As a major producer of scandium, CLQ should help create the need for it, and a big part of that will be lowering the price. Lower prices will mean more uses and greater demand, and then better economics for digging more of it out of the ground.
"TGR: Why is the market so small? RC: The reason is twofold. The lack of consistent supply is one issue, but the other is price. Depending on the purity level and whether it's scandium oxide or scandium metal, you could be looking at $5–10M per tonne. That obviously precludes its use in a lot of applications that are cost sensitive. End users have been waiting for a consistent and elevated level of supply to come onstream and bring the price down.
.... TGR: Some of these companies are not going to produce scandium because not all of them will be able to raise the necessary funding. But even if only one or two reach production, what's going to happen to scandium prices? RC: As one or more new sources of supply come onstream, prices for 99.9%–99.99% (3N–4N) pure scandium oxide will likely come down to the $1,500–2,500/kg range, depending on how quickly new suppliers ramp up production and how quickly the market absorbs it. The number of new producers in the market will also have an impact on the new floor price for scandium, as will the identities of the new producers. If we look at the cost curve of emerging scandium producers, we see that the supply side of the market will struggle to exist at a scandium oxide price of $1,000/kg or lower, with some exceptions. While we see some projects with cash costs well below the $1,000/kg mark, it's important to bear in mind that this cash cost excludes sustaining capital and any applicable royalties, and beyond that there needs to be a profit margin so companies can pay back preproduction capital, and most importantly, retain earnings for investors."
[This whole interview is worth reading]
CLQ Price at posting:
$1.14 Sentiment: Buy Disclosure: Held
