Niobium Exploration Heats Up

DEPOSITS DISCOVERED NEAR MARATHON RECEIVING RENEWED INTEREST AFTER ELEMENT NAMED A “STRATEGIC METAL”

By Don Norman

Niobium was first discovered amongst tantalum ores at the beginning of the 19th century and was named “columbium” by the English chemist, Charles Hatchet. It was so similar to tantalum, some (wrongly) thought it was the same element. In 1846, a German scientist, Heinrich Rose, gave the name niobium to an element found in tantalum ore samples he was studying. By 1865, it was determined that niobium and columbium were the same element. The two names were used interchangeably until 1949, when niobium became the official name.

Today, niobium is among the list of “critical minerals” identified by the Ontario government and was recently named a “strategic metal” by the US Geological Survey (USGS) “based on the potential risks to [its] supply (because current production is restricted to only a few countries) and the significant effects that a restriction in supply would have on the defense, energy, high-tech industrial, and medical sectors.” Niobium’s most important uses are in the production of superconducting alloys for jet and rocket engines and in superconducting magnets for MRI scanners and the electronics industry. Niobium also has a new use as a component in the EV battery segment.

Canada is the second-largest producer of niobium in the world –most of it coming from the Niobec Mine in the Saguenay region of Quebec. Another promising resource is being explored on this side of the Ontario-Quebec border near James Bay by Niobay Metals Inc. A recent PEA estimated that a mine at the site could produce over 5,000 metric tonnes of Niobium, almost doubling Canada’s production of the element (in 2020, production was pinned at 6,100 tonnes annually). But with the USGS recently adding it to their strategic metals list, it is understandable why high-grade deposits found further west in Ontario are now generating excitement. Two companies (Nuinsco Metals Inc. and Plato Gold) are at the centre of this excitement with their exploration near Marathon, Ontario.

Background

Nuinsco’s Prairie Lake property is located about 45 km northwest of Marathon, Ontario. The property has long been known for containing niobium deposits. It was in the mid-70s that the company (then called New Insco) first discovered niobium pentoxide (NB2O5) in their samplings at the site. In the 80s they went back to examine the area specifically for the complex’s potential for niobium, phosphorus and wollastonite mineralization. Three holes were drilled and produced numerous intercepts of niobium, with values between 0.5 per cent and 0.7 per cent Nb2O5 over intervals exceeding 10 m. Through the rest of the 80s and 90s the property laid dormant. But Nuinsco returned in 2001 and continued to unearth promising deposits of niobium through their drilling programs.

Then, in 2010, respected prospector Rudy Wahl collected a sample assaying 1.63 per cent Nb2O5 from the Good Hope property at a site just outside of the Prairie Lake property approximately 200m north-west of Nuinsco’s property boundary. This discovery earned Wahl the Bernie Schnieders Discovery of the Year Award for 2014 from the Northwestern Ontario Prospectors’ Association (NWOPA).

The Good Hope Property is located approximately 45 kilometers northwest of Marathon and 28 km north of Highway 17. In May 2017, Plato Gold signed an option agreement with Rudy Wahl and co-owners to acquire 100 per cent interest in the Good Hope property. “I am very pleased to have Plato and its shareholders involved in the Good Hope Niobium project,” said Anthoney Cohen, President and CEO of Nuinsco, on the news of the acquisition. “Niobium is classified as a ‘strategic metal’ by the U.S. government and is a metal whose various uses should continue to grow.”

Regional Geology

The proximity to rail and road access makes the properties even more attractive. The regional geology surrounding these two properties consists of alkaline and carbonatite intrusions formed during midcontinental rifting within the trans-superior tectonic zone. The Good Hope property essentially forms a doughnut around the Prairie Lake complex but despite the proximity of the two properties, there are geological differences. The Prairie Lake complex is composed of carbonatite, ijolite and potassic nepheline syenite. The most common rock types on the Good Hope property are carbonatite, syenite breccia and ijolite. The Good Hope property hosts niobium mineralization in pyrochlore. The niobium mineralization differs from that in the Prairie Lake complex in that it is low in thorium and uranium contents.

In 2018, Plato Gold initiated a diamond drill program on the Good Hope property. The two most significant intersections from the drilling program were 0.190 per cent Nb2O5 and 2.04 per cent P2O5 over 93.08m (drill hole PGH-18-06; 354.18-447.26m) and 0.175 per cent Nb2O5 and 2.03 per cent P2O5 over 89.24m (drill hole PGH-18-10A; 345.0-434.24m).

“I am very pleased with the results of this drill program,” said Anthony J. Cohen, President of Plato Gold Corp. “The large area of massive carbonatites and breccias suggest that there is much more area to explore with this near to surface project that is located close to unparalleled infrastructure. The future demand for niobium is growing with all of its important new uses, and it is fortunate to have this project located in the Province of Ontario.”

By August 2019, Plato Gold had exercised its option to gain 100 per cent control of the Good Hope property.

Renewed Urgency

In January 2020, Canada and the U.S. announced they had finalized the Canada–U.S. Joint Action Plan on Critical Minerals Collaboration, delivering on the commitment made by Prime Minister Trudeau and U.S. President Trump in June 2019. The move was intended to advance the two countries’ mutual interest in securing supply chains for the critical minerals needed for important manufacturing sectors.

“By finalizing the Canada–U.S. Joint Action Plan on Critical Minerals Collaboration, we are advancing secure access to the critical minerals that are key to our economic growth and security,” said Canada’s Minister of Natural Resources at the time, Seamus O’Regan.

With niobium listed among those critical minerals, both companies stepped up their exploration in the months following the announcement.

Between July and December 2021, Nuinsco announced 10 consecutive drill holes that produced an intersection of 100m or more of rare earth elements, niobium, tantalum and phosphate mineralization at their Prairie Lake project. “All of the reported intersections have commenced at or near surface, and none are closed off at depth,” said Paul Jones, Nuinsco’s CEO. The first 10 drill holes are located in the southern half of the Prairie Lake project and the company is awaiting additional sample results from drill holes in the northern half of the project.

Plato Gold continued analyzing samples from its 2018 diamond drill program. In 2021, the company submitted over 2,000 one-meter samples of additional drill core from the Good Hope diamond drilling program to Activation Laboratories Ltd. (ActLabs) in Thunder Bay. The company said they expected results by the end of 2021 but have yet to release any results. A helicopter airborne MAG-SPEC 50-meter line spacing survey was also recently conducted by Prospectair Geosurveys Inc. over the property. Anomalies defined by this survey, combined with the expected assay results from Actlabs, will help target future exploration work on the Good Hope niobium project.

The pandemic has had a negative impact on the demand for Niobium over the past two years, but with the economy recovering, demand for the metal is expected to increase in the coming years. With over 90 per cent of the world’s niobium currently mined and produced in Brazil, and with only three mines in the world (two in Brazil and one in Canada) currently producing niobium as their primary ore, it may be difficult to keep pace with growing demand. As such, we can expect continued exploration and development of niobium deposits in Ontario for the foreseeable future.

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