Brazil is the world’s largest producer of niobium (92%), followed by Canada. Brazil has two of the largest niobium deposits in the world, the Araxá and the Catalão deposits.
The Araxá mine is operated by CBMM, decreasing grades are increasing operating costs at the mine. The Catalão mine owned by Anglo American Brazil, may run out of ore if the deposit size can not be increased. The third-largest producer is the Niobec deposit in Quebec, owned by IAMGOLD Corp. Niobec’s grade of Niobium is falling the deeper they are being forced to mine.
Niobium Prices
Niobium prices are negotiated between buyers and sellers and does not have a spot price like most commodities. Prices have risen steadily since the year 2000 from $13.50 a Kg to around $45 a kg in 2010. With only a few producers, the lack of new supply expected to come on stream anytime soon and increasing demand niobium prices are expected to remain high.
About Rare Earths
What are they?
A collection of 17 chemical elements in the periodic table, namely scandium, yttrium, and the fifteen lanthanides. Most commonly used for high tech applications, their incorporation enabling and making possible a vast range of applications and products we take for granted every day. Importantly they cannot generally be replaced by an alternative, making them virtually essential to our technological world as we know it.
A few notable higher profile applications include neodymium permanent magnets, used in powerful compact motors for electric cars and hybrids, along with wind turbines. High efficiency light bulbs, gasoline processing, MRI machines in hospitals, TV and computer screens for the color reproduction, solar panels made more efficient, magnetic applications from mp3 player ear buds to hard disk drives.
Technological progress and environmentally sustainable development depends on REE’s.
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