It was no hatchet job but niobium was discovered by English manufacturer and chemist Charles Hatchett in 1801, which at the time he called columbium.
Yet it was only in October 2022 – some 220 years later – that the light grey, crystalline, and ductile transition metal really popped onto most people’s radar.
That’s when WA1 Resources (ASX:WA1) discovered a niobium-rare earth element mineralised carbonatite system on its West Arunta ground in northern Western Australia near the border of the Northern Territory.
That same month back in 2022, Globe Metals & Mining (ASX:GBE) released a note to the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) in relation to the critical use of niobium in the manufacture of EV batteries and in batteries for a range of applications including power tools, home appliances, energy storage and industrial robots.
Niobium is the primary metal contained at Globe’s Kanyika Project in Malawi.
Eclectic and electric applications
A ductile, refractory metal, highly resistant to heat and corrosion, niobium has for many years flown under the radar in the world of commodities despite its critical value as an economic input.
It is estimated that 90% of all niobium produced globally goes into the steel industry – largely as a micro-alloy with iron. This small, cheap addition results in the significantly increased strength and reduced weight of steel products for use in construction, oil and gas, and the automotive industries.
Alloyed with nickel, niobium also produces a superalloy for use in more hi-tech applications, such as in blades for jet engines and gas turbines. Other applications include glass for corrective spectacles and camera lenses, jewellery, prosthetics and medical implants, and cutting tools.
Niobium also becomes a superconductor at very low temperatures. When alloyed with titanium (NbTi) or tin (Nb3Sn), it produces the superconducting magnets used in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanners, nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) equipment and particle accelerators such as the Large Hadron Collider at CERN1.
Given its plethora of applications, niobium is listed as a critical mineral by the Australian Government. The metal is considered vital for the well-being of global economies, but yet remains exposed to supply chain disruptions.
Three make up 90%
World-wide, niobium production is primarily derived from just three mines. Brazil hosts the Araxa mine owned by Companhia Brasileira de Metalurgia e Mineracao (CBMM) and the Boa Vista mine owned by China-based CMOC Group (HKG:3993).
The only other dedicated niobium-producing asset is the Niobec mine in Québec, Canada, owned by Magris Performance Materials, which also hosts milling and converting facilities.
These three companies combine to generate the lion’s share of the world’s niobium production.
Niobium is found in columbite, which occurs predominantly across Africa. However, unlike pyrochlore, columbite is not processed at or near the mine site, but is instead transported to the same facilities that receive raw tantalum materials.
The columbite is processed in the same way as tantalite, and the niobium is recovered alongside any tantalum.
Niobium shares many of its properties with tantalum, which it is commonly found with. This close association has led to use of the ‘coltan’ terminology, short for columbite-tantalites, reflecting the niobium-dominant (columbite) and tantalum-dominant (tantalite) end-members of this oxide mineral series. Despite this common terminology, Geoscience Australia says most of the world’s niobium resource is hosted within the mineral pyrochlore.
Outside of Brazil and Canada, niobium is found on the African continent including the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Malawi, and Rwanda.
Found all over Globe
In Africa, ASX-listed exploration company Globe Metals & Mining is continuing offtake conversations, strategic financing arrangements, and is progressing with the Malawi Government on granting Export Development Zone status for refining at its Kanyika Project, as revealed by this news service.
Speaking to Mining.com.au, CEO Charles Altshuler details why the Kanyika Project is an important one globally, and why it must come online sooner rather than later.
“The Kanyika Project is globally strategic because it provides a conflict-free, diversified, and traceable source of niobium and tantalum,” Altshuler tells this news service.
“With geopolitical instability in traditional producing regions such as the DRC and Rwanda, OEMs, governments, and financiers are actively seeking secure supply.
“Kanyika is development-ready and capable of producing around 3,000 tonnes of high-purity niobium oxide and 150 tonnes of high-purity tantalum oxide annually, positioning it as a critical addition to global supply chains.”
Altshuler says the market fundamentals for niobium and tantalum look robust. For niobium oxide, demand is forecast to grow from 13,379 tonnes in 2024 to 29,267 tonnes in 2035, driven by aerospace, defence, optics, and rapidly emerging battery applications.
Prices for high-purity niobium oxide could reach US$90–100/kg by 2035.
