Resource World Magazine

D E C E M B E R / J A N U A R Y 2 0 1 8 www.resourceworld.com 33 Australia, Russia, Brazil, Canada, Burundi and Tanzania, amongst others, scheduled to enter production by 2027. The increase in non-Chinese production is expected to significantly reduce China's stranglehold on REE supply, though China is expected to remain the major supplier of REE prod- ucts to the global market. NIOBIUM Approximately 90% of all niobium used is consumed as ferroniobium in steelmak- ing. The rest goes into a wide range of smaller-volume but higher-value applica- tions, such as high-performance alloys, carbides, superconductors, electronic components and functional ceramics. Almost all ferroniobium supply is from just three producers in Brazil and Canada and derives from the mineral pyrochlore. Niobium for non-steel applications is typi- cally obtained from other minerals such as columbite, and columbite-tantalite that are mostly produced by artisanal mining in Africa and South America. According to Roskill, prices are histori- cally very stable and the outlook is one of gentle but steady increase with spikes unlikely. URANIUM According to Cameco, one of the world's largest uranium producers providing about 17% of the world's production from mines in Canada, the US and Kazakhstan, the long-term outlook for the uranium industry remains positive, despite cur- rent market uncertainty. Although nuclear energy continues to play a significant role in the global energy mix, the challenge for the industry is the pathway and timing of the transition from today's over-supplied market to the promise of nuclear growth and positive uranium market conditions in the long term. Agneta Rising, Director General of World Nuclear Association, speaking on the opening day of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Ministerial Conference "Nuclear Power in the 21st Century", in Abu Dhabi recently said that "the nuclear industry has set the Harmony goal for nuclear energy to pro- vide 25% of global electricity by 2050, requiring a tripling of nuclear generation from its present level. This would require the construction of around 1,000 GW of new nuclear capacity by then. Nuclear generation is a competitive option, but barriers are preventing nuclear generation from making the full contribution that is needed. Removing these barriers is essen- tial to achieving the Harmony goal." She would like to see a level playing field for all low carbon energy technologies with a clear and consistent energy policy that avoids nuclear taxes that she says, "distort the economics of long-term opera- tion of nuclear facilities." GRAPHITE Graphite is a form of carbon that is avail- able in both natural and synthetic forms. Graphite demand has long been shaped by trends in steel, but according to Roskill, this is set to change as lithium-ion battery applications surge ahead to become the No.1 graphite market by 2026. Traditional steel-based markets include electrodes for electric arc furnace steel making (currently the major market for synthetic graphite), refractory furnace linings (the major market for natural graphite), foundry sands for ferrous cast- ing and steelmaking recarburisers. Rising production of crude steel in an industrializing China previously supported graphite growth but as China reaches peak steel output, global steel production has slowed and growth is expected to aver- age just 1-2% per year to 2026. Elsewhere though, graphite suppliers are buoyant with optimistic forecasts for growth in emerging electric vehicles (EV) and energy storage system (ESS) markets. As EV and lithium-ion ESS penetration rates rise in China and the rest of the world, Roskill forecasts total global graphite demand in battery applications to rise by 16-26% per year to 2026.

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