard Apr 15, 2026); REalloys gives about 525 t/yr (May 26 and Aug 13, 2026 releases).
- Schedule: SRC's website gives substantial completion in September 2026 and commissioning by December 2026; the minister said in December 2025 that construction would finish in fall 2026 with commissioning in early 2027; SRC's CEO said in April 2026 that construction would finish in December 2026 to January 2027; REalloys (Aug 13, 2026) expects commercial intake in Q3 2027.
- Toll smelting rate: SRC's Sep 2024 release said the plant was ready to produce 10 t/month of NdPr metal, rising to 40 t/month by end-2024; SRC's CEO told the legislature on Dec 1, 2025 that furnace capacity was 40 t/yr and about 20 t had been toll-produced.
- Location of REalloys' heavy rare earth metallization facility built with SRC: SRC's Mar 12, 2026 posting says the equipment would move to Ohio after commissioning; Mining Weekly (Aug 14, 2026) reports it at Tooele Army Depot, Utah.
Sources
- SRC Rare Earth Processing Facility page — Saskatchewan Research Council (2026-10-16)
- Standing Committee on the Economy, Apr 15, 2026 — Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan (2026-04-15)
- Standing Committee on the Economy, Dec 1, 2025 — Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan (2025-12-01)
- SRC and REalloys sign partnership agreements — Government of Saskatchewan (2025-12-08)
- SRC and REalloys sign partnership agreements (SRC copy) — Saskatchewan Research Council (2025-12-08)
- SRC Annual Report 2025-26 — Saskatchewan Research Council (2026-07-01)
- REalloys Q2 2026 results (8-K Ex. 99.1) — REalloys Inc. / SEC EDGAR (2026-08-13)
- REalloys progress on SRC agreements — REalloys Inc. / GlobeNewswire (2026-05-26)
- REalloys heavy rare earth metallization facility with SRC — Saskatchewan Research Council (2026-03-12)
- REalloys fully funded for SRC upgrade — Mining Weekly (2026-08-14)
- SRC first to produce rare earth metals in North America — Saskatchewan Research Council (2024-09-16)
- Construction update (INB monazite, 3,000 t/yr feed) — Saskatchewan Research Council (2021-08-26)
- Province announces rare earth facility — Global News (2020-08-27)
- Additional provincial funding (C$20M) — Saskatchewan Research Council (2022-06-23)
- Arafura MoU with SRC — Arafura Rare Earths / ASX (2024-08-26)
- History of SRC: The Early Years (1947-72) — Saskatchewan Research Council
How this page is sourced
Everything here comes from public sources — company filings, annual reports, exchange announcements, government releases and trade press. Every figure is linked to the document it came from and carries the date that document was published, because a capacity number without a date is not a fact, it is a rumor with a decimal point.
What is deliberately absent: material nonpublic information. I have spent more than two decades in this industry and a good deal of what I know about these companies I learned under NDA. Those obligations do not expire and they do not bend for a website. Nothing I have been told in confidence appears here in any form, and nothing on this page — or missing from it — should be read as a signal about what I know privately. I hold NDAs absolutely. It is the reason clients tell me things.
Judgment is the other thing left out on purpose. This page reports what has been published and who published it. Whether a target is credible, whether a ramp will hold, whether a capacity figure survives contact with the plant behind it — that is the work I do for clients, and it does not belong in a free reference page.
Where public sources disagree, I say so rather than picking a winner. Where a figure has not been published, the field says so rather than carrying an estimate. An empty field is information too.
Public filings tell you what a company has said. Whether it holds up is a different question, and the one I get hired to answer.
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