Battery materials company Echion Technologies (earlier post) and the world’s leading supplier of Niobium products and technology, CBMM, announced a multi-year manufacturing partnership that will construct a new 2000 tonne per year facility in Araxá, Brazil, to supply, at scale, niobium oxides anode grade to be applied in Echion’s safe, fast-charging and long-life XNO battery anode material.
The facility—due to open in early 2024— will have the capacity to supply material equivalent to 1GWh of battery cell production. This positions Echion as the first in the market to guarantee the commercial supply of niobium-based battery anode oxides.
Echion’s niobium-based anode material XNO enables lithium-ion batteries that can safely charge in less than 10 minutes, maintain high energy densities even at low temperatures, and deliver high power across a cycle life of more than 10,000 cycles. Applications powered by XNO include battery electric and hybrid trains, mining haul trucks, high-demand buses and delivery vehicles as well as applications in motorsport and space.
With a strategy of having 25% of its revenue coming from non-steel products by 2030, CBMM will invest US$ 80 million in the expansion of its entire Niobium oxides production line, which will include this new facility.
The investment will allow total production of 3,000 tonnes of battery-grade Niobium oxide in 2024 for applications in the lithium-ion battery segment for high-power, long-life, safer, and ultra-fast charging technologies following the global mega trend of electrification. This investment is in line with CBMM strategic growth plan to reach 40,000 tonnes of Niobium oxide capacity in 2030.
TOSHIBA, ECHION, NYOBOLT... are just some of the entities pursuing Niobium & Titanium oxide lithium-ion battery applications!
From your own opinions & conclusions! IMHO: BODES WELL for a Secure, Stable U.S. future supplier like Niocorp! Which has the largest known deposit of Niobium in the U.S.! Second Largest Proven REE deposit. The Elk Creek carbonatite, measuring ~7 square kilometers in southeastern Nebraska, is acknowledged by the USGS as 'potentially the largest global resources of niobium and rare-earth elements' and was successfully targeted in the past by Molycorp in the 70s and 80s. (A lot has gone on in 50 years.) ~Taken from this 2010 article- Quantum Rare Earth Developments Distinguished in BNN Interview and Mining Journal as Ideal Vehicle for Exposure to Niobium and REE~ https://www.prweb.com/releases/2010/05/prweb3975874.htm
Within the massive carbonatite there are several recorded occurrences of rare earth elements. Molycorp did not put in enough drill holes to calculate a resource for REEs however their geologists used terms to describe the situation unfolding in terms of 'tens of millions and MEGATONNES!.
(To date the entire deposit has never been fully calculated...)
I remember Jim's response to 5/27/2022 -How Does Niocorp's Elk Creek Project compare to other "World Class Projects?" (See post #86488)
......A more useful comparison strategy for investors is to look at rare earth projects through multiple lenses, such as those I describe above. It is not easy to do this if one doesn’t have a pretty deep understanding of the REE industry and the challenges of successfully making these strategic metals. Having said all of that, it’s clear that our Elk Creek carbonatite is very large and similar in total contained rare earths to some of the largest known rare earth resources in the world, including the ARAXA CARBONATITE in BRAZIL and the St. Honore carbonatite in Quebec. Jim Sims
~Pending Finance of course!~ I would imagine there are INTERESTED ENTITIES wanting to secure ALL the Critical Minerals Niocorp will produce moving forward. "I do see a path forward (2023-2026 timeframe now instead of 2025 production), & am keeping my front row seats with many!"
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