US expresses interest in funding Friedland-backed scandium project

Sunrise Energy Metals (ASX: SRL), an Australian scandium explorer backed by Robert Friedland, is being lined for a potential loan from the Export-Import Bank of the United States (EXIM) for its Syerston project in central New South Wales.

As stated in a letter of interest, announced by the company Tuesday, EXIM would provide a debt financing up to $67 million. Based on current estimates, this amount represents approximately half of the project development costs, the company said.

The Syerston project, located 450 km west of Sydney, hosts one of the world’s largest and highest-grade scandium deposits, with nearly 46 million tonnes of measured and indicated resources at a grade of 414 parts per million. The resource was recently updated and has double the contained metal (19,000 tonnes) over its previous estimate.

The EXIM, in its letter, cited the Syerston scandium project as a potential candidate to support the development of a reliable and secure supply chains for the US industry. The mineral sits at the heart of some of the most important civilian and defence sector technologies, from semiconductors that power mobile communications to aerospace and automotive applications.

The US accounts for approximately 90% of the overall demand, but its rival China controls most of its supply, making the mineral easily exposed to supply chain disruptions. “Global supply remains tight since China’s export controls were imposed in April 2025, positioning Syerston as a strategically important source for future scandium supply,” Sunrise’s managing director Sam Riggall said in a press release last week.

Friedland, co-chair of Sunrise, said the letter from EXIM underscores the importance of scandium to the US, with the metal serving as a critical component in key sectors. “As a key ally of the United States, Australia’s significant endowment of strategic metals positions it to be an important supplier in the future,” he stated.

Should the company proceed with a formal loan application, the bank will conduct due diligence to determine if a final lending commitment would be made based on its criteria and the project’s eligibility.

“We are encouraged by this strong show of support by EXIM for the financing and development of the Syerston scandium project. We expect it to strengthen our engagement with customers to secure off-take arrangements as we move the project towards a final investment decision and development,” Riggall added.

The company is currently in the process of completing a feasibility study for Syerston, expected in mid- to late October 2025.

In addition to Syerston, Sunrise also holds a nickel-cobalt project in NSW. This project, which shares the same name as the company, is said to host the largest cobalt deposit outside the Democratic Republic of Congo, with a contained cobalt resource of 170,000 tonnes.