Valimet wins Phase II contract for scandium-aluminium Additive Manufacturing
Valimet, Inc, headquartered in Stockton, California, USA, has been awarded an SBIR Phase II contract for the project: “Scandium-Aluminum Alloy 3D-Printed Parts: Developing & Validating a Domestic Value Chain.” Valimet leads the atomisation of Scandium-Aluminium alloy powders, while collaborating with a group of specialised partners across the entire value chain.
“We are immensely grateful to the Defense Logistics Agency for the trust placed in our capabilities and in our commitment to deliver with our partners Scandium-Aluminium components to US end users,” the company shared.
Valimet participated in the 2026 AMUG Conference, which took place from March 15-19, 2026, in Reno, Nevada, USA, including a panel discussion titled ‘A Fully-Domestic Supply Chain for Scandium Aluminum Alloys: From Mining to Printing’ in which representatives from different steps of the value chain of components manufacturing contributed.
The company also hosted an open house, where Lynden Polonsky of Sunrise Energy Metals and Jose Alberto Muñiz Lerma of Equispheres Inc. joined the discussion.
Scandium offers high weldability, printability, grain control, strength, corrosion resistance and a 5% lower density, compared to the direct reference, the 7000 series Aluminium Alloys. While not a fit for every application, as remarked by the audience, the company stated that it is still an enabler of high performance.
Valimet outlined the development of a US domestic supply chain as a key takeaway from the event, stating on LinkedIn, “US parts designers have been self-censoring about the selection of Scandium-Aluminium alloys. Their fear of depending solely on Russian and Chinese Scandium is now misplaced: a domestic supply chain is now live, with one active mine in Quebec, Canada and several projects in US and Australia.”
The company also stated that it is bringing atomisation of Scalmalloy to industrial scale, supported by a Phase II SBIR contract from the Defense Logistics Agency.
Another key takeaway was that there can be savings in terms of Total Cost of Ownership, as printing and heat treatment can be reduced for Scalmalloy.
It was also stated that Steve Fournier reportedly advocated for a “coalition of the willings” in order to spread the resource requirements and squeeze the timeline of reaching a point of qualification for determining allowables and specifications. Valimet stated that both it and MIMO Technik intend to “work to identify and gather ‘the willings’.”
