Few companies in the North American critical minerals sector can make the claim that they are both advanced and environmentally forward—but West High Yield (W.H.Y.) Resources Ltd. (TSXV: WHY) stands out as one that can. “We’re probably the largest, greenest project on the North American continent relative to critical minerals today,” said Barry Baim, Chief Operating Officer and Executive Director of West High Yield, in an interview with InvestorNews host Tracy Hughes. “Within that project, we have a 7.5-kilometre outcrop of a discovery that contains magnesium, silica, nickel, and iron.”Baim’s enthusiasm was well-placed. At a time when North America is urgently trying to decouple from foreign mineral dependencies, West High Yield’s Record Ridge Project—located just outside Rossland, British Columbia—has quietly advanced to the brink of production. “This project is critical not only because of the demands of various industries and the geopolitical thrust going on in the world right now,” he explained, “but also because of the energy transition to a low-carbon economy. Magnesium and silica are going to play a huge role in that—in many verticals.”The numbers back him up. According to the company’s NI 43-101 Preliminary Economic Assessment prepared by SRK Consulting, Record Ridge holds approximately 10.6 million tonnes of contained magnesium—making it one of the highest-grade magnesium deposits in the world, averaging 24.6% magnesium. “It’s easily extractable,” said Baim. “As you may be aware, magnesium is currently controlled by China, which produces about 95% of the world’s supply using something called the Pidgeon Process. That’s a very heat-intensive, carbon-emitting process—not favorable to the environment.”By contrast, West High Yield is developing a process that could redefine what “green mining” means in practice. “The process we’re looking at is much greener, using HCl (acid leaching),” Baim said. “Because we use HCl in a closed-loop system, it requires very little energy and is almost carbon-neutral.” For manufacturers prioritizing ESG compliance, the implications are significant: “It’s an ideal product for them to acquire,” he added, “a premium product without a CO₂ trail in their manufacturing process.”The company’s long path toward permitting underscores its persistence. “Canada has some of the most rigorous mining standards in the world,” Baim noted. “The company was founded 22 years ago, and we’ve been working on the critical minerals aspect of this project for the last 18 years.” That persistence has paid off. In September 2025, West High Yield announced it had received a draft permit from the British Columbia Ministry of Mining and Critical Minerals—an essential step toward final approval for extraction at Record Ridge. “We’ve now completed all of that,” said Baim. “We submitted our permit application in 2018, and we’ve been working closely with the Ministry to meet all environmental and regulatory requirements for a sustainable project. We anticipate receiving the final draft permit in Q4 of this year.”Once that permit lands, construction will begin almost immediately. “We already have a Letter of Intent (LOI) in place for an offtake agreement covering the first couple of years of the project,” Baim said, highlighting that early revenue is within sight. “As soon as the permit is secured, we’ll start the necessary pre-construction work. The beauty of our project is that it’s already close to existing infrastructure—power and gas lines run through our site, and we’re only 2 kilometres off a public roadway.”Beyond infrastructure advantages, the economics of Record Ridge are equally compelling. “Our ore contains 94% saleable product from extraction—magnesium, nickel, silica, and iron—so we don’t need a large processing facility or a tailings pond on site,” Baim explained. “It’s a simple yet highly economical project.”