Niobium News

Related Metals and Minerals Industry News

• In February 2022, Element Six UK Ltd collaborated with II-VI Inc. Through this collaboration, II-VI licenses Element Six's intellectual property and necessary equipment would produce high-quality single-crystal diamonds to expand its core competency in diamond technology.
• In July 2021, Element Six UK LTD and the University of Warwick entered a partnership to develop the next generation of synthetic diamond-enabled technologies. Under this partnership, Element Six applied its renowned expertise and capabilities in advanced material solutions.

• October 2023: Ferroglobe acquired a high-purity quartz mine in South Carolina, the United States. This acquisition was intended to guarantee that Ferroglobe has access to this critical material, which was expected to allow it to meet the growing demand for high-purity silicon metal.
• October 2022: Ferroglobe announced the renewal of the production facility of 55,000 tons of silicon metal in Polokwane, South Africa. The decision to renew the Polokwane facility was intended to increase the company's production capacity of silicon metal.
• August 2022: An agreement between REC Silicon and Mississippi Silicon strengthened the United States' solar supply chain. This agreement helped Mississippi Silicon, in particular the solar industry, maintain a stronghold on silicon metal.

• October 2023: DENSO CORPORATION announced an investment of USD 500 million in Silicon Carbide LLC, Coherent Corp.’s silicon carbide (SiC) business, to ensure a long-term stable procurement of SiC wafers to enhance the competitiveness of its electrification components.
• May 2023: Saint-Gobain NORPRO, a business unit of Saint-Gobain Ceramics, announced the acquisition of 50.1% shares in SICAT GmbH & Co. KG, which manufactures beta silicon carbide and carbon catalyst supports. This acquisition was made to enable Saint-Gobain NORPRO to extend its carrier offerings within biofuel and clean energy spaces by adding beta SiC and Carbon products to its product portfolio.
• September 2022: SK Siltron, a global maker of semiconductor wafers, announced that it would invest USD 1.65 billion by 2026 and allocate USD 0.7 billion to build new wafer manufacturing in Gumi National Industrial Complex.
• May 2022: SK Siltron announced that the newly built US-Bay City plant would increase production capacity, estimating over 100,000 silicon carbide sheets annually.

• October 2022: Cimbar and Newpark entered a long-term barite supply agreement for Newpark's US drilling fluids business, with an initial term of four years following the closing of the transaction.
• May 2022: Andhra Pradesh Mineral Development Corporation (APMDC) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) worth INR 750 crore (USD 100.63 million) to supply 16 lakh metric tons of barite to three firms in the United States.

• August 2023: Sumitomo Chemical introduced a new technology for the production of ultra-fine α-alumina, which was set to start in September 2023. Alumina materials that are made by calcining aluminum hydroxide at high temperatures have a purity of around 99.99% or more. They are called ultra-high purity alumina.
• January 2022: Polar Performance Materials was awarded USD 4.1 million by Sustainable Development Technology Canada (SDTC) for Battery Cleantech. SDTC funding will allow Polar Performance Materials to build a demonstration line for manufacturing high-purity alumina that produces lithium-ion batteries.

• November 2023: Cornish Tin secured GBP 1.1 million (USD 1.38 million) from 1,700 investors on Crowdcube, more than 250% of the fundraising goal for its Cornwall tin exploration project, Great Wheal Vor.
• August 2023: Peruvian mining company Minsur announced a five-year investment of at least USD 2 billion to expand its copper and tin operations.
• December 2022: Aurubis began building a state-of-the-art recycling plant in Belgium. The new plant process will allow for faster recovery of tin from the anode sludge and full extraction of other precious metals, such as gold and silver.
• June 2022: The Malaysia Smelting Corp unit acquired a neighboring tin mining leaseholder. According to a filing MSC made with the stock exchange, the purchase transaction will involve 272,250 shares or 20% of RHT's expanded share capital.

• In January 2023, Technip Energies was awarded a contract for the modernization of sulfur recovery equipment at Aramco's Riyadh Refinery as part of its long-term agreement with Aramco. In order to comply with stricter emission regulations for sulfur dioxide and to improve the performance of the existing three sulfur recovery units SRU, this contract covers the installation of three new tail gas treatment units TGT, with a recovery efficiency of more than 99.9%.
• In April 2023. Valero Energy Corp (VLO.N) initiated the manufacturing on a new coker at its 335,000-barrel-per-day (bpd) Port Arthur, Texas, refinery. The restart of production of the new 55,000bpd coker follows the completion of the overhaul of the 115,000-bpd AVU-147 crude distillation unit. The unit uses hydrogen to remove sulfur from gas oil, gasoline and diesel feedstocks.

• December 2022: CBMM announced a significant investment of USD 80 million to expand its niobium oxide capacity from 500 tons to 3,000 tons by 2024. Collaborating with Echion Technologies, CBMM plans to establish a niobium oxide facility at its Araxá plant in Minas Gerais, Brazil, aligning with its goal of achieving a niobium oxide capacity of 40,000 tons by 2030.
• March 2022: CBMM formed a partnership with Horwin Brasil, a manufacturer of electric motorcycles, with the aim of enhancing access to clean energy and promoting electromobility in the nation. The agreement focused on applying a lithium-ion battery with Niobium in electric two-wheel vehicles. In this partnership, CBMM invested 70 million reais in 2022 and projected sales of 500 tons of niobium oxide. The company's target is to increase niobium product sales to 50,000 tons by 2030.
• January 2022: Kymera International completed the acquisition of Telex Metals, a global supplier of tantalum, tungsten, and niobium particulates. This strategic acquisition will expand Kymera's business into tantalum and niobium materials.

• February 2023: Western Magnesium Corporation announced its plan to build a new production facility for magnesium metal with an initial annual capacity of 25,000 metric tons and a new research and development center in Nevada. With the help of this new production facility, the company aims to serve automotive, aerospace, airline, eco-friendly technology companies, and Defense Contractors through this expansion.
• July 2022: Chongqing Boao Magnesium-Aluminum Metal Manufacturing Co. Ltd (a wholly owned subsidiary of RSM Group/ Nanjing Yunhai Special Metals Co. Ltd) announced the completion of a high-performance magnesium-aluminum alloy and deep processing project (Phase II project) located in Pingshan Industrial Park, Chongqing City. The new production facilities could have various workshops, including a magnesium particle production workshop with a 7,200 tons/year capacity.

• July 2022: Rio Tinto unveils a USD 188 million aluminum investment plan in Canada. The company is planning to grow aluminum billets production by 202,000 metric tonnes. The firm will expand the capacity of the existing casting center at its Alma plant.
• February 2022: Emirates Global Aluminium PJSC, or EGA, plans to construct the United Arab Emirates' largest aluminum recycling facility with a capacity of 150,000 tonnes annually. The plant will turn post-consumer aluminum scrap into low-carbon aluminum billets and pre-consumer aluminum scrap from extrusion operations.