Toyota Inks Rare Earth Deal With Sask. Firm

Toyota Inks Rare Earth Deal With Sask. Firm

Monday, September 14, 2009 at 13:48

Officials from car giant Toyota are expected to be in Saskatchewan this week.

The Japanse auto maker has signed a 6-month deal with the Great Western Minerals Group, a junior exploration company with rare earth interests in northern Saskatchewan.

The deal gives Toyota that long to decide whether or not they want exclusive rights to Great Western’s rare earth deposits near Cluff Lake and Uranium City.

Jim Engdahl, president of Great Western, says there is a growing need for rare earth metals in the world, and China currently controls 97 per cent of the market.

“That’s the extent of it, and that’s the reason why there is such a flurry in China, as recently as a month ago, stating that, ‘We will be shutting the rest of the world out of these rare earths, because we are going to be consuming them.’ So that’s the urgency and the panic that’s going on right now in the rare earth sector,” Engdahl says.

Engdahl says there are only five companies outside of China that currently have the capacity to produce rare earth metals, and two of these are already controlled by Chinese buyers.