VIDEO - Don Bubar: It’s Time to Develop a REE Supply Chain Outside China

At the 2019 Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada (PDAC) conference in Toronto, the Investing News Network stopped by the Avalon Advanced Materials (TSX:AVL,OTCQB:AVLNF) booth to find out how the company’s various projects have progressed over Q1 and what we can expect from the diversified explorer for the rest of the year.

Company CEO Don Bubar also shared his thoughts on winning the 2019 PDAC Distinguished Service award, celebrating his commitment and longstanding service to the PDAC and its efforts to foster a welcoming space for Indigenous people.

“It’s always nice to get that kind of recognition and I think we’ve made a tremendous amount of progress as an association on finding ways to encourage more Indigenous participation in our industry,” said Bubar.

Avalon has been steadily advancing its Nechalacho rare earth project in the Northwest Territories and is looking in to developing a potential lithium resource also located at the site.

The company also announced at the beginning of 2019 that it signed a binding term sheet with Australian company Cheetah Resources to develop two zones within the Nechalacho property.

A move that has reinvigorated Avalon’s drive to bring the rare earth project to fruition.

“Nechalacho has been one of our main projects for over 10 years now, we were one of the early movers during that the first wave of interest in rare earths about 8 to 10 years ago,” explained Bubar.

“We almost got that project off the ground and took it all the way through feasibility and then of course the bubble burst in the 2012 timeframe so we’ve been sort of waiting for another opportunity for that demand to come back, and we knew it would happen sometime because that supply chain on rare earths never did get created in any real meaningful way outside of China.”

As international demand for rare earths increases Avalon is ready to take advantage of the growing global interest in the sector.

“[N]ow thanks to this new demand for electric vehicles and electric motors that are enabled by rare earth magnets we’re seeing that demand back and the opportunity to revisit how we might develop that resource to serve this re-emerging market,” he said.

Watch the interview above for more from Bubar on Avalon’s East Kemptville tin project and how Bubar has diligently worked to increase direct participation of Indigenous people in Canada’s mining sector. You can also click here to view our full PDAC 2019 interview playlist on YouTube.

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Securities Disclosure: I, Georgia Williams, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.

Editorial Disclosure: The Investing News Network does not guarantee the accuracy or thoroughness of the information reported in the interviews it conducts. The opinions expressed in these interviews do not reflect the opinions of the Investing News Network and do not constitute investment advice. All readers are encouraged to perform their own due diligence.