RareX enters trading halt in lead-up to new niobium project acquisition

Niobium, a critical metal considered rare and difficult to find, is attracting growing interest around the world as new uses for its many unique capabilities are uncovered.

Niobium and rare earths go hand in hand being found in the same type of igneous, carbonatite, rocks and needing the same kind of technical approach to commercialise.

Australia’s niobium resource has until recently been confined to a small number of deposits, largely as a by-product or co-product of rare earth element or rare earth element-zirconium mineralisation in peralkaline rocks and carbonatites.

However, its addition to the Australian critical minerals list and its growing global demand has seen a real upsurge in exploration programs focused on uncovering new deposits, particularly in Australia.

Growing market size

Mordor Intelligence has estimated the niobium market size at 106.85 kilotons in 2024 and it expects it to reach 171.49Kt by 2029, growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 9.92% during the forecast period.

The global niobium market size was valued at $3.5 billion in 2022 and will reach $4.3b in 2028, with a CAGR of 3.78% between 2024 and 2030.

Niobium has been listed as critical metal in many jurisdictions due to it being an essential component in many high-strength corrosion-resistant low-alloy steels and superalloys and because of its high supply risk.

A single country – Brazil – is responsible for over 90% of global niobium production.

Critical mineral designation

Niobium is one of a suite of commodities identified by the Australian government as critical minerals, considered vital for the well-being of the world’s economies, yet whose supply may be at risk of disruption.

Geoscience Australia says niobium, along with other refractory elements such as tantalum, is also used in nickel and nickel-iron superalloys, particularly for applications requiring strength and heat resistance.

Uses for such superalloys include turbine blades in jet engines within the aeronautic industry and gas turbines in the energy industry.

Superconductor value

It has also been noted that niobium becomes a superconductor at very low temperatures.

When alloyed with titanium or tin, it produces the superconducting magnets used in magnetic resonance imaging scanners, nuclear magnetic resonance equipment and particle accelerators such as the Large Hadron Collider at CERN.

Other uses for niobium include in glass for applications such as corrective spectacles and camera lenses, jewellery, prosthetics and medical implants, capacitors in electronic circuits, sodium vapour lamps and cutting tools.

Niobium is also considered essential for a number of advanced technologies, which will drive its value higher in coming years.

RareX expanding niobium hunt

One of the local players with increased focus on the rare critical metal is RareX (ASX: REE), which has uncovered a high-value niobium resource at its Cummins Range rare earths project in Western Australia.

Judging by a small notice in a trading halt request today, the company’s niobium interests are about to grow.

RareX told the Australian Securities Exchange it was seeking the trading halt pending an announcement regarding a niobium acquisition and a capital raising.

Cummins Range potential

RareX has known of the niobium potential at Cummins Range for a number of years, with drilling intersecting a thick zone of primary rare earth-niobium mineralisation back in October 2020.

Recent baseline studies have further confirmed the value of the growing niobium portion of the deposit.

In late January 2024, RareX released an updated mineral resource estimate for Cummins Range stating the project contains Australia’s largest undeveloped rare earths deposit and the second-largest rare earths deposit overall, making it a significant potential source of niobium.

Drilling in the lead-up to the update underpinned an updated resource estimate totalling 524 million tonnes at 0.31% total rare earth oxide (TREO) and 4.6% phosphorus pentoxide, including a higher-grade resource of 44Mt at 1.02% TREO and 5.8% phosphorus pentoxide based on a 6,500 parts per million TREO cut.

The favourable phosphate mineralisation makes Cummins Range a unique rare earths project.