It should be noted although there are much optimism for scandium’s future among the interested mining companies, there are quite significant risks associated with Scandium:
Not easy to invest in bull market (lack of appetite).
Murky and shadow pricing: few are traded on metals exchange (scandium sales are settled between individual buyers and sellers, and prices are kept private).
Off-exchange traded metals are un-hedgeable.
Small market, majority of Scandium supply is produced as by-products and sold forward.
Scandium supply as by-product can be subject to sudden increase or decrease or intermittent production stoppages that are based more on the economics of primary products.
Pricing is discovery-driven, not GDP-correlated.
Different scandium product (besides scandium oxide, other products include scandium chloride, scandium iodide, scandium fluoride and scandium acetate), different scandium price.
Pure scandium metal is “extremely scarce and expensive” to allow for widespread adoption.
Lack of know-how and commercial available technology to produce metal.
The increased use of scandium alloys.
The acceptance and commercialization of scandium-containing SOFCs.
The rapid exhaustion of current scandium stockpiles (It is estimated Russia has up to 400 t of Scandium stockpiles).
The superior economics of “primary” scandium extraction versus those of its recovery from existing tailings.
5. Scandium: Opportunities
Despite the lack of known and stable supply, high price and uncertainty in commercial available Scandium metal production technology; there have been many researches and works to develop know-how and new products incorporating the metal over the last few years. As mentioned earlier, Scandium’s potential in high-tech applications is well known and documented and is developing.
Aluminum alloys present the largest of these potential scandium applications. If only a tiny fraction (0.1 percent) of the annual aluminum market absorbed scandium in alloy at a 0.5 percent level, it would represent 350 tons in annual global scandium demand. Global demand could increase exponentially in a relatively short time once the consumers source more reliable and cheaper supply however there are roadblocks to establish a scandium market:
A large source of high grade scandium (With the recent high grade scandium resources discovered or on the progress long term supply source based on current demand can be guaranteed).
A step change in Sc2O pricing (new technologies might result in lower production cost).
Customer willingness support new development with offtake (Customers and suppliers must work in partnership to develop new resources and markets for Scandium).
6. Scandium: Projects and Junior Mining Companies with focus on Scandium
Over the past few years a number of junior mining companies took steps toward bringing primary scandium projects forward. This is a good step to secure stable Scandium supply as scandium is mainly produced as a by-product of other metals such as titanium, uranium, bauxite and rare earths. Some of the known primary projects are:
Clean TeQ Holdings (Syerston Scandium Project, Australia - JORC compliant): 19.0 Mt @ 424 g/t Sc (8,035 t Sc metal/12,295 t Sc2O)
Metallica Minerals Ltd (Nornico project in Queensland, Australia – JORC compliant): 16.8 Mt @ 130 g/t Sc (2,175 t Sc metal/ 3,250 t Sc2O3)
Jervois Mining Ltd (Nyngan project in Australia – JORC compliant): 12 Mt @ 261 g/t Sc (3,130 t Sc metal/4,700 t Sc2O3)
Platina Resources Ltd (Owendale scandium project, Australia, JORC compliant): 10.1 Mt @ 340 g/t (3,400 t Sc metal/ 5,100 t Sc2O3)
Scandium International Mining (Nyngan scandium project, Australia, NI 43 101 compliant)9 Mt @ 235 g/t (Resource) and 1.44 Mt @ 409 g/t
A.V. Naumov, in an article ennoscriptd “Review of the World Market of Rare-Earth Metals” in the Russian Journal of Non-Ferrous Metals (2008), showed how much scandium was extracted from the Earth’s surface along with “other mined minerals”.
@mineralprocessing
Not easy to invest in bull market (lack of appetite).
Murky and shadow pricing: few are traded on metals exchange (scandium sales are settled between individual buyers and sellers, and prices are kept private).
Off-exchange traded metals are un-hedgeable.
Small market, majority of Scandium supply is produced as by-products and sold forward.
Scandium supply as by-product can be subject to sudden increase or decrease or intermittent production stoppages that are based more on the economics of primary products.
Pricing is discovery-driven, not GDP-correlated.
