Top 4 Canadian Rare Earths Stocks (Updated February 2023)

Year-to-date gain: 121.74 percent; market cap: C$77.47 million; current share price: C$1.53

Ucore Rare Metals is focused on addressing the lack of a rare earths supply chain in the US. The company and its subsidiaries own the Bokan-Dotson Ridge REE project on Alaska’s Prince of Wales Island. According to Ucore, it’s the highest-grade heavy REE resource in the US. Through its subsidiary Alaska2023, the company is planning a 2,000 metric ton (MT) per year heavy and light rare earths separation and purification facility that will have three US-allied feedstocks.

In late January, Ucore announced that the commissioning process is now underway at its Ontario-based RapidSX demonstration plant, which is run by its laboratory partner, Kingston Process Metallurgy. The purpose of the plant is to “demonstrate the techno-economic advantages, scale-up, and commercial durability of the RapidSX technology platform” for the separation and production of heavy and light REEs such as praseodymium, neodymium, terbium and dysprosium.

Achieving this critical milestone has proved positive for the company's stock value. Ucore’s share price hit a year-to-date high of C$1.53 on February 27.

Year-to-date gain: 72.5 percent; market cap: C$63.26 million; current share price: C$0.345

Defense Metals is developing its Wicheeda rare earths deposit in the Rocky Mountain rare earths belt of BC. The project hosts 4.89 million MT at 3.02 percent light rare earth oxide. The 2021 preliminary economic assessment report for the project outlines an open-pit mining operation producing an average of 25,423 MT of rare earth oxides annually over a 16 year mine life.

Defense Metals has released a series of market-moving news items so far in 2023. In January, the company reported its best rare earths assay results from a 2022 drill program at the Wicheeda project, including 138 meters of 3.66 percent total rare earths oxides. In February, Defense Metals engaged SRK Consulting to begin prefeasibility-level site geotechnical investigations at Wicheeda. That same month, the company released results from variability flotation tests that yielded high rare earths recoveries of 81 percent to a high-grade concentrate assaying 45 percent rare earth oxide.

Construction of a hydrometallurgical pilot plant has begun and commissioning is slated for the second half of March of this year. Shares in Defense Metals reached a year-to-date high of C$0.39 on February 10.

Year-to-date gain: 66.67 percent; market cap: C$10.5 million; current share price: C$0.05

Canada Rare Earth is focused on becoming a vertically integrated global rare earths business, generating revenue through production and by sourcing, adding value and selling rare earths products. The company is working to establish mining, concentrating and refining capabilities on its own and through affiliated and third-party organizations.

Canada Rare Earth's share price hit a year-to-date high of C$0.06 on February 6. In its most recent financial report, Canada Rare Earth announced it completed sales totaling C$2,659,655 during the six months ended September 30, 2022. This compares to completing sales of C$410,297 and C$1,275,733 for its full fiscal years ended March 31, 2022, and March 31, 2021, respectively.

Year-to-date gain: 50 percent; market cap: C$69.1 million; current share price: C$0.465

Aclara Resources is a heavy rare earths company developing its ionic clays deposit in Chile.

The company’s patented, award-winning Circular Mineral Harvesting closed-circuit rare earths extraction process eliminates the need for a tailings dam and conditions spent clays for future revegetation with native forests.

In early 2023, Alcara shared its upcoming catalysts for the year, which include: proceeding with a feasibility study for the Penco module in Q1; the definition of a potential second module with exploration results to be reported in Q1; and the submission of its environmental impact assessment application in Q2. Additionally, a pilot plant is expected to be in operation during Q3. The company is targeting Q1 2026 for commencing production at the Penco module.

Shares of Aclara reached a year-to-date high of C$0.59 on January 19.