Mr. Guy Bourassa reports
SCANDIUM CANADA: UPDATED EY-PARTHENON STUDY PROJECTS GLOBAL SCANDIUM DEMAND TO TRIPLE BY 2035
Scandium Canada Ltd. today released the key findings of the updated independent scandium market study commissioned by the company and prepared by EY-Parthenon. The report, delivered in June, 2026, updates the market study first prepared for the company in 2022.
The company commissioned this update for two reasons: to ground the assumptions of the prefeasibility study (PFS) on its Crater Lake scandium project in Nunavik, Que., and as part of the due diligence conducted for the acquisition of Ferreol Technologies (now Scalium+ Inc.), completed on June 29, 2026.
Key findings of the updated study include:
- Demand is set to take off:
- EY-Parthenon projects global demand for scandium oxide of 91 tonnes per year by 2030 and 194 tonnes by 2035. The entire world currently produces 60 to 80 tonnes per year. Demand continues climbing through the forecast period, reaching 706 tonnes by 2050 in EY-Parthenon's most likely scenario.
- Global supply is not keeping up with demand:
- The gap opens in 2035 and widens every year of the forecast. Even by 2050, EY-Parthenon projects supply of only about 266 tonnes per year against demand of 706 tonnes.
- Aerospace and defence sectors lead the growth:
- Between 2030 and 2050, projected demand grows 26 per cent per year for aerospace, 23 per cent for defence and 22 per cent for automotive.
- Aluminum-scandium alloys are the fastest-growing use of scandium:
- The sectors driving demand growth, aerospace, defence and automotive, use scandium as an alloying element in aluminum, not as an oxide: 243 tonnes for aerospace by 2050, 128 tonnes for automotive and 92 tonnes for defence.
- Still no primary producer as of June, 2026:
- Scandium is produced only as a byproduct of mining other metals. No operation anywhere in the world currently produces it as its main product.
"Scandium is one of the few metals where projected demand grows this steeply while supply remains a byproduct of other metal production," said Guy Bourassa, chief executive officer (CEO) of Scandium Canada. "The updated EY-Parthenon study puts independent numbers on that imbalance. Its conclusions support the direction we have taken: advancing the Crater Lake project as a primary source of scandium in North America and, through Scalium+, developing and commercializing the aluminum-scandium alloys that turn this metal into finished and valuable products for the aerospace, automotive and defence sectors in particular. We are strategically positioned on both sides of the equation, the oxide and the alloys."
A structural supply gap
The supply side is where the study's central finding lies. Scandium is currently produced exclusively as a byproduct of other metal production, which means supply responds to the economics of host metals, not to scandium demand.
Supply is also concentrated: EY-Parthenon estimates Chinese production at 30 to 50 tonnes per year, roughly half to 60 per cent of a global supply of 60 to 80 tonnes.
Projecting forward, EY-Parthenon sees the gap opening in 2035 and widening through the rest of the forecast period, with global supply reaching approximately 266 tonnes in 2050 against projected demand of 706 tonnes.
A demand curve led by aerospace and defence
In EY-Parthenon's most likely scenario, annual demand for scandium oxide grows from 91 tonnes in 2030 to 706 tonnes in 2050. The growth is concentrated where performance materials command the highest premiums: aerospace reaches 243 tonnes of annual demand by 2050 on a 26-per-cent compound annual growth rate, driven by the push to make structural components lighter without sacrificing strength. Defence follows at a 23-per-cent growth rate, reaching 92 tonnes, with automotive at 22 per cent reaching 128 tonnes and advanced manufacturing at 17 per cent. The energy sector, currently the largest end use of scandium oxide, grows more slowly at 8 per cent but still accounts for 222 tonnes of annual demand by 2050, the second-largest segment.
Implications for Scandium Canada's mine-to-alloy strategy
A market supplied entirely by byproduct production is a market that needs primary sources. Scandium Canada is developing its Crater Lake project as North America's only primary source of scandium, with a planned production capacity of 91 tonnes of scandium oxide per year, a capacity planned by Scandium Canada based on its 500-kilogram pilot test (March, 2025). Downstream, that same demand growth is concentrated in aluminum-scandium alloys, which is where Scalium+ operates. The company's wholly owned commercialization subsidiary brings proprietary, patent-pending Al-Sc alloys and the Scalium line of alloys and technologies to market today for aerospace, defence and advanced manufacturing applications, including welding wire for wire arc additive manufacturing (WAAM) and 3-D printing with laser powder bed fusion (L-PBF).
About Scandium Canada Ltd.
Scandium Canada is a critical minerals mining and advanced materials company developing North America's only primary source of scandium at its Crater Lake project in Nunavik, Que. Through Scalium+, its wholly owned commercialization subsidiary, the company brings proprietary, patent-pending aluminum-scandium (Al-Sc) alloys and the Scalium line of alloys and technologies to market today, while advancing the Crater Lake mining project for the future. This dual-engine strategy positions Scandium Canada to anchor a secure North American scandium supply chain and to shape the future of lighter, stronger and longer-lasting materials for advanced manufacturing end users, while committing itself to building a more responsible economy through innovation and agility.
About Scalium+
Scalium+, formerly Ferreol Technologies, a wholly owned subsidiary of Scandium Canada, consolidates the commercialization of aluminum-scandium (Al-Sc) alloys developed by Scandium Canada's Scandium+ division and the Scalium line of alloys and surface treatment developed by the Ferreol Technologies team. Based on Ferreol Technologies' internal testing under controlled conditions, some Scalium alloys demonstrated strength results of up to 45 per cent higher than typical 7075 aerospace aluminum. Subject to further testing for commercial applications and scale, certain Scalium alloys may have the potential to substitute high-strength aluminum alloys or titanium in demanding high-stress applications. Scalium+ brings specialized Al-Sc materials to market across multiple sectors.
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