Vital Metals agreed to sell $3 million of stockpiled rare-earth material to the Saskatchewan Research Council, a Crown corporation. The Australian company, which mines in the Northwest Territories and has a Saskatoon processing plant under strategic review, said the sale was “facilitated” by Natural Resources Canada to supersede a December transaction when Shenghe Resources invested in the company. (The Logic)

Talking point: The government is now going a step further to help coordinate new replacement investments, after it forced divestments by other Chinese mining investors in recent years. Shenghe’s headquarters are listed in Singapore, but its website states it grew in China and has been “closely keeping in step with China’s industrial development.” Canada’s mining industry has previously raised concerns that Chinese firms stockpiled metals, making it hard to compete. Vital Metals had been a particular sore spot, with officials in the Northwest Territories lamenting that the company’s funding woes showed a vulnerability in Canada’s mineral supply chain strategy.