China Says It's Discovered a Cache of a Strange New Ore

China claims to have discovered a vast trove of "niobobaotite," a never-before-seen ore that may have incredible superconductive promise., the rare Earth deposit comprises niobium, barium, titanium, iron, and chloride. Noibium, a soft and ductile transition metal, is a critical component of steel as well as a lauded superconductor able to transmit electrical currents at low temperatures.

If the niobium within the newly-discovered niobobaotiteis indeed high-quality, this could mean that the world's largest importer of niobium might suddenly become the world's largest reservoir of the compound — likely tipping the scales in the global marketplace at a critical juncture in the world's ongoing battery race.

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China says it discovered potentially vasts amounts of a rare superconducting materialAndrew Paul is Popular Science‘s staff writer covering tech news. Previously, he was a regular contributor to The A.V. Club and Input, and has had recent work featured by Rolling Stone, Fangoria, GQ, Slate, NBC, as well as McSweeney’s Internet Tendency. He lives outside Indianapolis.
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