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MODERN MINING
August 2015
NIOBIUM
N
iobium (which decades ago used
to also be known as columbium,
a name which still lingers on in
the term ‘columbite/tantalite’
or ‘coltan’) is not a well-known
commodity. Cradle refers to it as a ‘boutique
metal’ and it is mainly used as an alloy in
steel making, finding particular application
in the production of High Strength Low Alloy
(HSLA) steels. The metal has a long history
of stable prices – the price increased steadily
from US$34/kg in 2008 to US$42/kg in 2014
– and Cradle believes this upward trend will
continue, with a likely growth in demand of
around 25 % expected over the next six years.
Roughly 84 % of world production is in
the hands of one company – CBMM of Brazil,
a private company 70 %-owned by a Brazilian
banking family. The only other two producers
of any significance are Anglo American, which,
like CBMM, mines its niobium in Brazil, and
Magris Resources, whose niobium assets – pre-
viously held by IAMGOLD – are in Canada’s
Quebec Province. Africa has no formal niobium
mines although very small quantities of nio-
bium ore are produced from artisanal operations
in several African countries, including the DRC.
Since the existing players all reportedly have
the capacity to increase production, Cradle – if
it does mine at Panda Hill – will be entering a
market where there is no basic supply shortfall
and where price is largely dictated by CBMM.
It reasons, however, that the sheer quality of its
resource – which lends itself to low-cost mining
methods – plus the fact that Panda Hill would
account for only a tiny part – perhaps 5 % – of
world production should ensure that there is a
place for a new supplier in the market.
While Cradle has only been involved with
Panda Hill since 2013, the deposit has been
subjected to exploration over a period of
decades and in the 1950s and1960s was even
trial mined by a joint venture which included
the then NV Billiton, a predecessor company
of today’s BHP Billiton. With a total mineral
resource of 178 Mt at 0,5 % niobium pentoxide
or Nb
2
0
5
(and an exploration target of a further
200 to 400 Mt at between 0,4 and 0,6 % Nb
2
0
5
),
Cradle believes the deposit to be the most via-
ble undeveloped niobium project worldwide.
Apart from the excellent geology, another
plus for the project is its location just 26 km
from the major regional centre of Mbeya in
south-western Tanzania. The area is well-
served by infrastructure (including the new
Songwe international airport) and is also home
to a burgeoning mining sector based upon the
reopening of the old Lupa goldfield, which was
intensively mined from the 1930s to the 1960s
before production tailed off. Shanta Gold com-
missioned the New Luika Gold Mine, roughly
100 km north of Mbeya, in 2012 and there is a
strong possibility that at least one other opera-
tion will follow.
Cradle, which currently owns 50 % of Panda
Panda Hill
project makes progress
ASX-listed Cradle Resources (Cradle) is making good
progress on the development of its Panda Hill niobium
project in Tanzania and expects to make a decision on
whether to proceed with the construction of a mine
early next year. The results of a pre-feasibility study (PFS)
undertaken on the project were released earlier this year
and indicated that Panda Hill could be developed as
a highly economic operation based upon a base case
mining scenario of 2 Mt/a. If Panda Hill does become a
mine, it will mark the emergence of Cradle as the first new
commercial-scale niobium producer since the 1970s.