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This is one of 26 investments and partnerships announced 31 October 2025 as the first wave under the G7 Critical Minerals Action Plan (agreed at the 2025 G7 Kananaskis summit), the same tranche that funded Focus Graphite's electrothermal purification plant (see 2025-10-31-canada-nrcan-gpi-focus- graphite-electrothermal-purification). NRCan's Global Partnerships Initiative co-funds critical-minerals midstream/downstream projects with allied-country partners; FedDev Ontario is the regional economic-development top-up specific to Southern Ontario projects.
Ucore's Kingston, Ontario facility uses the company's proprietary RapidSX(TM) continuous ion-exchange separation technology to refine samarium and gadolinium oxide — inputs for samarium-cobalt permanent magnets used in defence radar, sonar, and guidance systems, and for medical-imaging contrast agents (gadolinium). Feedstock partners named in company disclosures include Innovation Metals Corp, with offtake/end-customer relationships reported with Vacuumschmelze (Germany) and Permag (US).
Samarium and gadolinium are both on the seven-element list China's MOFCOM placed under discretionary export licensing on 4 April 2025 (2025-04-04-china-mofcom-heavy-rare-earths-export-licensing), making this a direct allied-supply-chain response to that control.
CAD 36.3M is a single-project, conditionally-approved (not yet contracted) grant — material for a junior processing company but small relative to Canada's CAD 3.8bn Critical Minerals Strategy or the US IRA. severity_basis: quant because the primary source discloses the exact NRCan (CAD 26.3M) / FedDev Ontario (CAD 10M) funding split. Severity would rise if the Contribution Agreement is executed and disbursement begins.
Ucore is a REMX-eligible junior; a funded, technology-validated samarium/ gadolinium separation route reduces North America's near-total reliance on Chinese refining for these two specific elements.
Ontario/Quebec critical-minerals midstream cluster as the Focus Graphite and Rio Tinto scandium awards from the same 31 October tranche.
Contribution Agreement, and for confirmation of binding offtake with Vacuumschmelze/Permag — the funding alone does not guarantee commercial throughput.
Chinese solvent-extraction refining once past demonstration scale?
conditions/due diligence reduce the disbursed amount (as seen with some other GPI awards)?
non-binding MOUs — this determines whether North American SmCo magnet producers actually gain a qualified domestic feedstock source.