Rare earth elements underlie many of the most important components of the modern economy, yet China has a stranglehold on their production.

But one still-small company — Defense Metals (DFN.V; DFMTF.OTC) — is now offering a North American treasure trove of rare earths with compelling project economics.

Dear Fellow Investor,

Rare earth elements are absolutely essential to the modern economy…and national security.

They’re critical to smartphones and semiconductors. They’re a key component of the green economy, including electric vehicles and the wind turbine market. And they’re irreplaceable in crucial defense applications.

The problem is, one country — China — supplies around 90% of the REEs used in these applications. That concentration in supply power in a country with troubled relations with the U.S. is a worry for policy makers and manufacturers alike.

It’s also why Defense Metals (DEFN.V; DFMTF.OTC) is such an alluring investment right now.

You see, Defense owns the Wicheeda project — one of the largest REE projects in North America.

Conveniently located near significant infrastructure in British Columbia, the project boasts compelling economics that have it flying along the development and value-creation curve.

And now, even as Defense Metals is preparing to begin a prefeasibility study on Wicheeda, new results are indicating the project could continue to grow.

Drills Hit Paydirt

Defense Metals recently finished a 5,300-meter drill program designed to upgrade as much of Wicheeda’s inferred resources as possible into higher categories.

Importantly, though this was primarily an infill program, the holes hit mineralization at depths that indicate the resources could grow in that direction.

Not only that, but the results included two outstanding drill holes with some of widest and highest-grade intersections encountered to date.

Hole 58 averaged 3.09% total rare earth oxides (TREO) over 251 meters — including 3.92% TREO over 80 meters. This jibed well with Hole 59, collared from the same set up, which returned 2.76% TREO over 212 meters, including 3.25% TREO over 90 meters.

By grade and thickness, these were two of the best holes drilled in North America over the past year.

They give Defense Metals the potential to extend Wicheeda’s mine life and upgrade the resource available for the upcoming prefeasibility study on the project.

Essential And Profitable

Those great intervals dovetail with a project Preliminary Economic Assessment that shows great economics.

The project has an after-tax NPV, discounted at 8%, of C$517 million and a post-tax IRR of 18%. Initial capex is C$440 million based on a project that would produce C$397 million in revenues each year based on a 16-year mine life.

Better still, this conservative NPV used neodymium and praseodymium prices around US$100, but these important elements are currently trading at US$200, and even at a price of US$150, the NPV jumps to C$1.6 billion!

Neodymium and praseodymium make up more than 90% of the value of the deposit. Plus, the PEA was so conservative that it factored a 25% contingency into the capex.

Given its location near key infrastructure in the central-eastern part of British Columbia, those are numbers that underscore the viability and profitability of Wicheeda.

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An Expert Takes The Helm

Indeed, Wicheeda’s prospects are so good that Defense Metals was recently able to recruit Dr. Luisa Moreno to become President of the company.

With a Ph.D. in Materials Science and Mechanics from Imperial College in London, Dr. Moreno visited and assessed many rare earths projects as a leading strategic metals equity analyst.

Considering Dr. Moreno’s vast experience with REE projects all over the world, it says a lot that she was attracted by the quality of the Wicheeda assets.

In fact, she views Wicheeda as one of the best rare earths projects in North America.

Dr. Moreno’s addition brings impressive experience and gravitas to the Defense Metals operation. She sees the global geopolitical situation, where China is aligning with Russia, as literally forcing the U.S. and the West to find friendlier sources of REEs.

It’s an environment that makes Wicheeda a very attractive asset not only for investors, but for the Western world at large.

Primed For Take-Off

With the most recent drill program now complete, Defense Metals is ready to begin working on upgrading the resource at Wicheeda and moving it towards prefeasibility.

That work could soon include a pilot plant that would validate the flowsheet for producing an REE concentrate.

Combined with a continued push by the U.S. to source critical minerals from places other than China, the progress Defense Metals is making right now at Wicheeda promises to spark a re-rating in the company’s share price.

This is why investors looking to leverage the powerful rare-earth fundamentals — and to do so with one of the most promising projects in the Western world — need to learn more about Defense Metals today.

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