West High Yield Targets 2026 Magnesium Production at Record Ridge

At the Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada convention in Toronto, Barry Baim, Director of West High Yield Resources Ltd. (TSXV: WHY), said the company is advancing a permitted critical minerals project in British Columbia containing magnesium, silica, nickel, and iron.

“I’m great, Tracy. It’s an exciting conference. There’s a buzz in the air, and it’s a pleasure to speak with you again,” Baim said during an interview with InvestorNews.com host Tracy Hughes at PDAC 2026.

West High Yield is a publicly traded exploration and development company established in 2003 focused on developing mineral properties in Canada. Its Record Ridge deposit, located about 10 kilometers southwest of Rossland, British Columbia, contains approximately 10.6 million tonnes of magnesium according to a National Instrument 43-101 Preliminary Economic Assessment prepared by SRK Consulting (Canada) Inc.

“In fact, iron as well. We have four critical minerals listed in our ore, and we have an extraction process that can extract 94% of the value in the ore,” Baim said. “So we’re quite excited about that.”

He said magnesium remains the primary focus of the project. “The most important being, of course, magnesium,” Baim said. “China, as you may be aware, controls over 95% of the global magnesium supply right now. So we’re excited that we have this great onshore resource ready to go.”

The project received its Mines Act permit from the British Columbia Ministry of Mining and Critical Minerals in October 2025.

“We’re at the next step. We have now been mine permitted, and we are working on the last piece of engineering that should allow us to get into the ground this June to start construction and mine development,” Baim said. “So yes, we’re excited. We’re ready to go.”

West High Yield has also advanced a pilot program for its processing technology with Process Research Ortech Inc. in Ontario.

“What we are producing—high-purity magnesium while also extracting silica, nickel, and iron—is done using a closed-loop hydrochloric acid leaching process,” Baim said. “Our process is very CO₂ friendly, almost CO₂ neutral.”

The company plans a phased development strategy. “The first step is to get the mine up and running, extract the ore, and sell it to a U.S.-based client who will take it offshore for processing,” he said. “While we generate that cash flow, it will allow us in parallel to build a commercial plant for onshore development and extraction.”

Baim said silica from the project could also serve high-technology markets. “Artificial intelligence requires enormous computing power and large volumes of chips, and silica is a key component in computer chips, computer glass, cell phone glass, solar panels, and more.”

The company expects construction to begin in 2026. “Sometime in June we expect to break ground on building the access roads and beginning mine development,” Baim said. “Within three to four months after that, we hope to mine our first commercial ore and begin selling it.”

To access the complete interview, click here

Don’t miss other InvestorNews interviews. Subscribe to the InvestorNews YouTube channel by clicking here