Canadian billionaire Robert Friedland approves $322 million US-backed scandium mine

Sunrise Energy Metals, the Australian miner chaired by American-Canadian billionaire Robert Friedland, has approved a final investment decision on its Syerston scandium project in New South Wales, a $322 million development backed by conditional U.S. government financing.

The decision, announced on Monday, clears the project to move into construction, with early works already underway and commercial production targeted for the second half of 2028, according to Australian Mining. Mining.com.au put the development cost at $322 million (A$458 million).

Syerston is designed to process 64,000 tons of ore a year to produce 60 tons of scandium oxide at more than 99.9% purity over a 32-year mine life, the company said. Sunrise describes the deposit as one of the world’s largest and highest-grade mineable sources of scandium, and Miningmx reported that it sees scope to eventually triple production.

The project is backed by a conditional commitment of up to $400 million in debt from the U.S. Department of War’s Office of Strategic Capital, Mining.com.au reported. Sunrise must still meet the conditions attached to that facility before the money is released, the Australian Mining Review noted. The company held A$148.1 million ($104.1 million) in cash at the end of September.

Friedland said the decision followed extensive technical, engineering, permitting and commercial work. He added that Syerston could deliver “a secure, long-term and primary source of high-purity scandium” to global markets.

Scandium is used to strengthen aluminum alloys for the aerospace, defense and automotive industries, and it also has uses in artificial intelligence infrastructure and wireless technology. China dominates supply, and Sunrise said Chinese export controls on critical minerals imposed in 2025 had sharply reduced availability in Western markets, Miningmx reported.

As a result, the approval adds to a wider push by the United States and its allies to build critical mineral supply chains outside China. Sunrise also plans to move its legal home to the United States and list on Nasdaq through a scheme of arrangement, according to Mining.com.au.

Friedland, who is non-executive chairman of Sunrise and its largest shareholder, is best known in Africa as the founder and executive co-chairman of Ivanhoe Mines. Ivanhoe developed the Kamoa-Kakula copper complex in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where it began heating Africa’s largest copper smelter late last year, and the Platreef platinum-group metals project in South Africa.

Syerston, however, has been a long time coming. Friedland has backed the deposit for more than two decades, first through Clean TeQ Holdings, which later became Sunrise. In the months before the investment decision, the company raised fresh equity to fund pre-construction work and lined up the U.S. debt support that now underpins the build.

Shares in Sunrise trade on the Australian Securities Exchange under the ticker SRL.