Niobium is impressive. Can we split the thriller where this mode is?

Niobium is a steel found in pieces ranging from telephones to high-quality lenses – now a Columbian scientist is hoping to unravel the mystery of this place and how to find it.

This steel is in great demand, although approximately 90% of world niobium manufacturing and 95% of identified reserves are in Brazil, with annual exports worth $2.25 billion.

Felipe Velasquez Ruiz, geological researcher Universidad de Chile explains that the goal of their research is to understand how niobium is transported on a geological scale and how it accumulates in the Earth’s crust, which is important to know where to find it now.

“My latest work on critical metals was on niobium, a corrosion-resistant metal that is used in high-strength steels as well as superconducting magnets, magnetic resonance devices and experimental thermonuclear fusion work,” he says, “My research passion “The key to the energy transition associated with magmatic-hydrothermal systems lies in uncovering the formation mechanisms of minerals.”

In a 2022 study, Velasquez and his team found strong evidence that niobium, available in one of the planet’s largest deposits in Brazil, originated 90 million years ago, 80 kilometers deep in subcontinental lithospheric layers. Covering.

The next discovery about the discovered niobium mineral has a magma-rich origin and is no longer water-rich, which is an important relic for the exploration industry because magma-rich bodies are limited to smaller geographic areas than water- The rich ones.

“This information is important for geologists dedicated to exploration, because the discovery of magmatic niobium minerals can help narrow down and limit search areas, leading to savings in prospecting campaigns,” Velasquez says.

In a 2024 paper published in the journal Geochemical Exploration, Velasquez and his team found that niobium remains in an igneous mode, at which time the rocks shaping the depot become high in potassium and carbon dioxide.

Velásquez explains that mineral exploration (with store samples, validating information and research) is a long-term strategy of at least 10 to fifteen years.

“The results of my work may be useful to exploration mining companies searching for niobium in the immediate future and at least over the next 10 years,” he says, adding that, including for industrial reasons, it is difficult to understand which companies are pursuing unexploited exploration. Working for niobium.

emerging colombia

Velasquez was born in Los Angeles Estrella, south of Medellín, Colombia Reserve El Romeral – A herbal section rich in forests, animals and vast expanses of volcanic rocks above the Quebrada Grande basin.

“There, I was always exposed to volcanic rocks from a young age, and it was here that a passion for the study of rocks and geology was born,” he says.

Velásquez explains that science developed within the Global South is key to building an international perspective from diverse perspectives.

“For example, in South America alone, in terms of diversity (biological and abiotic), countries like Colombia and Brazil (among others) are considered mega-diverse countries,” he says, “the latter leading us to think that It is essential that native scientists, who are more familiar with their environment, are leading researchers.”

Velásquez points out that this does not mean that it is not important to build relationships with alternative countries in the North.

“I believe that a tripartite combination between government, academia and industry, to capture this leadership from our countries in this part of the Southern Hemisphere, could be the key to growth in STEM in the global South,” he says.

Learning Field Mud

Another Colombian with a passion for minerals and their origins is Camilo Jaramillo-Correa, now a postdoctoral analysis staff at Princeton University, who was given the opportunity to preserve soil brought from the outside area in a container he designed.

Eastern Area Company’s Hayabusa2 project was the first to capture images from rovers operating on an asteroid, leaving asteroid Ryugu in 2018 and returning geological samples to Earth on 5 December 2020.

Jaramillo-Correa explains that at the time, he was pursuing a PhD in nuclear engineering at Pennsylvania Climate College, researching space-weathering: the changes to the exterior of objects such as asteroids when they are exposed to the Sun’s (current) wind. These include debris coming from solar energy) and micrometeoroids (sludge debris flying at high speed).

“As part of my work, I designed and built a sealed sample capsule to hold samples for my experiments while protecting them from air pollution,” he says. “One day, some of my mentors asked me if I could “It seems possible to use the capsule to study extraterrestrial material.”

Jaramillo-Correa immediately learned that his mentor wanted to use his tablet to complete research on one of the important asteroid soil samples that came to Earth.

“With great excitement, I had to make many modifications and tests to the capsule to ensure that we could comply with the strict requirements for the safety of the samples,” he says, “as they would in no way be affected by the Earth’s environment.” Didn’t get in touch, and we needed to reserve it that way.