Then there is Metallica Minerals (ASX: MLM) which holds the...

Then there is Metallica Minerals (ASX: MLM) which holds the SCONI Project located in North Queensland, approximately 250km roads from Townsville. This consists of a number of scandium-rich lateritic deposits. The three main deposits in the southern area of SCONI are Greenvale, Lucknow and Kokomo.

Metallica Minerals completed a Pre-Feasibility Study in early 2013 to produce over 50 tpa of high-purity scandium oxide over a 20-year mine-life. The resource on the deposit consists of a Measured Resource of 539 tonnes of Scandium Metal, an Indicated Resource of 2,560 tonnes and an Inferred Resource of 728 tonnes. This is equivalent, in total, to 5,741 tonnes of Scandium Oxide.

The PFS demonstrated that SCONI Phase 1 to be technically and operationally viable with positive economics. Metallica planned to move into the Definitive Feasibility Study but due to tough market conditions in late 2013 and early 2014 the DFS has been deferred until appropriate funding is in place.

In both the cases of Metallica and EMC, to get the ducks to line up the companies will need to find an offtaker and frankly we suspect they will need to downsize (right-size as Jack Lifton would say) the production to fit to global demand. In both cases the companies are talking of annual production equal to or greater than global demand so they could easily sink the price of the metal in the absence of new applications. Then again they might prove to be a stimulus for higher usage considering that supply has been so tough to secure in recent years in guaranteed quantities.
Conclusion: The absence of reliable, secure, stable and long term production has limited commercial applications of scandium. Despite this low level of use, scandium offers significant benefits. The potential for substantial expansion in usage and demand clearly exists and to an extent it is one of those “rare” metals stories where the supply could potentially generate the demand rather than the other way around.
- See more at: http://investorintel.com/rare-earth-intel/scandium-outlier-rare-earth/#sthash.mg7bkn5Y.dpuf