At the Arctic Energy and Emerging Technologies Conference in Inuvik, Tuesday, the talk turned to ‘technology metals’. “It’s a relatively new term,” ITI’s Assistant Deputy Minister of Mineral and Petroleum Resources, Pamela Strand acknowledged as she began the conversation.
Technology metals are those generally rare metals that are essential for the production of ‘high tech’ devices and engineered systems. They include: cobalt, uranium, silver, Rare Earth Metals, lithium and bismuth. They are needed for the mass production of miniaturized electronics and associated devices, electricity storage devices like batteries, and the generation of electricity using ‘alternative’ sources such as solar panels and wind turbines.
Rainbow Rare Earths is a mining company focussed on production from, and expansion of, the high grade Gakara Rare Earth Project in Burundi, East Africa. With in-situ grades in the range of 47-67% Total Rare Earth Oxide (TREO), Gakara is one of the world’s richest rare earth deposits.