The mineral deposits at Thor Lake site include the Nechalacho deposit, and the separate and distinct R, S and T Zones, with the Nechalacho deposit bearing many of the attributes of an apogranite originating as an apical or domal facies of the parental syenite and granite. The deposits are extensively metasomatized with pronounced magmatic layering and cyclic ore mineral deposition.

The main chemical features of the Nechalacho deposit that contrast to those overall features are that the rare earth levels are higher than typical, uranium is not particularly high, with anomalous but modest levels of thorium, and the lack of beryllium mineralization. Beryllium is present in the North T deposit, a separate smaller deposit to the north with dissimilar geology. The R, S and T Zones are small separate pegmatitic bodies to the north and northeast of the Nechalacho deposit.

The preferred genetic model is that of igneous differentiation within a closed-system with rare earth element concentration within a residual magma, aided by depression of the freezing temperature of the magma by fluorine and possibly carbon dioxide.

Nechalacho mineralization is hosted in nepheline syenite that has been extensively hydrothermally altered in areas of mineralization. The payable elements of the Nechalacho deposit are typically hosted in a number of minerals, summarized as follows:

-LREEs dominantly occur in bastnaesite, synchisite, monazite and allanite.

The Nechalacho project is a high grade, light rare earth (bastnaesite) project located at Nechalacho in the Northwest Territories of Canada and has potential for a start-up operation exploiting high-grade, easily accessible near surface mineralisation.

Vital’s strategy is to develop Nechalacho in two stages. Stage 1 of the operations focuses on the North T Zone resource and Stage 2 will involve the development of the much larger Tardiff deposit.

Det’on Cho Nahanni Construction will mine the North T Zone as a small open pit, with material transported to Vital’s ore sorter on site at Nechalacho for sorting. This will create a product suitable for further processing off-site at Vital’s rare earth extraction plant, to be constructed in Saskatoon, which will produce a mixed rare earth carbonate product for sale to separation facilities.

Det’on Cho Nahanni Construction will undertake mining and crushing during a single campaign between March and September 2021, under the control and direction of Cheetah Resources. Mined ore will be stockpiled for use in ore sorting operations which will be undertaken by Cheetah personnel during the summer periods of 2021 to 2023.

It is anticipated that a second mining campaign will be required in 2024 to replenish stockpiles.

Vital completed a maiden mining campaign at its Nechalacho Rare Earths Project during the 2022 period.

Local contract mining company Det’on Cho Nahanni ........

In June 2022, Vital announced results from metallurgical testwork completed on samples from the Tardiff Zone 1 deposit, part of its Nechalacho rare earths project in Northwest Territories, Canada, had exceeded the Company’s expectations.

A 550kg sample from Tardiff Zone 1 underwent testwork to a scoping study level using a similar flowsheet to that which Vital is using to produce a rare earth concentrate from the North T deposit at Nechalacho – sorting and gravity separation with the addition of a flotation stage:

Stage 1: Sorting;
Stage 2: Gravity Separation by Dense Media Separation on coarse material and Shaking Table on finer material;
Stage 3: Flotation using a multistage rougher, cleaner flotation circuit to generate a final concentrate suitable to be fed into a downstream hydrometallurgical circuit.

Vital commenced development of its rare earth extraction facility in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada, during the period, procuring equipmen ........