Scandium Canada Ltd. has secured federal government support of up to $6.9 million for its Crater Lake scandium and rare earth elements project in Quebec, marking a significant step in Canada's critical minerals strategy. The funding comes through Natural Resources Canada's Global Partnerships Initiative and represents 69% of project costs, providing non-dilutive financing through 2028.
The announcement was made at PDAC 2026, the world's premier mining convention, by Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Tim Hodgson and Scandium Canada CEO Guy Bourassa. This support reflects the strategic importance 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 scale up patent-pending processes for beneficiation, extraction, and purification of scandium and rare earth elements through mineral processing test work and advancing to FEL-3 engineering standards. The project will complete detailed design and specifications while developing comprehensive cost estimates and execution schedules. Additional applied research with end users will optimize aluminum-scandium alloy products.
This federal support unlocks immediate value for Scandium Canada's strategic partners through its Scandium+ division, without waiting for the Crater Lake mine to reach full production. The company continues to advance integration of its proprietary scandium-modified AA535 and AA7075 alloys into Gränges Powder Metallurgy's product offering. GPM, a wholly owned subsidiary of global aluminum technology company Gränges Group, is a global supplier of spray-formed aluminum products and aluminum powders for additive manufacturing.
A second partner stands to benefit from Scandium Canada's specialized metallurgical knowledge for recovering scandium from polymetallic deposits. Scandium is notoriously difficult to separate and purify from co-occurring nickel and cobalt mineralization, a challenge the company's team is uniquely positioned to solve. This collaboration extends Canadian scientific expertise into international mining operations, creating value well ahead of Crater Lake's production timeline.
A third partner represents a natural strategic fit as both organizations share a commitment to building resilient, non-Chinese supply chains for critical minerals. This partnership lays groundwork for deeper collaboration as the Crater Lake project matures, supporting Canada's leadership in the G7 Critical Minerals Production Alliance.
"NRCan's support is a crucial milestone that provides non-dilutive funding through 2028, allowing our team to focus entirely on execution," declared CEO Guy Bourassa. "Together with our international partners, we will accelerate the development of Crater Lake while continuing to advance our Scandium+ alloy commercialization efforts, demonstrating to the world that Canada is a reliable, world-class supplier of the critical materials our allies can depend on."
Minister Hodgson emphasized that "Canada and our partners are putting real capital behind the secure and sustainable critical mineral supply chains that our economies and defence industries rely on. By working with companies like Scandium Canada, we are helping deliver the minerals the world needs and the prosperity and security Canadians deserve."
The Global Partnerships Initiative is designed to support critical minerals projects in Canada, strengthening domestic supply chains and advancing Canada's position as a reliable supplier to global markets, particularly to allied nations seeking to reduce dependency on foreign sources. More information about the company can be found at https://www.scandium-canada.com, while regulatory filings are available at https://www.sedarplus.ca.
