Scandium Canada Ltd. has announced a significant milestone in its path toward becoming a global leader in scandium production. The company successfully completed a 500-kilogram (1,100 lbs.) metallurgical pilot test for its Crater Lake project in northeastern Québec, yielding promising results in both scandium and rare earth oxide (REO) recovery.
The test, conducted at SGS Canada Inc. in Lakefield, Ontario, aimed to optimize mineral processing and hydrometallurgical flowsheets. The results are encouraging: 99.5% purity scandium oxide and 99.2% purity REO were achieved — the first time Scandium Canada has reported purity levels for its commercial products. The process also delivered a remarkable 77.3% overall scandium recovery from ore to final product.
“This is a remarkable performance in this field,” said Dr. Peter Kondos, Scandium Canada’s technical advisor. He noted that the hydrometallurgical process alone achieved a 93.3% scandium recovery rate from concentrate — a substantial improvement over the company’s 2022 Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA).
The optimization effort not only improved product quality but also significantly enhanced operational efficiency. Compared to previous plans, the updated flowsheet reduces the amount of concentrate requiring transport by 27,000 tons per year, while increasing the expected annual scandium oxide output from 87 to 91 tons. These gains are expected to lower both capital and operating costs, a crucial step ahead of the project’s upcoming Pre-Feasibility Study (PFS).
The company believes its Crater Lake project positions it as a future key player in the aluminum-scandium alloy market — a sector gaining momentum for its potential to revolutionize materials used in aerospace, automotive, and clean energy sectors.
CEO Guy Bourassa said that the data will serve as a foundation for the company’s PFS. “We already determined that, compared to our 2022 PEA, we are reducing by about 27,000t/year the concentrate to be transported from the mine and processed in the hydrometallurgical plant, resulting in an important operating cost reduction, while increasing scandium oxide output.”
The pilot program was backed by a $500,000 grant from Québec’s industrial research group CRITM, further validating the project’s technical potential and economic significance.
Scandium Canada’s efforts signal a meaningful step toward scaling the production of high-purity scandium in North America — at a time when demand for lightweight, high-performance materials is accelerating across industries.
There have been growing demand for scandium lately. Small amounts of the silvery-white metal can be used to form high-strength aluminum-scandium alloys with excellent corrosion resistance and weldability. These alloys are used in the aerospace, automotive, defense, and 3D printing sectors
