The Saskatchewan Research Council (SRC) rare earth element processing plant is only operating at about 25 per cent of its expected output this year after months of waiting for key equipment. (Bloomberg)

Talking point: The plant’s success is more strategically important than ever, as China’s government uses rare earths as leverage in U.S. trade negotiations. The SRC told The Logic in April that its factory will be able to power half a million electric vehicles each year when it is fully operational thanks to supply deals in South America and Africa, and clients in Canada and Europe. The plant is among the first in North America to combine three key steps of metal processing, simplifying the supply chain for products like wind turbines, fighter jets and MRI machines. Meanwhile, Impala’s Lac des Iles mine near Thunder Bay, Ont., is set to close, shuttering one of North America’s only sources of pure palladium, which is needed to reduce harmful vehicle emissions.