Globe to fit fashion with niche metal

Charlotte Dudley
MiningNews.net

AUSTRALIAN junior explorer Globe Uranium was investigating a uranium anomaly at its Kanyika project in Malawi when it stumbled on an obscure metal known as niobium.

“We didn’t know what we were looking at, at the start,” Globe exploration manager Julian Stephens told MiningNews.net. “None of the geologists or myself had seen anything like it before. And certainly it was the uranium anomaly that attracted us to the target, so while it started off as a uranium target, it became something slightly different.”

Niobium is a steel additive that can be used in the steel making and high-end technology industries in the form of super-alloys, high strength low-alloy steels and super conductors.

It can also be used in consumer gadgets such as laptops and flat screen televisions, and as a substitute for other steel additive commodities, such as the more costly molybdenum and vanadium. Exploration at the Kanyika deposit – which Globe acquired in 2006 – yielded a 56.4 million tonne inferred resource, containing 320 million pounds of niobium metal as well as less significant (and likely uneconomic) amounts of uranium, tantalum and zircon.

Kanyika measures around 2km long and 120m deep, and is not far from Paladin Energy’s Kayelekera uranium deposit. With the resource open to mineralisation at three points and the niobium component high grade and near surface, Globe management was visibly excited about the potential for low-cost openpit production.

Although Globe floated possible production estimates, the company was hazy on any firm numbers saying it was yet to complete its scoping study at Kanyika.

Not only is it early days for the prospect, there is also the issue that niobium is, for the most part, little known, with few comparable niobium operations in existence. (Toronto Stock Exchange-listed IAMGold’s Niobec operation in Québec, Canada, is the mine Globe is looking to as a niobium reference point.)

While still heralding the merits of its uranium interests (Globe’s other Malawian asset is the Livingstonia uranium project) the company was on the publicity offensive for Kanyika and niobium, with Globe managing director Mark Sumich forecasting great things for the commodity. Sumich described growth in niobium as “going silly” and that not only was crude steel production on the up, but so was the amount of niobium per unit of steel.

The surprise niobium find gives renewed hope to Globe of developing a cash flow sooner, rather than later. The company said this made sense whether the exported product was uranium or niobium. “First and foremost we’re an exploration company, as opposed to a uranium company,”

Sumich told MiningNews.net. “We like uranium and like the outlook for it, and have got good skills in it as a company, but there’s nothing wrong with being opportunistic and making money where you can.” Flexibility, he added, was also important.

Mark Sumich “I mean as an opportunity presents in a variety of different ways – you don’t want to be too choosy about what you come across,” he said. While Kanyika’s niobium credentials had not led to any formal change in company strategy, Sumich said based on the discovery, Globe would be “cutting its cloth to fit the fashion”.

“The main thing is getting to a point of producing cash as soon as possible and Kanyika for us is our most advanced project, so that is our number one priority,” he said. “That’s our quickest route to production and that now means niobium.”

Sumich acknowledged the Chinese appetite for steel, but said Globe was eyeing potential customers in the North American and European markets. He said the company had targeted those regions because of their larger high-end technological industries and the greater investor understanding of niobium.

The sale of niobium would likely be via individual offtake agreements (the metal is not publicly traded), and Sumich said while it was early days for the Kanyika project, Globe had “had chats with potential customers”. Meanwhile back to the numbers, assuming a 75% recovery at Kanyika, Globe is flirting with the possibility of 1.5Mt of high-grade material over the first 10 years.

The part-finished scoping study resultsso far indicate potential to produce around 9.2m pounds. Globe is also investigating possible processing options and looking at infrastructure issues. The company said any low volume ore exports would likely be trucked through either Tanzania or Mozambique and power requirements would be self managed.