Scandium Canada Ltd. has secured a non-refundable contribution agreement of up to $6,915,478 under Natural Resources Canada's Global Partnerships Initiative for its Crater Lake scandium and rare earth elements project in Quebec. The funding represents 69% of project costs and will support scaling up patent-pending processes for beneficiation, extraction, and purification of scandium and rare earth elements through mineral processing test work and engineering development. Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Tim Hodgson and Scandium Canada CEO Guy Bourassa announced the federal support at PDAC 2026, highlighting the strategic value of the Crater Lake project as North America's largest primary source of scandium and the company's proprietary aluminum-scandium alloys.
The funding will be used to progress to FEL-3 engineering standards, complete detailed design and specifications, and develop comprehensive cost estimates and execution schedules through 2028. The project will also conduct applied research with end users to optimize aluminum-scandium alloy products. This federal support enables immediate value creation through the company's Scandium+ division and strategic partnerships without waiting for the Crater Lake mine to reach full production. The company is advancing integration of its proprietary scandium-modified AA535 and AA7075 alloys with Gränges Powder Metallurgy, a global supplier of spray-formed aluminum products and aluminum powders for additive manufacturing.
Additional partnerships will benefit from Scandium Canada's specialized metallurgical knowledge for recovering scandium from polymetallic deposits, particularly addressing the challenge of separating scandium from co-occurring nickel and cobalt mineralization. A third partnership focuses on building resilient, non-Chinese supply chains for critical minerals. Bourassa stated that NRCan's support provides non-dilutive funding that allows the team to focus on execution while accelerating development of Crater Lake and Scandium+ alloy commercialization efforts. Minister Hodgson emphasized that Canada and its partners are investing in secure and sustainable critical mineral supply chains that economies and defense industries rely on.
The Global Partnerships Initiative aims to strengthen domestic supply chains and advance Canada's position as a reliable supplier of critical minerals to global markets, particularly to allied nations seeking to reduce dependency on foreign sources. Additional information about the company can be found at https://www.scandium-canada.com and regulatory documents are available at https://www.sedarplus.ca.
