NioCorp Developments Ltd and IBC Advanced Alloys have announced the successful production of aluminium-scandium master alloy.  The master alloy was produced at the Ames Laboratory, a US government-owned, contractor-operated national laboratory of the US Department of Energy (DOE), located in Ames, Iowa. NioCorp and IBC intend to use the master alloy from this program to further the companies’ ongoing efforts to develop specialty scandium-containing alloys and/or prototype products for potential commercial use.  The two companies are operating under a joint development agreement to investigate and develop applications for scandium-containing materials for a range of downstream markets.  NioCorp commercially purchased the scandium used to create the master alloy at the Ames Lab’s Materials Preparation Center.

“Both IBC and NioCorp wish to thank the great team at the Ames Laboratory, and the US Department of Energy, for their assistance to our teams in successfully producing this master alloy,” said Mark A. Smith, CEO and Executive Chair of NioCorp and Chairman of the Board of IBC.  “This is almost certainly the first aluminium-scandium master alloy made in the US in some years.  We look forward to the possibilities presented by the establishment of a domestic US production capacity for aluminium-scandium master alloys that utilize scandium mined and purified in the US.”

NioCorp is currently developing the Elk Creek critical minerals mine and processing facility in southeast Nebraska, which is expected to produce more than 100 t/y of scandium oxide when fully operational.

“This is a significant milestone in our continuing R&D effort with NioCorp to develop scandium materials for potential commercial applications,” said General David Heinz, CEO of IBC.  “In many ways, scandium-containing alloys promise to deliver significant step changes in the capabilities and performance of platforms across the national defense and commercial sectors.  We are excited about the commercial prospects presented in this effort, and to the launch of commercial scandium oxide production in the US by NioCorp.”

Aluminium-scandium master alloys are used to introduce scandium into casting and wrought aluminium-based alloys.  These master alloys traditionally contain about two percent scandium by weight, while finished aluminium-scandium alloy products generally contain fractions of a percent of Scandium by weight.  Even this small amount of scandium can provide the following benefits to aluminium alloys:

• Fine grain refinement during casting and solidification
• Enhanced ability to commercial weld aluminium alloys by minimizing weld cracks and failures
• Improved mechanical performance of the alloy, which in turn can reduce the mass (weight) of platforms such as cars, trucks, buses and aerospace systems, helping to enable improved fuel economy and reducing emissions.

Despite these well-understood benefits, widespread global use of scandium has been limited, primarily due to a lack of reliable scandium supplies.  No single dedicated mine in the world today currently produces scandium, and only 10-15 t of scandium oxide material is estimated to be produced globally, according to the US Geological Survey.  OnG Commodities has estimated latent demand for scandium at several hundred tonnes per year in the aerospace sector alone.