Scandium is perhaps the closest we come to a precious metal outside of proper precious metals. Although abundant in nature it is utterly rare in commerce due to very limited availability of ores with a concentration sufficient to make mining it worthwhile. Despite being a useful metal with many desirable characteristics (lightweight yet high strength, resistance to corrosion, non-toxic, etc.) its rarity dooms its potential to all but very specific applications.

Already much more expensive than silver, for example, scandium’s future industrial prospects depend largely on whether production can be scaled up significantly. Currently, annual production is estimated at fewer than 20 tons. That’s a pittance compared to, for example, gold at over 3,000 tons!