Donald Trump will be moving into the White House. His presidency is expected to boost demand for commodities as the elect has pledged to enact growth fueling tax cuts and infrastructure spending after being sworn into office on Friday.
The US Department of Defence has declared niobium as one of its top “strategic” metals as it is not mined domestically, is a matter of national security and is important to the nation’s economy. The US government maintains a stockpile of niobium at all times and according to the USGS, the DLA Strategic Materials plans to acquire more niobium to address the current shortfall. The US imports all of its niobium from Brazil (83%), Canada (12%) and others (5%).
Today, Arctic Star Exploration Corp. reported to have started permitting for a drill program on its wholly owned CAP Property, located within the central parts of the Rocky Mountain Rare Metal Belt, 80 km northwest of Prince George in British Columbia, Canada.
In 2010, Arctic Star acquired this property for its potential to host niobium-tantalum and/or rare earth elements (“REEs”). Since then, these commodities have undergone a dramatic shift in demand owing in part to their usage in the green energy sector, which includes modern wind turbines, rechargeable batteries, catalytic convertors etc. Past exploration identified a large anomaly to be drill tested shortly, potentially discovering a niobium-rich deposit.
Niobium focused companies performed well in 2016. One of them was MDN Inc., which changed its name to NioBay Metals Inc. following the announcement of their acquisition of the James Bay Niobium Project in Ontario which has a historic indicated resource with a grade of 0.52% Nb2O5. The company‘s stock appreciated by about 900% in 2016.
The year before, NioCorp Developments Ltd. (originally structured by Zimtu Capital Corp.) reported an indicated resource grade of 0.71% Nb2O5 assuming a 0.3% cut-off grade at its Elk Creek Niobium Deposit in Nebraska, USA. NioCorp‘s current market capitalization exceeds $130 million CAD.
Stretching for some 2,500 km from just above Idaho and Montana in the south to the Yukon in the north, Mother Nature has created the right geological environment along the Rocky Mountain Rare Metal Belt for the emplacement of both REEs and rare metals. Some explorers have been active along the belt for several years.
The CAP Property was originally staked to cover an approximately 3-5 km diameter, circular, airborne magnetic geophysical anomaly which is believed to represent a carbonatite (or similar intrusion) at depth. The upcoming drill program may discover a significant deposit.
Arctic Star‘s CAP Property (2,825 hectares) is located within the central parts of this belt and about 50 km southwest of the Wicheeda REE Carbonatite from Spectrum Mining Corp., a private company. Wicheeda‘s Main Zone was drill tested with 15 holes at 3 sites in 2008/2009; highlights included:
• 3.55% REE over 49 m
• 2.92% REE over 72 m
• 2.2% REE over 144 m
This discovery prompted a staking rush in the region and over a dozen companies have been conducting exploration programs.
Commerce Resources Corp. owns the advanced-stage Blue River Tantalum-Niobium Project north of Kamloops in BC, where substantial resources have been defined. The company is currently focused on its other project, the Ashram REE Deposit in Québec.
Taseko Mines Ltd. (+155% in 2016; current market capitalization: $340 million CAD) acquired the Aley Niobium Project, 140 km north of Mackenzie in BC, in 2007 and now hosts an extensive body of niobium mineralization as indicated by drilling, with grades averaging 0.4% Nb2O5.
On the CAP Property, 2 narrowly outcropping syenite dikes have been identified and sampled near the crest of the ridge that trends from northwest to southeast across the property. The dikes contained highly anomalous geochemistry (potentially indicative of a large and higher grade deposit below surface), including:
• 0.48-0.98% Nb2O5 (481-981 ppm)
• 1.13-3.19% zirconium
• >0.1% lanthanum
• >0.1% cerium
• >0.05% neodymium
These high-level dikes indicate that the source of the magnetic geophysical anomaly may be associated with a carbonatite, or similar intrusion. Geologically, the Cap Property has similar potential to the known carbonatite complexes worldwide. Carbonatite-related deposits are a major host for rare metals, such as niobium and tantalum, and REEs. The world‘s largest niobium mine, Araxa in Brazil, and several of the world‘s largest REE deposits, including Lynas Corp.‘s Mt. Weld Deposit in Australia and Molycorp‘s Mountain Pass Deposit in the US, are all hosted by carbonatites. Geologically similar exploration projects include Hudson Resources Inc.‘s Sarfartoq Carbonatite Project in Greenland and Rare Element Resources Ltd.‘s Bear Lodge Carbonatite Project in Wyoming, USA.
