Scandium for isolation purposes is collected from minerals such as euxenite, gadolinite, and thortveitite. Up to 40% of the mineral thortveitite is composed of scandium yttrium silicate; this is the main source for scandium that is used throughout the world. From thortveitite, pure scandium metal can be isolated by reacting scandium fluoride with the metal calcium; this is a reducing type reaction.
Another source of pure scandium is through uranium tailings that are a byproduct of uranium ore processing. Small amounts of pure scandium can also be isolated from tungsten tailings that are produced from tin smelters used to produce cast iron.
Originally, a tiny amount of scandium was isolated by heating a mixture of potassium, lithium, and scandium chlorides to approximately 1472 °F and then performing electrolysis on the heated mixture. Liquid zinc was the medium for the reaction, and tungsten wires were used as the electrodes in a crucible composed of graphite.