Niobium

There are several methods for extracting and refining niobium from ores. The chosen method depends on the nature of the ore and the final use of the metal. Some common steps in these recycling processes include ore pre-concentration, crushing or opening the ore to obtain pure niobium compounds, reducing niobium compounds to niobium metal, purifying or refining the metal, and manufacturing. If niobium is extracted from niobium-tantalum ores, the most important step is to separate niobium from tantalum, as the two are chemically very similar. Iron niobium can be obtained in batches from fired chlorite by thermal reduction in steel lined with refractory materials or preferably in an electric furnace reactor. Aluminum powder is used as a reducing agent. Mining is a key step in niobium recovery, and separating niobium from tantalum and impurity metals is the most important step in extracting niobium from ores. It can be achieved through several methods, including solvent extraction, ion exchange, fractional crystallization, fractional sublimation and other techniques. High-purity grades of metals can be produced by reducing niobium pentoxide Nb2O5 or niobium pentoxide NbCl5 at high temperatures ranging from 1400 to 2000°C, typically under vacuum, using various reducing agents such as carbon, hydrogen, sodium, and other substances. Nb2O5+7C→2NbC+5CONb2O5+5NbC→7Nb+5CO2NbCl5+5H2→2Nb+10HClNbCl5+5Na→Nb+5NaCl