UK-Australian miner Rio Tinto has entered into a binding agreement to buy the Platina Scandium Project in New South Wales, a move that would enable the company to more than double its annual scandium production.
The project — located near Condobolin in New South Wales — contains a high-grade resource that could produce up to 40t/yr of scandium oxide for around 30 years. The transaction is expected to be completed within the first half of 2023.
This acquisition "will enable us to further develop and grow with the global scandium market, complementing our existing scandium production in Quebec, where we have the expertise, technology and capacity to produce pure, highly reliable scandium through sustainable methods," said Sinead Kaufman, chief executive of Rio Tinto Minerals.
Rio Tinto currently produces 99.99pc scandium oxide from titanium dioxide production waste streams at its Sorel-Tracy plant in Quebec, Canada which began operations in mid 2021. The Sorel-Tracy plant initially ramped up to production capacity of 3t/yr, enough to supply 10-20pc of global demand. In October 2022, the company outlined plans to increase the plant's capacity to 12t/yr, enough to supply over 50pc of estimated current demand. This expansion is expected to come on line in 2024.
Rio Tinto is the first North American producer of critical metal scandium, which has been used for decades in niche electronics and defence aerospace applications, and more recently in solid oxide fuel cells for clean energy generation. But the largest potential growth area is lightweight scandium-aluminium alloys for commercial aerospace and automotive, which Rio Tinto produces and commercialises via its Element North 21 business.
