By: Trish Saywell January 21, 2021
https://www.northernminer.com/editorial/...scandium-oxide/1003827409/
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I also spoke with Sam Riggall, CEO of Clean TeQ (TSX: CLQ; US-OTC: CTEQF), a company that owns the Sunrise nickel, cobalt and scandium project in New South Wales, Australia. The Sunrise project is not only one of the largest and most cobalt-rich nickel laterite deposits in the world, but it is also the largest and highest grade scandium resource globally. Speaking on his cell phone from Melbourne, Riggall noted that the news about Rio Tinto and indeed other smaller players looking at producing scandium oxide is all positive. “It gives end users who see applications for scandium a path and options,” he said. “No one wants to be beholden to one supplier, which typically has been Chinese or Russian supply chains over the years.”
Like Ecclestone, Riggall warned that it will take time for the market to develop and noted that one reason global production of the metal was still relatively small is because you “don’t need a lot of scandium in alloys” and that’s “a positive because it keeps the cost of making the alloys low.” Think of scandium, he said, “as where niobium was 40 years ago, a niche alloy until world class deposits were developed to ensure reliable supply. What niobium did for steel, scandium will do for aluminum.”
“It’s a niche metal still,” he continued, “but the potential where it can be used is enormous and we think there’s significant scope for mainstream applications. We have announced a bunch of partnerships over the years.” In December 2019, Clean TeQ signed a heads of agreement with Panasonic Corp to supply up to five tonnes of scandium oxide per year that will go into the company’s aluminum casings for laptops, mobile phones and other electronics. Clean TeQ also inked an offtake agreement with Relativity Space, a rocket launch company in California that 3-D prints rockets. “It’s quite amazing, they build these huge rocket structures out of aluminum alloys and they need scandium,” Riggall said. “If you’re looking at a world where 3-D printing of lightweight metal alloys becomes more important, scandium becomes important. There are certainly customers out there who need the material.”
There are also markets for aluminum-scandium alloys for use in electric vehicle battery casings and cast parts. “Single casting is a large part of production but you need high-performance alloys to do that and that’s where scandium comes in,” Riggall said.
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