Wholesale Distributors for Carbon Steel Supply to Accra

March 12, 2013 — In a ProEdgeWire special focus interview, Tracy Weslosky interviews Andrew Gillies, CEO of Metallica Minerals (ASX: MLM) on scandium. The #2 critical mineral, scandium “It is very difficult to buy scandium, hence the prices are going up. Obviously there is a lot of activity in the fuel cell sector…depending on the quantity and the purity it can be between $3000 and $7000 a kilogram.”

Scandium is the eighth rarest element on Earth (it can offer appear in meteorites) and it is powerful refiner of particles, which when added to aluminum alloys increases its strength and durability by 50% (almost twice as strong as aluminum series 6061 or 7005), in turn allowing for the use of less material to achieve the desired characteristics, translating to less weight. For an additional comparison, consider that if a carbon structure were to have the ability to withstand the same rigors as a scandium alloy, it would end up being heavier than the scandium structure itself. Scandium also increases stiffness and stress resistance when compared to alloys in the same class and it improves ‘quality’, durability, inhibiting the re-crystallization of aluminum alloys showing improved resistance to hot cracking during welding.

Disclaimer: Metallica Minerals is a member of ProEdgeWire.