Chinese geologists have discovered two new minerals at the world’s largest rare-earth mine in northern China. The Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) has announced the two new niobium-scandium minerals, named Oboniobite and Scandio-fluoro-eckermannite, were discovered in the Bayan Obo deposit in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.
Niobium and scandium are both extremely rare strategically critical metals. Niobium is mainly used in special steels, superconducting materials and aerospace industries, while scandium is widely used in aluminum-scandium alloys and solid oxide fuel cells.
The new minerals contain valuable elements that have significant applications in fields such as new materials, new energy, information technology, aerospace, national defense and military industry, and are of great significance to the country’s economic and social development.
