Among the most appreciated metals in the era of energy transition, a prominent place certainly belongs to niobium, a rare and strategic resource that many industries, even belonging to very different sectors, have begun to appreciate and enhance especially for its unique properties, and in particular for its ability to combine lightness, resistance and ductility.
Niobium is often found in particular minerals such as columbite and pyrochlore, and the largest deposits in the world are found in Brazil, which, together with Canada, occupies a position of absolute importance in the production of this resource. Very often, niobium is found within very limited reserves, a fact that, over the years, has contributed notably to increasing its strategic value.
Among the most appreciated properties of this material is its high mechanical resistance, which allows it to resist corrosion and maintain its solidity even at very high temperatures. At very low temperatures, niobium has the ability to become an excellent superconductor, and its great ductility allows it to be easily worked without losing its precious mechanical properties. These characteristics, over the years, have allowed it to prove useful in a wide variety of sectors, from electronics to energy, from superconductors to sustainable applications, always proving to be a very valid ally for a large number of industrial processes.
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