Different scandium product (besides scandium oxide, other products include scandium chloride, scandium iodide, scandium fluoride and scandium acetate), different scandium price.
Pure scandium metal is “extremely scarce and expensive” to allow for widespread adoption.
Lack of know-how and commercial available technology to produce metal.
The increased use of scandium alloys.
The acceptance and commercialization of scandium-containing SOFCs.
The rapid exhaustion of current scandium stockpiles (It is estimated Russia has up to 400 t of Scandium stockpiles).
The superior economics of “primary” scandium extraction versus those of its recovery from existing tailings.
5. Scandium: Opportunities
Despite the lack of known and stable supply, high price and uncertainty in commercial available Scandium metal production technology; there have been many researches and works to develop know-how and new products incorporating the metal over the last few years. As mentioned earlier, Scandium’s potential in high-tech applications is well known and documented and is developing.
Aluminum alloys present the largest of these potential scandium applications. If only a tiny fraction (0.1 percent) of the annual aluminum market absorbed scandium in alloy at a 0.5 percent level, it would represent 350 tons in annual global scandium demand. Global demand could increase exponentially in a relatively short time once the consumers source more reliable and cheaper supply however there are roadblocks to establish a scandium market:
A large source of high grade scandium (With the recent high grade scandium resources discovered or on the progress long term supply source based on current demand can be guaranteed).
A step change in Sc2O pricing (new technologies might result in lower production cost).
Customer willingness support new development with offtake (Customers and suppliers must work in partnership to develop new resources and markets for Scandium).
6. Scandium: Projects and Junior Mining Companies with focus on Scandium
Over the past few years a number of junior mining companies took steps toward bringing primary scandium projects forward. This is a good step to secure stable Scandium supply as scandium is mainly produced as a by-product of other metals such as titanium, uranium, bauxite and rare earths. Some of the known primary projects are:
Clean TeQ Holdings (Syerston Scandium Project, Australia - JORC compliant): 19.0 Mt @ 424 g/t Sc (8,035 t Sc metal/12,295 t Sc2O)
Metallica Minerals Ltd (Nornico project in Queensland, Australia – JORC compliant): 16.8 Mt @ 130 g/t Sc (2,175 t Sc metal/ 3,250 t Sc2O3)
Jervois Mining Ltd (Nyngan project in Australia – JORC compliant): 12 Mt @ 261 g/t Sc (3,130 t Sc metal/4,700 t Sc2O3)
Platina Resources Ltd (Owendale scandium project, Australia, JORC compliant): 10.1 Mt @ 340 g/t (3,400 t Sc metal/ 5,100 t Sc2O3)
Scandium International Mining (Nyngan scandium project, Australia, NI 43 101 compliant)9 Mt @ 235 g/t (Resource) and 1.44 Mt @ 409 g/t
A.V. Naumov, in an article ennoscriptd “Review of the World Market of Rare-Earth Metals” in the Russian Journal of Non-Ferrous Metals (2008), showed how much scandium was extracted from the Earth’s surface along with “other mined minerals”.
@mineralprocessing
Even though the figures today will be significantly different, it does illustrate just how much of the metal is actually out there — if it could be recovered easily. (And this does not even include any “primary” scandium production such as those mentioned above.)
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Some mining companies that are looking to produce Scandium as a by-product are:
Texas Rare Earth Resources (Round Top rare earths project, USA)
NioCorp Developments (Elk Creek niobium project, USA)
Orbite as by product from Alumina production (Gaspé region of Quebec, Canada); up to 60 t/year as per Preliminary Economic Assessment, 1,000 Mt @ 16-18 ppm Sc
Buckton, AB (DNI Metals Inc.) 550 Mt @ 14.3 ppm Sc (5 ppm recoverable = 2,749 tonnes Sc)
Existing /Past Production:
Bayan Obo mines, China: Up to 163 ppm Sc in REE ore tailings
Zhovti Vody mine, Ukraine (Abandon): Ore grade 105 ppm Sc, holds 775 tonnes Sc
7. Scandium: Pricing Insights
It is difficult to get a reliable Scandium price from the market as it is depending on the end product’s quality and purity. Generally prices ranging from USD$2,000-3,000/kg Sc2O3. It is expected that Scandium prices to drop as some of these projects start production due to a reliable supply of scandium becoming available however we can expect to see prices rising again as a result of increased demand from the solid oxide fuel cell, auto and aerospace industries.
