Scandium
A tiny market (~80 t/yr) with outsized uses in aluminum-scandium alloys, solid-oxide fuel cells, and ScAlN for 5G RF filters.
Solid-oxide fuel cells are being deployed as on-site power for data centers; scandium-aluminum nitride in RF chips.
Scandium was among the rare earths placed under China's April 2025 export controls; China is the leading source.
Who calls it critical
Membership on each government list. “Strategic” marks a higher tier where the list has one; “group” means included as part of a group such as rare earths or PGMs.
Scandium: key questions
- Where is scandium mined or produced?
- Country-level production data for Scandium is limited or withheld in USGS statistics.
- Is scandium a critical mineral?
- Scandium appears on 4 of the 10 official lists we track (United States, European Union, Australia, Canada).
- Is scandium in short supply?
- Our supply status: Tight / restricted. Scandium was among the rare earths placed under China's April 2025 export controls; China is the leading source.
- Why does scandium matter for AI infrastructure?
- Solid-oxide fuel cells are being deployed as on-site power for data centers; scandium-aluminum nitride in RF chips.
Related minerals
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