Scandium Canada (TSX-V:SCD) has postponed its planned Prefeasibility Study (PFS) for the Crater Lake Project in Nunavik, Québec, opting instead to complete a new preliminary economic assessment (PEA) that it believes will better reflect the project’s current scope and potential.
The decision follows initial results from the company’s 2026 exploration campaign and a review of the engineering work required to advance the project.
In June, Scandium Canada launched a 4,000m diamond drill program aimed at collecting a representative metallurgical bulk sample across the defined resource at the TG deposit.
The first batch of assays comprises three holes drilled to collect material for the bulk sample, with grades generally consistent with the 2025 mineral resource estimate for TG.
Mineralisation was intersected from as shallow as 7.3m downhole, with one interval highlighted by the company returning 232 parts per million scandium oxide over 124.9m.
Adjusted drill program
In addition to the drilling, which has since shifted towards resource extension at the TG and Discovery zones, Scandium Canada completed a magnetic survey over the summer.
According to the company, the survey produced a “very high-resolution map of the geophysical anomalies” that improved the delineation of host lithological corridors considered favourable for scandium mineralisation over a strike length of nearly 5km.
Approximately 3km of that corridor extends from the southern limit of the Discovery zone to north of the TG deposit, including its southern and northern extensions, the company says.
Based on its interpretation of the survey, Scandium Canada has adjusted its 2026 program to prioritise resource expansion drilling.
The company has added 24 holes to test the magnetic corridor from south of the TG zone and Discovery area through to the northern extension of TG, as well as targets at depth beneath the existing TG resource.
It has also added two extension and infill holes on the eastern flank, along with three further resource extension holes designed to test another 50m of strike beyond the northern extension of the TG deposit.
The new survey, combined with historical drilling data, has also refined the positioning of 15 previously planned resource expansion holes. Approximately 4,500m of drilling remains to be completed in 2026, Scandium Canada says.
PEA replaces PFS
In light of the exploration results and changes to the development plan, Scandium Canada has postponed the PFS, which had been planned for this summer. The Crater Lake development plan also includes the construction of a hydrometallurgical plant.
Alongside the drilling campaign, the company says it has identified potential optimisations to its metallurgical process that could make it less costly and less complex than previously contemplated.
Management has also decided to locate the proposed hydrometallurgical plant in the Schefferville region of Québec on a brownfield site.
Given the time required to finalise the acquisition of a site and complete metallurgical testing of the optimised process, Scandium Canada now plans to complete a PEA first. The study will incorporate an updated resource following completion of the current drilling campaign, expected in early November 2026.
“In my view, advancing a preliminary economic assessment at the appropriate stage of development creates greater long-term value than accelerating a Prefeasibility Study that may not fully reflect the current scope and potential of the Crater Lake Project,” President and CEO Simon Thibault says.
Crater Lake was the subject of a PEA in 2022 that outlined an after-tax net present value of C$1.72 billion ($1.73 billion) at a 10% discount rate and an internal rate of return of 32.8%.
Since then, the company has updated the project’s resource to 16.3 million tonnes indicated at 277.9 grams per tonne scandium oxide and 20.9 million tonnes inferred at 271.7g/t.
Scandium Canada says the new PEA will provide an updated valuation of the TG deposit and allow it to discuss potential partnerships using current project figures and defined logistics, while continuing the engineering work required to advance towards a compliant Feasibility Study.
Scandium Canada is a critical minerals company developing North America’s only primary scandium source at its Crater Lake Project in Québec, Canada.
Write to Jackson Chen at Mining.com.au
Images: Scandium Canada
