Scandium Canada Ltd. (TSXV: SCD) is rapidly positioning itself as a linchpin in North America’s critical minerals strategy. “We’re certainly the single largest and only primary source of scandium in North America,” said CEO Guy Bourassa during an interview with InvestorNews.com host Tracy Hughes. “For anyone looking to work with or produce high-performance aluminum-scandium alloys, we’re definitely a company to look at.”Fresh from Quebec’s 2025 Economic Mission to Asia, Bourassa described a surge of global attention following China’s recent export ban on scandium. “It’s awakening investors and large potential end users who now realize they’re at the mercy of one single source,” he explained. “That’s creating momentum for them to support development within our own territories.” The mission, organized by Investissement Québec International and Quebec’s Ministry of Natural Resources, saw Scandium Canada present its Crater Lake project to major institutions in Seoul and Tokyo. “We had a couple of interesting meetings in Seoul and Tokyo,” Bourassa added, noting growing demand from Asian manufacturers for reliable scandium supply.At the heart of Scandium Canada’s strategy is Crater Lake — a 230-kilometre northeast Nunavik property that Bourassa calls “one of the world’s most significant primary sources of scandium.” A recent mineral resource update confirmed its exceptional grade and rare earth oxide byproducts, strengthening Quebec’s role in the global clean technology value chain. Bourassa noted that the company’s latest metallurgical tests at SGS Lakefield “confirmed the flowsheet, demonstrated very good scandium recovery, and verified the quality of our total rare earth oxide byproduct,” all improvements over the 2022 Preliminary Economic Assessment.Government support has been another catalyst. “There’s very good momentum from both the federal and provincial governments,” Bourassa said, pointing to Ottawa’s Critical Minerals Infrastructure Fund — a $300 million annual program to accelerate project readiness. “We applied this year for a grant under that program… we expect to receive an answer sometime this fall — hopefully by the end of October.” If approved, the funding would cover much of the cost of a large-scale pilot metallurgy phase, bringing the company to a full feasibility study by fall 2027 and a Final Investment Decision soon after.On the technology side, Scandium Canada is emerging as both a miner and materials innovator. Its new alloys, developed through its Scandium+ division and in partnership with McMaster University, are “a practical solution to one of the most persistent challenges in metal 3D printing: eliminating cracking in high-strength aluminum alloys.” Bourassa explained that these alloys “meet or exceed all mechanical properties compared to the only comparable product currently on the market — and we can achieve that with less scandium content.” The company has already filed an international patent and identified “eight different sectors and about ten specific parts that can be rapidly tested and commercialized.” The next catalyst, Bourassa confirmed, is the expected announcement of roughly $11 million in government grants. Bourassa adds: “The more China restricts or bans exports, the more valuable our project becomes. Western governments are under pressure to secure access and control over the supply of critical minerals, and our project fits directly into that strategy.”