Rio Tinto opens Canadian scandium plant to support aluminum alloying

摘要

Rio Tinto began operations June 17 at its scandium oxide demonstration plant in Sorel-Tracy, Quebec, in a move that will support its upcoming production of aluminum-scandium alloys. The demonstration plant will have an initial capacity to produce 3 mt/year of scandium oxide once operations are fully ramped up, according to a statement. “In less than two years, we have gone from testing a process to extract this critical material in a lab to being able to supply approximately 20% of the global market,” Stéphane Leblanc, Rio Tinto’s managing director of its iron and titanium segments, said in a statement.