Sarissa Resources Inc (SRSR)

[Tom Orrow]

WikiLeaks recently released a governmental list of 300 key foreign infrastructures and resources that are vital to U.S. interests. One item that came up multiple times was Niobium.

Yet Niobium is not commonly known in the investment world. It is an element, a rare metal with anticorrosive properties. The demand and price for Niobium has increased dramatically over the past decade. It has a growing amount of applications, from computer screens and camera lenses to automobiles and railroad tracks. It is a strong metal, highly resistant to heat and wear, which is why gas pipelines must contain niobium. But its primary use is a steel hardener. Much of the imported Niobium goes toward the creation of superalloys for use in the aerospace industry and for military applications such as missiles and jets.

Due to its relevance in aerospace and defense, Niobium is considered a “strategic metal” by the U.S. government, meaning there are few or no substitutes for the metal’s essential use. Furthermore, of all strategic metals, Niobium is regarded as one of the most highly critical. But its supplies are considered potentially at risk. This is because only a few sources throughout the world produce the metal. Almost 90% of the world supply comes from Brazil. Nearly all of that comes from only one mine. Most of the rest comes from the Canadian Niobec Mine, owned by IAMGOLD (NYSE: IAG).