Swedish rolled aluminium firm Gränges AB revealed yesterday the signing of a letter of intent with United States firm Scandium International Mining Corp. to form a partnership to explore the use of scandium-aluminium alloys in heat exchanger applications.
According to Scandium International, the firm will contribute samples of scandium-aluminium alloys to Gränges, who will test such samples for use as heat exchanger material as well as for use in certain other applications. Scandium International will also provide Gränges with aluminium-scandium master alloy 2% for combination with alloys produced by Gränges and subsequent testing of those combinations. Both parties will then use data collected in testing for possible use in other projects individually.
George Putnam, CEO of Scandium International Mining Corp., believes the partnership will yield dividends for both firms.
“As a recognized industry leader in the heat exchanger markets, Gränges is the perfect partner to refine our alloy work to meet their specific needs, and potentially see real benefit to be applied to their products.”
Kent Schölin, SVP, Research and Innovation, Gränges AB, lauds the initiative as a possible next step in more commercially-worthwhile combinations of scandium.
“Scandium is known to have positive effects on properties for heat exchanger materials. With the Scandium International initiative, scandium additions may also become more economically viable.”
Begun in 1873 in Stockholm, Sweden as Trafik AB Grängesberg-Oxelösund, Gränges AB was resurrected in 2013 as a private company specializing in rolled aluminium heat exchangers. It employs almost 1,000 employees at the present time at two plants – one in Finspång, Sweden, that opened in its present configuration in 1972, and a second in Shanghai, China, opened in 1996. The firm boasts an annual sales total of SEK10 billion (US$1.09 billion).
Scandium International, which is based outside of Reno, Nevada, is dedicated to developing the Nyngan Scandium Project in New South Wales, Australia, into the world’s first scandium-only mine.