Rio Tinto to supply scandium alloy to Amaero

UK-Australian mining firm Rio Tinto will supply the first scandium-aluminium alloy produced in North America to Australian additive manufacturer and developer Amaero.

Rio Tinto started building a plant to produce critical mineral scandium in Quebec in January, four years after test production at its Sorel Tracy metallurgical plant near Montreal. It expects to deliver the first commercial batch of scandium-aluminium alloy billet to Amaero by the end of this month. Amaero will then process it into 3D printing powder for its high operating temperature (HOT) Amaero Al alloy for lightweight material applications.

"We look forward to working with Rio Tinto to progress the production of the alloy so we can commence the qualification process with key customers in the aerospace sector and other industries," Amaero chief executive Barrie Finnin said.

"Aluminium-scandium alloy is the material of choice where a lightweight, high-strength material with thermal resistance and good welding properties is needed," Rio Tinto Aluminium vice-president for sales and marketing Tolga Egrilmezer said.

Rio Tinto has developed a process to extract scandium oxide from the waste streams from its Sorel Tracy plant which produces titanium dioxide feedstock, pig iron and ferrous powders from ore from the Havre-Saint-Pierre mining complex in eastern Quebec province. The plant under construction in Sorel Tracy will have a production capacity of 3 t/yr of scandium oxide. This would give it a 10-20pc share of total global production, which is currently concentrated in Asia-Pacific and Russia.

Scandium has been used in niche and defence applications for decades and more recently in clean energy production. But alloys represent the largest potential growth area.

By Caroline Messecar