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In the escalating competition between Washington and Beijing over critical minerals, one obscure element has suddenly taken on outsized strategic importance: scandium. Long overshadowed by lithium and neodymium, this silvery metal, essential for aerospace alloys, solid oxide fuel cells, and advanced semiconductors, has become a cornerstone of Western efforts to rebuild supply chains free from Chinese dominance.

In fact, the Canadian government recently announced that they will begin stockpiling domestically produced graphite and scandium as part of a $2-billion initiative aimed at funding Canadian critical mineral mines and processing facilities. The move is designed to counter China's control over the sector and alleviate growing concerns in the West about potential supply shortages. The decision was revealed following the G7 energy ministers' summit in Toronto in late October, where the federal government introduced a broader set of measures to bolster Canada's critical minerals industry, though the specific minerals were not initially named.

China currently produces 85% of the world's refined scandium and nearly all metallized forms used by the semiconductor and aerospace sectors. That dependence was thrown into sharp relief on October 9, 2025, when Beijing announced sweeping export controls on scandium and six other critical rare earth elements. The restrictions, widely viewed as geopolitical leverage ahead of President Trump's summit with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, rattled defense contractors and manufacturers across the West. Although the controls were temporarily paused following the Trump–Xi agreement in Seoul on October 30, the episode underscored what many policymakers already feared: China sees critical minerals as tools of statecraft.

"The narrative around Chinese control of resources won't change just because the export controls are delayed by a year," said David S Abraham, a professor at Idaho's Boise State University and an expert in rare earths in an article published on The Business Times. "What this does is buy more time" to develop a response."

Allied Supply Chains Realign

In response, the United States and Australia moved swiftly to accelerate diversification. The U.S.–Australia Critical Minerals Framework, signed on October 20, commits $3 billion to near-term joint projects and outlines an $8.5 billion pipeline for development. Scandium is among its top priorities.

This puts a focus on several companies integral to the market. Sunrise Energy Metals (OTC: $SREMF ) is the owner of the Syerston project in New South Wales, Australia, which ranks among the world's largest scandium resources. Backed by mining veteran Robert Friedland, Sunrise recently signed an agreement granting Lockheed Martin the option to purchase up to 25% of annual scandium production, about 15 tonnes per year for five years. The U.S. Export–Import Bank has also expressed interest in providing $67 million in debt financing.

"It is encouraging to see new applications emerging for scandium in both civilian and defense markets," said Sam Riggall, Sunrise's Managing Director. "While global scandium trade is still small, latent demand is potentially enormous, provided customers have clear line of sight to supply options that are diversified, low-cost and scalable."

Pentagon Funding Spurs U.S. Development

In the United States, the Department of Defense is directly funding scandium production. NioCorp Developments (NASDAQ: $NB ), advancing its Elk Creek project in Nebraska, received $10 million from the Pentagon in August to establish domestic scandium output. Part of that funding supports collaboration with Lockheed Martin to develop scandium–aluminum alloys for next-generation military systems, with testing targeted for 2027.

Once operational, Elk Creek could produce 95 tonnes of scandium trioxide annually by 2028. NioCorp is also pursuing an $800 million Export–Import Bank loan, highlighting Washington's commitment to domestic supply. The company's alloys are being tailored for 3D printing applications, enabling on-demand manufacturing of lightweight, corrosion-resistant, high-strength parts critical to aerospace and defense.

In parallel, USA Rare Earth (NASDAQ: $USAR ) continues building domestic rare earth processing capacity. In early 2025, it produced its first dysprosium oxide sample, an early milestone toward reestablishing separation facilities within the U.S. The company has received over $150 million in government support to help restore domestic capabilities for both light and heavy rare earths, including scandium.

North America's Hidden Scandium Powerhouse

North of the border, Doubleview Gold Corp (TSX-Venture: DBG) (OTC: $DBLVF ) is quietly emerging as a potential cornerstone in North America's scandium supply chain. The company's Hat Project, a polymetallic porphyry deposit in British Columbia's Golden Triangle, contains copper, gold, cobalt, silver…and likely a world-class amount of scandium.

Drilling in 2025 extended the deposit by 320 meters eastward, with mineralization in all 14 holes from the latest campaign. The 2024 NI 43-101 resource estimate defined 150 million tonnes indicated at 0.408% copper equivalent and 477 million tonnes inferred at 0.344%. With 300–500 million tonnes grading roughly 40 ppm scandium trioxide, early indications suggest the Hat could rank among the largest undeveloped scandium resources globally.

"The new results show major expansion potential and position Doubleview for a meaningful resource upgrade," said CEO Farshad Shirvani in a phone conversation. A geologist who discovered the deposit in 2014, Shirvani emphasizes the deposit's flat topography and road access, which could reduce infrastructure costs and accelerate timelines, an advantage rare in the rugged Golden Triangle.

A new Mineral Resource Estimate is planned, incorporating more than 10,000 meters of recent drillings.

From Curiosity to Critical Asset

Scandium's value lies in its transformative alloying properties. Adding just 0.1%–0.5% scandium to aluminum creates a metal that is lighter, stronger, and more heat-resistant. Russian MiG-29 fighter jets have long relied on scandium–aluminum alloys, and similar applications are under evaluation for hypersonic missiles and advanced aircraft frames. The math speaks for itself. Studies indicate that scandium-aluminum alloys may enable fuel savings. $1.0-$1.5 million of scandium oxide in a single airliner could offer $10-15 million in net present value fuel savings due to reduced weight.

Given the U.S.'s 100% import dependence on scandium, such capabilities have elevated the metal to a matter of national security. The Defense Logistics Agency has stockpiled just 6.4 tonnes, a temporary safeguard rather than a strategic solution. Meanwhile, the Department of Defense has allocated $439 million toward critical mineral projects, while the Export–Import Bank and U.S.–Australia Framework provide an additional $2 billion in financing commitments.

The Strategic Outlook

The Trump–Xi deal's one-year reprieve offers short-term relief but no lasting security. As annual renegotiations loom, scandium's availability will remain contingent on geopolitics rather than market logic. This situation hearkens comparisons to the semiconductor reshoring movement that inspired the CHIPS Act, a national effort to end reliance on vulnerable foreign supply chains.

"The U.S. has finally accepted that dependence on adversarial supply chains is a national security risk," Shirvani noted recently.

New policies under discussion, including price floors to counter Chinese market flooding and fast-tracked permitting for allied projects, could dramatically improve economics for Western scandium developers.

For companies like Doubleview, scandium's evolution from industrial afterthought to strategic imperative marks a defining shift. The question is no longer if Western production will expand, but which projects will deliver first. As resource estimates finalize and funding decisions accelerate over the next year, the race to secure the West's scandium future is already well underway.

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