Some price insight from current mining companies are:
Clean TeQ’s scoping study for its Syerston scandium deposit uses scandium oxide (99.9% purity) price assumption of US$1,500 per kilogram at an operating cash cost of AUD$571/kg Sc2O3. Average production of 42.5tpa scandium oxide over the initial 20 year mine life is considered in scoping study in 2015.
Scandium International Mining Corp. for its Nyngan Scandium Project feasibility study used an Oxide Price Assumption of US$2,000 per kilogram (97 to 99% purity scandium oxide).
Platina Resources used a US$2,000 per kilogram scandium oxide price in a scoping study for its Owendale project, released in March 2015.
USGS historical on Scandium products price is presented in Table 3 below:
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Texas Rare Earth Resources (Round Top rare earths project, USA)
NioCorp Developments (Elk Creek niobium project, USA)
Orbite as by product from Alumina production (Gaspé region of Quebec, Canada); up to 60 t/year as per Preliminary Economic Assessment, 1,000 Mt @ 16-18 ppm Sc
Buckton, AB (DNI Metals Inc.) 550 Mt @ 14.3 ppm Sc (5 ppm recoverable = 2,749 tonnes Sc)
Existing /Past Production:
Bayan Obo mines, China: Up to 163 ppm Sc in REE ore tailings
Zhovti Vody mine, Ukraine (Abandon): Ore grade 105 ppm Sc, holds 775 tonnes Sc
7. Scandium: Pricing Insights
It is difficult to get a reliable Scandium price from the market as it is depending on the end product’s quality and purity. Generally prices ranging from USD$2,000-3,000/kg Sc2O3. It is expected that Scandium prices to drop as some of these projects start production due to a reliable supply of scandium becoming available however we can expect to see prices rising again as a result of increased demand from the solid oxide fuel cell, auto and aerospace industries.
Some price insight from current mining companies are:
Clean TeQ’s scoping study for its Syerston scandium deposit uses scandium oxide (99.9% purity) price assumption of US$1,500 per kilogram at an operating cash cost of AUD$571/kg Sc2O3. Average production of 42.5tpa scandium oxide over the initial 20 year mine life is considered in scoping study in 2015.
Scandium International Mining Corp. for its Nyngan Scandium Project feasibility study used an Oxide Price Assumption of US$2,000 per kilogram (97 to 99% purity scandium oxide).
Platina Resources used a US$2,000 per kilogram scandium oxide price in a scoping study for its Owendale project, released in March 2015.
USGS historical on Scandium products price is presented in Table 3 below:
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8. Scandium: Metallurgical Process Technologies for Scandium Recovery
As mentioned earlier Scandium is mainly recovered as by-product from residues, tailings and waste streams in the production of other metals. Metallurgical recovery process is combined with both hydro- and pyro processes. New technologies is under development through pilot plant tests for recovery of the Scandium from primary deposit. Here is a selective processes:
Scandium International Mining Corp. (Nyngan Scandium Project) flowsheet to produce Scandium from primary deposit
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As mentioned earlier Scandium is mainly recovered as by-product from residues, tailings and waste streams in the production of other metals. Metallurgical recovery process is combined with both hydro- and pyro processes. New technologies is under development through pilot plant tests for recovery of the Scandium from primary deposit. Here is a selective processes:
Scandium International Mining Corp. (Nyngan Scandium Project) flowsheet to produce Scandium from primary deposit
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(Adapted from NI 43-101 Technical Report published in Sedar at May 2016)
Orbite (Canada) flowsheet to produce Scandium and other Rare Earth from Bauxite Residue
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Orbite (Canada) flowsheet to produce Scandium and other Rare Earth from Bauxite Residue
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Scandium from TiO2 Process Residue: Clean TeQ’s Scandium Pilot Plant on recovering low grade Scandium recovery from TiO2 process stream (pilot contains of leaching, extraction, elution and desorption stages).
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Scandium recovery from Rare Earth deposit (based on Wang et al. / Hydrometallurgy 108 2011 100–108)
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