History

The Société québécoise d’exploitation minière (SOQUEM) discovered the deposit in 1967 in the southern portion of the Saint-Honoré carbonatite complex; that discovery would later become the Niobec mine. Three years later, Teck mining group joined forces with SOQUEM to develop and mine the deposit. Samples were taken for metallurgical testing purposes in a pilot plant in Québec City. In 1974, following a $ 20-million-investment, the construction of the mine began and production started in January 1976 with a daily throughput of 1,500 tons. Since then, Niobec never stopped evolving. If Quebec’s niobium continues to be shipped all around the world today, it’s because of the major investments that were made, the countless technological innovations and most importantly, the Company’s great pride in being a major player in the worldwide niobium market.

The Niobec mine has brought major economic benefits to the Saint-Honoré municipality. Suddenly becoming the North American niobium capital, Saint-Honoré benefited from remarkable economic growth with the introduction of this specific mining industry. The property covers an area of 2,422.6 hectares, and comprises two mining leases and 66 mining claims.

Until the end of 1994, niobium was only sold as a concentrate to European, Indian, Japanese, and American companies. In 1994, following the construction of a concentrate conversion plant, commercial production of ferroniobium began. Steel and other specialized metal manufacturers use ferroniobium as an alloy to improve the physical, mechanical, chemical and thermal properties of their products.

To ensure that Niobec reaches its environmental goals, it became ISO 14001 certified in 2002. The corporation is also ISO 9001 certified, a guarantee of reliability for our clients.

Beginning of commercial production of concentrate.

1976