As reported by this news service on 3 March, niobium pentoxide 99.5% had a market price of US$58.46/kg2 ($64.97/kg2) and is witnessing increased demand due to its low oxidation point and relatively high melting point.
At the start of April 2024, niobium oxide was fetching roughly US$58,000 per tonne, according to Asia Metals.
“For niobium – the adoption of niobium oxide in EV batteries, fast-charging anode materials, and solid-state designs will be transformative”
Tantalum demand is underpinned by electronics, aerospace, and medical applications, with steady growth supported by supply constraints and rising demand in capacitors and semiconductors.
Globe’s CEO notes both markets are defined by supply concentration and premium pricing for traceable, high-purity material. Amid this backdrop, Altshuler sees some emerging trends to keep an eye out for into 2030.
“For niobium – the adoption of niobium oxide in EV batteries, fast-charging anode materials, and solid-state designs will be transformative. For tantalum – traceability requirements under new EU and US critical minerals regulations will favour conflict-free producers like Globe,” Altshuler explains to this news service.
“Both metals will see increased integration into clean energy technologies, AI-driven optics, and aerospace innovation.”
Nigh on inevitable
Business Research Insights reports that in 2024 the global niobium market was valued at US$1.543 billion and is expected to rise slightly to US$1.598 billion in 2025, eventually reaching US$2.114 billion by 2033, expanding at a CAGR of 3.6% from 2025 to 2033.
However, Intel Market Research is much more bullish and forecasts the global niobium and niobium alloy market size to be valued at US$2.927 billion in 2024 – projected to reach US$4.649 million by 2032, exhibiting a CAGR of 7% during the forecast period.
Outside of the aforementioned companies and countries that dominate the market, there’s a growing number of juniors trying to muscle into the space.
The Dubbo Project in New South Wales is one, developed by Australian Strategic Materials (ASX:ASM) and contains a polymetallic resource measuring 75.18 million tonnes @ 0.44% niobium oxide.
Australian Strategic is working towards a final investment decision (FID) in 2026, with 2,650 tonnes of ferroniobium due to be produced annually from 2028.
In April 2025, Great Western Exploration (ASX:GTE) completed a maiden reverse circulation drilling program at the Sumo niobium target, within the Yerrida North Project in Western Australia.
Sumo measures 2km long by 1km wide and is supported by coincident pathfinder geochemistry and prospective for carbonite niobium mineralisation. The target lies 70km south-east of Sandfire Resources (ASX:SFR) DeGrussa Copper-Gold Project, as reported.
A month earlier, Vital Metals (ASX:VML) said it was expanding a Scoping Study for the Tardiff rare earth deposit in Northwest Territories, Canada to include potential niobium recovery.
Niobium is hosted within the same geological formations as the deposit’s rare earth mineralisation, with a maiden niobium resource included in the January 2025 resource estimate.
Tardiff’s resource contains 192.7 million tonnes at 1.3% total rare earth oxide and 0.3% niobium, containing 636,000 tonnes of neodymium and praseodymium and 578,000 tonnes of niobium pentoxide.
Then in January 2025, St George Mining (ASX:SGQ) entered into an agreement with two Brazilian scientific agencies to optimise niobium and rare earths downstream processing and production from the Araxá Project in Minas Gerais, as reported by this news service.
Under the technical collaboration agreement with EMBRAPII and SENAI, studies will be conducted of the Araxá niobium and rare earths mineralisation with the aim of developing a new and sustainable process to maximise the recovery of the minerals.
At the time Executive Chairman John Prineas said the agreement was a key step to support the development of an optimum processing flowsheet for Araxá.
On 6 August 2024, St George entered into an agreement with the owner of the Araxá Project, Itafos Araxá Mineracao E Fertilizantes, whereby privately held Niobium Dragon would acquire all of Itafos’s shares.
Under the acquisition, St George paid US$10 million cash and two deferred payments totalling US$11 million.
World niobium and tantalum resources are poorly reported. Central Africa is known to host major resources but dependable resource estimates are rarely available.
According to world estimates published by the USGS, and supplemented with Australian Government figures, Australia’s niobium resources are minor, accounting for about 4% of global niobium resources in 2018.
World production of contained niobium was estimated by the USGS to be about 68 kt in 2018, dominated by Brazil (88%), followed by Canada (10%)
Write to Adam Orlando at Mining.com.au
Images: Bindi, Great Western & St George
