Simon Thibault Is Building the Market Before the Mine at Scandium Canada

[music] This morning I have the pleasure of speaking with Simon Thibo, the president of Scandium Canada. And good morning, Simon. >> Good morning, Jack. >> Uh, there have been some dramatic organization changes in Scandium, Canada in the in the very near term. Can you give us a brief resume of that? >> Absolutely. Yes. Uh I mean as you know Gee Burasa was the former uh CEO of Scandium Canada has been doing an amazing job in the past years at building the those very strong foundations that we have with Scandium Canada executing the acquisition of Fel Technologies leading to Scallium Plus. uh but yes the company now is kind of moving to a different speed and I'm very much looking forward to talk about that with you and they needed a different set of skills which brings me to this place as the new president and CEO and also president of scallion plus yeah >> can you tell us about about scallium the the other word that's appearing on the screen this is this is news for us and I think you have a very interesting story >> absolutely yes this is to me the the main differentiator of this company. I mean it's Scandium Canada in itself as a company that has yes a mining project a crater lake project but what really differentiates us from the others is the fact that we have a business calium plus as you very well said that's totally different that's somehow new it's been there for a while but it was under the name of Fial Technology and essentially it's a company that owns alloys and that is also having customers and clients producing aluminium scandium alloys on the market right now. So to me that's a big difference and this is what Scallium Plus is all about. Yes. >> Uh in my opinion you are the the most advanced scal scallium and scandium company in the western world and I congratulate you because I think you're doing exactly the right thing. You are actually in business as a manufacturer and seller of of scandium based goods and at the moment you are also developing a mine. >> Absolutely. Yes. And my experience in this industry especially in the automative industry on supply chain has been that there's not a single company single OEM customer in the world that wants just the supply chain. You need to be able to be out there on the market with a product. And our strategy, our business strategy is to start from the product. Not start from a mind and try to push a mind on a market, but actually start from the market with a product and create a pull on the mind where the mind actually becomes a solution to a problem because you're too good with your products. That's what this business is all about. is about being too good with products aluminium scandium alloys and then in the mid to long term having the need for a mine. So it's a different approach from what a lot of players are are you know taking in this industry. >> In my opinion it's the exact correct approach and and again I congratulate Can you tell us something about your own background in in the manufacturing industry? >> Yes. So prior to this this joining uh Scandium Canada I was with General Motors. So I was EV critical materials leader where I was in charge of building um you know supporting the whole team in building the supply chain a resilient supply chain outside of of mainly of course outside from let's say what we call country these so essentially locations where you have geopolicies geopolitics that's playing a a big role in there so we want to we wanted to move away and build safer viable sustainable and resilient supply chain so my focus really been about sourcing all of the critical materials that go into an EV and then in the last months also having a big focus on energy storage but the point you know my whole theme was about how can we source minerals essentially making sure that we have products that are on specs that's kind of the first rule you want to have a product that fits a demand a need so you got to be on the spec then the second thing is that it's one thing to have a spec but you got to have an insertion pattern so that's the second rule in my opinion where not only your product needs to be compliant with the need. But you you you cannot have like three four stages of refining or processing before your product actually goes into a real thing. And then the third thing, whatever people say, you got to be cost competitive. You cannot go out there with a product that needs a premium to be sustainable or viable. So you got to go to the market at the right price and be cost competitive globally. And I think that's what we're trying to do. Not trying to do, that's what we're doing at Scandium Canada right now. We have the products, they meet specs, we have a clear insertion path, and we're cost competitive because we provide benefits from a performance standpoint or strictly from a cost standpoint. So to me, that's the biggest learnings from my experience is those three fundamental rules that I've learned at GM and in past experience, Scandium Canada ticks them all. Uh I I'm uh quite impressed because I think you you represent for in my view a new category in the critical mineral space which is you are a real company. your your your focus is obviously on the customer and and quite frankly um as good as your project may be at Crater Lake, you're obviously open to to sourcing Scandium wherever you have to source it for your customers. And yeah, I I I it's it's you know, I'm I'm usually uh able to speak 20 or 30 minutes uh without taking a breath. I I I am absolutely speechless here. Uh Simon, I I have to now put you in a new category and for the moment I'm calling it you're a real company. >> Oh, agree. I I cannot agree more honestly. I mean first what you just said about we're focused on the customer I can't understand how we could not I mean the sole business is about market and is about customers that's where I come from so my experience is about you know I'm I'm sure you know about this you know when you work with an OEM you get approached by so many companies that come to you and offer you something that either requires a premium to be viable either requires you as the OEM to build the insertion pad for that product to go into your products like seriously Seriously, if I was to step in this position and be as the CEO of Scandium Canada now having to do all of that, no way. Like to me, that was just impossible. So that's why with Gee, I was very happy that the vision he was having was aligned with mine, which was okay, we need to stop be sitting in a in a in an open pit, you know, on an mechanical shovel and trying to think about blasting and drilling. We need to be thinking about products, alloys, advanced manufacturing. And that's what we need to be thinking about and then the mine will come. And then you're right, in the short term, let's be honest. I mean, everybody knows Crater Lake is not going to be opening next year. So, we need years to develop the project. So, we need to stay focused. We need to continue developing the project so it's ready when we need it. But meanwhile, in the short to midterm, you're absolutely right. If I need scandium oxide, there are sources of scanium oxide on the market right now. There are sources of master alloy on the market right now. So we can tap on this in the short to midterm and when we'll be so successful with our sales then we'll need the mind because what's existing won't be enough. >> Well, you're again you're you're in a category which only contains your company at this point >> in and I I am unusually for me I'm speechless. Uh, I need to think about this and I I'm I'm going to want to talk to you on a regular basis because I want to follow what's happening. I think that your particular background is ideal because you have been in major industrial uh a major industrial company in North America and you know how they think and you actually you've told us exactly how they think and how all of them think. Okay. And that I don't know of any other CEO I have met in Canada that has your particular background and even better your understanding of what markets really are and how you how you make and sell things. So again uh congratulations. We're keep in touch and and thank you very much for this introduction. I have to think about this. We have to talk again soon when I've got something intelligent to say. Thank you. >> Absolutely. It'll be a real pleasure to stay in touch as always. Thanks.