Scandium Canada Ltd. has provided an update on its Scandium+ division's efforts to advance industrial adoption of proprietary aluminum-scandium alloys. The company commissioned the Centre de Metallurgie du Quebec to produce wires using two proprietary alloy formulations for welding and Wire Additive Advanced Manufacturing trials, with work expected to complete by March 2026 and prototypes submitted for third-party end-user testing. This work is supported by grants from the CQRDA, of which the company is a member. The company estimates welding wire applications alone could generate demand for up to 30 tonnes per year of scandium oxide, addressing a market segment that currently doesn't exist. For reference, the Crater Lake Project is expected to produce 91 tonnes per year of scandium oxide. These applications result from findings in a study from Productique Quebec announced in October 2025.
Following a Memorandum of Understanding signed with Gränges Powder Metallurgy in November 2025, current efforts aim at trialling Scandium Canada's modified AA535 and AA7075 alloys into GPM's product offerings. GPM is a global supplier of sprayformed aluminum products and aluminum powders for additive manufacturing. Through in-kind support from Canada's Industrial Research Assistance Program, Scandium Canada has received a technical report from experts at the National Research Council of Canada's Additive Manufacturing Division to identify materials qualification strategies for adopting its alloys in space, aerospace, and defense applications. Building on the Productique Quebec report that identified 13 target applications for Al-Sc alloys, including welding wires, aircraft ducting, and heat exchangers, Scandium Canada is expanding outreach to industrial end users across aerospace, automotive, advanced manufacturing and 3D printing segments.
The company's two proprietary alloys and their fabrication method, developed with McMaster University, are protected by an international patent application filed under the Patent Cooperation Treaty on September 17, 2025, building on an initial provisional patent filed with the USPTO in September 2024. Technical results reported in September 2025 showed the modified AA535 and AA7075 alloys offer a practical solution to eliminating micro-cracking in high-strength aluminum alloys during laser powder-bed fusion processing, with implications for aluminum welding and WAAM. Key attributes include reduced scandium content while maintaining grain-refining effect, broad processing window with relative densities above 99%, ultimate tensile strengths of approximately 330 to 380 MPa in the as-built state with 17–25% increases after heat treatment, and minimized defect density through proprietary blending procedures.
Dr. Luc Duchesne, Head of Scandium+ division and Chief Science Officer, stated the company aims to find the shortest pathways for commercialization through co-development opportunities with industrial users and increased understanding of alloy properties to meet specific technical requirements. CEO Guy Bourassa noted that confirmation of commercial acceptance of the alloys represents an important milestone for the Crater Lake project development, as it will confirm markets, volumes, and pricing to support the financial model of the pre-feasibility study due in June 2026. This development matters because it represents a significant step toward creating new industrial applications for scandium, potentially establishing markets that don't currently exist and supporting the economic viability of scandium mining projects like Crater Lake.
