“We have been looking, day by day, for mechanisms that create favorable conditions for those actors who want to undertake and produce, generating jobs and income in our country,” said Minister of Mines and Energy, Bento Albuquerque, at the opening of the Seminar “Brazilian Leadership in the Productive Chain of Niobium ”, held today, 5, in the Ground Auditorium of the Ministry of Mines and Energy (MME). In his speech, the minister stated that the country is experiencing a situation in which it is crucial to rethink the mining sector, as well as ways to attract and retain investments.

For the minister, there is no way to think of a better country without the participation of this sector. “We will continue to work to drive the mineral sector as a whole to increase the attractiveness for long-term investments in the segment, improve process efficiency and agility, reduce bureaucracy and increase investments in geological knowledge, advance regulations that limit or prevent access to new areas for research and to consolidate mining as one of the strengths of the national economy, contributing to the good mineral exploitation and the promotion of research ”, concluded the minister.

Niobium is a metal used to make steel even stronger and stronger. Brazil accounts for about 90% of the world production of this ore, with demand for the development of new technologies, for application in medicine, transportation, engineering, nuclear and space industries.

The opening table was composed by Minister Bento Albuquerque, the Secretary of Geology, Mining and Mineral Transformation, Alexandre Vidigal de Oliveira, the Executive Secretary of the Ministry of Science, Technology, Innovations and Communications (MCTIC), Júlio Francisco Semeghini Neto, the Special Secretary of Strategic Affairs of the Presidency of the Republic, General Maynard Marques de Sant a Rosa, by the Director of the Center for Mineral Technology (CETEM), Fernando Lins and the President Director of the Brazilian Mining Institute (IBRAM), Flávio Ottoni Penido.

Approximately 130 industry experts attended the event and was organized through a partnership between MME and the Ministry of Science, Technology, Innovations and Communications (MCTIC), Center for Mineral Technology (CETEM), Special Secretariat for Economic Affairs. Presidency of the Republic and the Brazilian Mining Institute (IBRAM).

The seminar addressed the current process of the niobium production chain and also the prospects for the future, its importance for national technological development, as well as uses and applications. Topics related to the resource potential of this ore, production, market prospects and challenges for new applications of metal in advanced technology products, with added value, also led to debate by industry experts and technicians and production companies in Brazil. The experts presented the current scenario of niobium in Brazil and worldwide.