Brazil mines 93% of the world's niobium
Niobium mine production, tonnes of niobium content, 2025 (USGS estimate): Brazil vs all other countries combined.
Brazil mined an estimated 104,000 tonnes of niobium in 2025, against 7,630 t in all other countries combined.
Brazil's share of the world's estimated 112,000 tonnes of niobium mined in 2025.
Canada, the second-largest producer, mined 6,000 t: Brazil out-mines it 17 to one.
the numbers & method
| Value (t) | |
|---|---|
| Brazil | 104,000 |
| All other countries | 7,630 |
Claim types Fact · Estimate
World Mine Production and Reserves table, metric tons of niobium content. 2025 values are USGS estimates (column flagged 'e'). 2024 / 2025e: Brazil 104,000 / 104,000; Canada 6,900e / 6,000; Congo (Kinshasa) 930e / 970; Russia 300 / 300; Rwanda 210e / 200; China 44e / 40; other countries 160e / 120; United States none; world total (rounded) 112,000 / 112,000. 'All other countries' = sum of the non-Brazil rows, 7,630 t (progrss calculation; the rounded world total minus Brazil gives 8,000 t). Share = 104,000 / 112,000 = 92.9%. Ten years earlier, MCS 2016 (January 2016, d9-wret.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/.../mcs-2016-niobi.pdf) gave 2015e: Brazil 50,000, Canada 5,000, other countries 1,000, world 56,000 (rounded), share 89%. Brazil's 2015 and 2025 figures come from different editions and USGS has revised its Brazil estimates over time, so the doubling is not charted or claimed as growth. Ratios and shares are progrss calculations. Both PDFs were read through the WebFetch tool (PDF converted to text; table rows quoted verbatim, Brazil/Canada/Congo/world rows re-read in a second pass). Nickel (the original lead) was dropped: Indonesia's 2,600,000 t of 3,900,000 t in 2025e is true but is already plate 011.
Published 4 Nov 2026
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