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Scandium Canada gets closer to producing wires

Scandium Canada (TSX-V:SCD) expects the wire production, commissioned by the Centre de Métallurgie du Québec, to be completed by the end of March 2026. 

The wires are being produced using Scandium Canada’s two proprietary aluminium-scandium alloys formulations for welding and wire additive advanced manufacturing trials. 

Scandium Canada’s two proprietary alloys and their method of fabrication are protected by an international patent application. The intellectual property strategically positions the company for global commercial applications. 

Prototypes will be submitted following completion, for third-party end-user testing to confirm compliance with their manufacturing specifications. 

Scandium Canada estimates that the applications alone could generate a demand of up to 30 tonnes per year of scandium oxide, addressing a market segment that does not currently exist. 

For reference, the Crater Lake Project is expected to produce 91 tonnes per year of scandium oxide. 

Chief Science Officer Luc Duchesne says the company aims to find the shortest pathway for the commercialisation of its alloys. 

“On the one hand, we pursue co-development opportunities with industrial users,” Duchesne says. 

“On the other hand, we increase our understanding of the properties of these alloys to meet specific technical requirements by end users. Because of the novelty of commercial scandium applications, we see Scandium+ as a catalyst for the scandium industry at large.”

Rare earths/scandium iStock

Through in-kind support from Canada’s Industrial Research Assistance Program, Scandium Canada has received a technical report from experts from the Additive Manufacturing Division of the National Research Council of Canada to identify materials qualification strategies for the adoption of its alloys in space, aerospace and defence.

Building on the Productique Québec report completed in 2025, which identified 13 target applications for the company’s aluminium-scandium alloys, Scandium Canada is actively expanding its outreach to industrial end users across key market segments, including aerospace, automotive, advanced manufacturing and 3D printing.

As previously reported, Scandium Canada engaged Québec-based engineering firm Norda Stelo to conduct a Prefeasibility Study (PFS) at the Crater Lake Project. The PFS is expected to be completed in August 2026.

Norda will integrate the updated resource estimate for Crater Lake into the PFS, not including sections relating to metallurgical processes and recovery.

The company is working on a two-pronged approach to progress, as it develops the only known primary source of hard rock scandium in the world and pioneers ‘game-changing’ aluminium-scandium alloys for industrial applications.

Guy Bourassa, CEO and Chairman of Scandium Canada previously told Mining.com.au that scandium is “the metal of the future”, with its unique industrial qualities, potential growth in market demand, and the lack of other major sources of supply.

Scandium is a critical, light-weight and high-strength metal. It enhances durability, heat resistance, and weldability in alloys while its compound creates high-intensity, sunlight-like, stadium-grade lighting. 

Write to Aaliyah Rogan at Mining.com.au   

Images: Scandium Canada & iStock
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Written By Aaliyah Rogan
Originally from New Zealand, Aaliyah brings several years of experience covering the resources sector, with a focus on companies, commodities and global mining markets. Her reporting has spanned European markets and the evolving global mining landscape, with a focus on the stories and market forces driving change across the sector.