Add another battery metal to your shopping list: niobium.
Once valued almost entirely for its properties in strengthening steel, niobium’s demand is expected to soar as the metal increasingly takes on a role as a technology metal.
Lithium-ion batteries that have been modified with niobium are free of fire risk and can charge in 10 minutes or less if the battery anodes contain niobium.
Apart from this new source of demand, niobium supply is on the cusp of becoming more diverse, with traditional sources Brazil and Canada facing competition from new projects coming on line in various global locations.
One such is remote region explorer WA1 Resources and its 100%-owned West Arunta project located in a remote region of Western Australia, 490km south of Halls Creek and 1,300km inland from Port Hedland.
More high-grade drill results
WA1, with a market cap of $107 million, is continuing to add runs at West Arunta with further high-grade niobium intersections at the Luni prospect.
These latest results, the first assays from the 2023 drilling program, reported 31m at 3.5% niobium oxide (including 13m at 5.0%), 24m at 2.1% (including 10m at 4.0%) and 21m at 2.2% (including 12m at 3.2%).
WA1 listed on the ASX in February 2022 with its main objective being to discover a Tier-1 mineral deposit in Western Australia’s under-explored regions.
Previous work in the entire project area had been limited to exploration for gold and copper largely in the form of reconnaissance airborne geophysics, limited ground surveys and surface sampling.
‘One of the world’s most critical raw materials’
What the company terms “significant” high-grade niobium mineralization at Luni is confirmed to extend at least 400m east and 200m south of the original discovery hole, and remains open in all directions.
Managing director Paul Savich says drilling at Luni has quickly consolidated a shallow and extremely high-grade mineralised envelope by stepping out on a broad 200m spacing.
Luni continues to demonstrate the potential to host a globally significant deposit of one of the world’s most critical raw materials,” he added.
Reconnaissance drilling is continuing with further assays due in the next few weeks. The company has also embarked on plans for resource definition and metallurgical test work.
Exciting applications in green energy space
Mr Savich sees niobium as having exciting developing applications in the fast-growing green energy space.
“The US and European Union account for 40% of global niobium demand and have identified niobium as their second and fourth most critical raw material, respectively.”
At present, more than 90% of global niobium is produced from only three mining operations — two in Brazil and one in Canada.
And 80% of world supply comes from one company: Companhia Brasileira de Metalurgia e Mineracao, or CBMM. The other, smaller Brazilian supplier, is owned by China Molybdenum.
An indicator of how fast niobium demand is likely to grow is that CBMM has announced a US$80 million spend to expand its niobium oxide from the present 10,000 tonnes a year to 40,000 tonnes by 2030.
The company will by next year be able to supply 3,000 tonnes per annum of battery grade niobium oxide.
Niobium has unique low-carbon properties
As WA1 sees it, niobium is a metal with unique properties that make it essential as the world transitions to a low-carbon economy.
Ferroniobium (at 65% niobium) is the primary saleable form of the metal and sells for about [A] $45,000/tonne and is used primarily as a micro-alloy in steel making, providing extra strength, corrosion and heat resistance.
Most notably it was used in the 82,000 tonnes of steel needed by the builders of the Oresund bridge that crosses the strait that separates Denmark and Sweden, which without niobium would have required 15,000 tonnes more steel in its construction.
Using 300 grams of niobium per mid-sized car can lighten the vehicle’s weight by 200 kilograms through less steel needing to be used.
In batteries, the addition of niobium to anodes in lithium-ion batteries raises the number of re-charge cycles (to 20,000) over the battery’s life, and allow recharging in as little as six minutes.
Drilling to continue at West Arunta
WA1 Resources plans to continue drilling at Luni on a regular 200m-spaced grid to further delineate the shallow mineralization.
Holes are also planned outside the Luni geophysical target to assess potential for extended mineralization.
A diamond drill is expected to begin work in June, targeting mineralised horizons. These will acquire material for metallurgical test work.
While the initial focus remains on Luni, the company also plans to undertake follow-up drilling at its Pachpadra prospect.
