mafic-ultramafic / lateritic
Scandium prospectivityacross Australia, the USA, Canada & worldwide.
Magmatic mafic-ultramafic and lateritic scandium, ranked and explained across Australia, the United States and Canada.
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✓ Australia
Ranked targets
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✓ United States
Ranked targets
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✓ Canada
Ranked targets
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Everywhere else
Global model
Ranked targets come with national models in Australia, the United States and Canada. Everywhere else, the global model returns the prospectivity map, the geology behind it and a confidence read. Next, the models are retrained on the full record and new sources, such as hyperspectral imagery, before we use them to rank and select ground.
How we rank scandium ground
From a country to a decision.
- 01 · Atlas
Know the ground
The geology, structure, recorded deposits, tenure and geochemistry over the ground, on one map with the source of every layer.
See Atlas - 02 · Open Ground
Find ground you can peg
Which ground is open, held or excluded, read from each licensing authority's own register.
See Open Ground - 03 · Prospectivity
Rank it for scandium
The ground scored for scandium, with the evidence behind it and ranked targets in Australia, the United States and Canada. Anywhere else, the global model maps scandium.
See Prospectivity - 04 · Spectral
Map the alteration
The alteration minerals and the structures that control them, from satellite: regional to district scale, and camp scale from WorldView-3.
See Spectral - 05 · Due Diligence
Check before committing
Tenure, land access, environment and the real cost to hold and test a scandium position.
See Due Diligence -
Talk to us about scandium
Partners, investors, publishers and researchers.
The deposit system
The scandium system.
Scandium is a light transition metal, chemically allied to the rare earths, prized for the outsized strengthening effect it has on aluminium. It rarely forms minerals of its own (the scandium silicate thortveitite is the only notable ore mineral) and is instead dispersed at trace levels, substituting for iron and magnesium in ferromagnesian minerals and iron oxides.
Read more: the deposit model, why it matters and where it is used +
More on scandium
MineDSS models scandium through two families: magmatic mafic-ultramafic systems and lateritic systems. In the first, scandium concentrates in clinopyroxene and amphibole within mafic to ultramafic intrusions; in the second, deep tropical weathering of those same rocks upgrades scandium in the iron-oxide-rich limonite zone. Both leave a mappable footprint: distinctive host lithologies, geophysical responses and a co-located multi-element geochemical signature. That is exactly the pattern a prospectivity model is built to read across large, partly covered terrains.
The deposit model
Both systems trace back to mafic-ultramafic magmatism, which supplies the scandium budget. In magmatic systems, scandium substitutes for iron and magnesium in clinopyroxene, such as augite and diopside, and in amphibole as a mafic to ultramafic magma crystallises; hydrous, clinopyroxene-rich intrusions such as zoned Alaskan-type complexes are the most fertile, and magmatic processes are estimated to hold the large majority of global scandium resources. Lateritic systems form where those clinopyroxene-rich rocks undergo prolonged tropical weathering: as the primary silicates break down, scandium is retained and upgraded in the goethite- and hematite-bearing limonite horizon, the same iron-oxide zone that hosts nickel and cobalt, with grades climbing several-fold over the parent rock.
Why it matters
Scandium is a strategic critical mineral. It appears on the United States' critical-minerals list and on comparable lists in other major economies, reflecting both its enabling role in high-performance materials and an unusually fragile supply chain. Almost all scandium is recovered as a by-product of other operations (titanium, rare-earth, nickel, uranium and aluminium processing), so there is little primary production able to respond to demand, and output is concentrated in a handful of countries. That concentration, combined with recent export controls on scandium products, has sharpened government and industrial interest in secure, diversified sources. Because the metal is dispersed and by-product-dominated, transparent, defensible targeting of genuinely prospective ground carries real weight for explorers and the governments that permit them.
Where it's used
Scandium's flagship application is the aluminium-scandium alloy: additions of only a fraction of a per cent refine the grain structure and sharply raise strength, weldability and resistance to heat and corrosion, with little weight penalty. These alloys are sought for aerospace and defence structures and for metal additive manufacturing, where scandium-modified powders print high-strength, low-porosity components. The second major use is in solid oxide fuel cells, where scandia-stabilised zirconia serves as a high-conductivity electrolyte and now accounts for a growing share of demand. Scandium also goes into high-intensity discharge lighting, advanced ceramics, speciality lasers and electronic components. Small quantities deliver large performance gains, which is why secure supply matters despite modest tonnages.
Questions
Scandium: common questions.
Which scandium deposit types does MineDSS model? +
Two deposit families are modelled: magmatic mafic-ultramafic systems and lateritic systems. In magmatic systems, scandium substitutes into clinopyroxene and amphibole in mafic to ultramafic intrusions, with hydrous, clinopyroxene-rich bodies such as zoned Alaskan-type complexes the most fertile hosts. Lateritic systems form where those rocks weather deeply and scandium is upgraded in the goethite- and hematite-rich limonite zone, alongside nickel and cobalt. The model does not attempt unrelated styles such as carbonatite or pegmatite scandium; it ranks ground by how closely its evidence matches ground where samples assay anomalously high for the target mineral.
How is the model tested, and where can I run scandium? +
Every MineDSS model is tested before it is served: we withhold whole blocks of ground, rebuild the model without them, and check that it still ranks the anomalous samples there above background, with test ground kept spatially separate. A model that does not pass our release gates is not used, for any mineral, in any country. National models for scandium run in Australia, the United States and Canada, with ranked targets. Anywhere else in the world, the global model returns the prospectivity map, the geology behind it and a confidence read. Skill is model-level, never a specific site's measured accuracy, and never a discovery or JORC / NI 43-101 resource claim.
Which pathfinder elements track scandium? +
The classic pathfinders are vanadium, nickel, cobalt, chromium, gallium and niobium, with vanadium, nickel and cobalt leading. These trace the ferromagnesian minerals and iron oxides that carry scandium in mafic-ultramafic rocks and the nickel-cobalt laterites that concentrate it. These elements are part of the geochemical record our models learn from. In a run on any piece of ground, the map itself is read from geology and rock age, gravity and magnetics, radiometrics, terrain, satellite radar and spectral alteration, so it covers ground that has never been sampled.
Does a high MineDSS score mean a deposit or a resource estimate? +
No. A high score means its evidence closely matches ground where samples assay anomalously high for the target mineral, and it merits closer exploration attention. It is not a discovery, not a JORC or NI 43-101 resource or reserve estimate, and not drilling or investment advice. Because scandium is dispersed and typically won as a by-product, confirming whether an economic concentration is present, and at what grade and tonnage, still requires field programmes, drilling, metallurgical testwork and independent assessment by qualified professionals. MineDSS ranks prospectivity to help prioritise where to look.
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Partners
Exploration and mining companies interested in working with us.
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Investors
The record, the models and the ground they point to.
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Publishers and researchers
Geological surveys, universities and programmes whose work the record is built on.
MineDSS ranks prospectivity to help you decide where to explore next. It is not a discovery, not a JORC or NI 43-101 resource or reserve estimate, and not drilling or investment advice.