Scandium Reserves by Country

Australia reports 34,000 metric tons of scandium reserves and the United States 2,600 — but the two figures come from different reserve classifications. The figures come from the USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries 2019-2026 and represent estimated quantities that can be economically extracted. Reserves are a stock measure rather than the amount mined in a given year. The table covers 2 countries, both with reported values for 2023 and neither with a value for 2024 or 2025.

Australia's 34,000 metric tons are about thirteen times the United States' 2,600. With only two reporters, the ranking is a single comparison — and the more important difference between the figures is not their size but their classification.

Scandium Reserves by Country

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#	Country	2023 (metric tons)
1	Australia AU	34,000
2	United States US	2,600

The latest country-level figures refer to 2023: Australia at 34,000 metric tons and the United States at 2,600 tons.

Two figures, two classifications

Australia's 34,000 metric tons are reported as accessible Economic Demonstrated Resources as of December 2023; an earlier USGS figure of about 37,000 tons was revised to 34,000 in the 2026 edition. The United States figure refers to the probable scandium reserve at the Elk Creek polymetallic deposit in Nebraska: 2,600 tons. Both figures are described as reserves in USGS publications, but they are not estimated on the same basis. Australia's figure is about thirteen times the United States figure, although the difference in classification makes that ratio unsuitable as a precise comparison of national endowments.

Resources are not reserves

USGS identifies scandium resources in Australia, Canada, China, Finland, Guinea, Kazakhstan, Madagascar, Norway, the Philippines, Russia, South Africa, Ukraine and the United States — thirteen countries against two reported reserve figures. Global reserves of scandium were not quantified. The absence of a country-level reserve figure therefore says nothing about whether scandium occurs there; it means no comparable reserve estimate is published in this dataset.

Methodology

Figures come from the USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries 2019-2026. Units are metric tons, exactly as reported. Australia's figure is accessible Economic Demonstrated Resources as of December 2023; the United States figure is the probable reserve of the Elk Creek deposit. Empty means the source reported no value; 0 means the source reports zero. No shares are computed across differing classifications. Reserves and production are different measures and should not be combined without equalizing units.