Kap Minerals has signed an agreement with Cymat Technologies of Mississauga to develop production of scandium located at the former Agrium mine site southwest of Kapuskasing. President Jeff Ivan says the relationship will bring significant quantities of scandium to the Ontario and Canadian markets that is only currently found in China, Russia and other Asian countries.
“We have roughly 1500 tons of scandium in our tailings that we are initially processing,” he said. “We will essentially double the global output. We will have enough scandium to supply the current global output by 25 years.”
Scandium-aluminum master alloy is a material used to increase the strength, weldability, and performance of specialized aluminum for use in aerospace, defence, and manufacturing industries.
Ivan says the product is very attractive to aerospace, defence and manufacturing industries.
“If you add scandium to aluminum at a very small amount you end up creating an alloy that is as hard as steel but it retains its lightweight properties,” he said. “So that is a very exciting thing for us.”
