Niobium is widely used in iron and steel industry, aerospace industry, superconducting materials and other fields. About 85% ~ 90% of niobium in the world is used in iron and steel production in the form of ferrocolumbium. Niobium-containing steel is widely used in automobiles, Bridges, oil pipelines, natural gas pipelines, oil drilling, offshore oil drilling platforms, railway tracks, civil and construction steel reinforcement, etc. High-purity niobium is used in a wide range of aerospace applications, mainly in the production of engines and heat-resistant components for rockets and spaceships, and in almost all jet fighter engines. Some niobium compounds and alloys have high superconducting transition temperature, so they are widely used in the manufacturing of various industrial superconductors. At present, almost all industrial superconducting devices use NbTi and Nb3Sn as superconductors, such as superconducting generators, accelerators, high-power magnets, superconducting magnetic energy storage devices, nuclear magnetic resonance imaging equipment, etc. Currently, the vast majority of the world's niobium needs come from Brazil and Canada. China's niobium deposits have large proved reserves and rank top in the world. There are no independent niobium mines in China, and 99% of the niobium resources needed by the industry are imported. At present, niobium deposits discovered in China are mainly distributed in Inner Mongolia and hubei province. The niobium resources in the three mining areas of baiyunebo, barzhe and zhushan miaoya in Inner Mongolia account for about 96% of the national niobium reserves. The niobium deposits in baiyunebo and miaoya belong to carbonic acid type, and barzhe belongs to alkaline granite type. Due to the large dispersion of niobium minerals, fine grain size and complex composition of niobium-containing minerals, these super-large deposits have not been well developed and utilized except for a small amount of recovery of niobium as associated resources in the bayan obo deposit. At present, the main niobium ore types used in China are pegmatite-type and granite-type tantalum-niobium ore deposits, which have low niobium grade and small scale and are associated resources of tantalum.
Tag: Niobium , NbTi , tantalum-niobium , tantalum
