Niocorp Developments Ltd (NB)

[Blairman]

Niobium is a metal essential for Europe and the United States and has never been produced in these countries over the last 30 years. It is also essential to China, which has become the largest consumer of niobium in the world, because of the booming infrastructure activity and construction improvements leading to better quality steel. The most recent earthquakes, leaving dramatic loss of life and damage, have highlighted the consequences of the use of inferior construction materials and even a small amount of niobium (0.1%) adds greatly to the quality of any steel alloy. Yet, even as China needs more niobium, unlike the rare earths or graphite, zinc and iron ore, it cannot not produce even a gram of niobium. But it’s not just the Chinese; Japanese and Koreans have joined China in securing exclusive supply contracts with Brazil’s CBMM (Companhia Brasileira de Metalurgia and Mineração, the world’s largest producer of niobium) amounting to 85% of all global supplies. What is most shocking is that Western companies were left completely cut off from the contract negotiations.