Yes, we are. It’s been working in Brazil to the world that we established ourselves in the international market. We are a privately held company with Brazilian ownership control. Our profit is realized and consolidated in Brazil, and all of our technology is generated in Brazil and the majority of our collaborators is allocated here as well.

No. Mineral deposits that can serve as the basis of the transformation and production of niobium, such as pyrochlore and columbite-tantalite, are found in several countries, such as: Russia, Canada, Greenland, Angola, Gabon, Kenya, the United States, China, Saudi Arabia, Australia, Tanzania, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Finland, Malawi, Norway, South Africa, Zambia, Namibia, India, Spain, among others.

Currently, the main industrial sites for Niobium production are concentrated in Brazil and Canada.

No, we don’t sell pyrochlore (the ore which is the base for the production of niobium). We only sell processed, industrialized products. The production process of our niobium products has metallurgical and chemical characteristics, and involves more than 15 processing and industrialization stages.

Yes, we have a global presence. Our headquarters are located in Brazil, and we have offices and subsidiaries in China, the Netherlands, Singapore, Switzerland and the United States.

Yes, we work constantly to ensure a stable supply for the entire market and, therefore, we measure our production capacity. Our products are kept in a wide network of outsourced warehouses, strategically located to serve our customers worldwide. Our warehouses keep sufficient stock levels to readily meet the needs of our customers, ensuring them access to an uninterrupted flow of high-quality products.

No. Although we are a market leader, we are not the only company in the niobium segment and, therefore, we do have competitors. The prices of niobium products follow the supply and demand market rules and are based on the value that the product adds in the application chain.

We have our own mining rights over the pyrochlore reserves in Araxá, and the Minas Gerais state also has its own rights through CODEMIG.

We have both leased our pyrochlore exploration rights to Comipa, a privately-held Business Corporation with shared management, formed for the sole purpose of mining the ore (pyrochlore).

 

Comipa sells pyrochlore exclusively to CBMM, which is responsible for the development, industrialization and commercialization of niobium final products and applications.

Through SCP, CODEMIG receives 25% of the results of the entire operation (including the sale of products originating from CBMM's mining rights).

 

Through CODEMIG, the state of Minas Gerais participates in the subsidiaries’ profit sharing, which is consolidated in CBMM Brazil. This partnership has existed this way since 1972. CODEMIG audits SCP (the partnership with CBMM) on a quarterly basis.