Unprecedented ore found, containing something 'more precious than gold'

According to the South China Morning Post, China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC) said that the black-brown niobobatite is the 17th new ore ever found in this mine.

Niobobaotite is made of niobium, barium, titanium, iron and chloride.

The new discovery is particularly valuable to China and its high-tech industries (Photo: RHJPhtotos/Shutterstock).

It's niobium that's most interesting: This pale gray metal is a particularly valuable rare earth element, used primarily in steel production, where it adds strength to the material without adding significant weight.

Niobium is also used to make valuable alloys, in particle accelerators and other advanced scientific equipment because it is a low-temperature superconductor.

It is also a metal that has the potential to become increasingly valuable in the future, as researchers around the world are working to develop niobium-lithium and niobium-graphene batteries.

These new generation batteries can significantly reduce the risk of fire and explosion during use, provide faster charging speeds, and have a longer life than traditional lithium batteries.

A niobium-graphene battery research team at NUS even claims the new battery could last for 30 years – 10 times longer than lithium-ion batteries – and can be fully charged in under 10 minutes.

This discovery is extremely valuable to China, a country that imports 95% of its niobium.

“Depending on the volume and quality of the niobium, the discovery could help China become self-sufficient in this rare earth,” National University of Singapore (NUS) electrical and computer engineering professor Antonio H. Castro Neto told the South China Morning Post.

(Source: Nguoi Lao Dong)

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