Niobium-rich Carbonatites in Central Australia Originated from Mantle in Rifting Preceding the Breakup of Supercontinent Rodinia: Dated to 800 Million Years Ago

      Niobium is a metal used in high-strength steel, clean energy technology, and as a superconducting material, including in the superconducting magnets of MRI scanners.

     Brazil dominates niobium production, followed distantly by Canada. Australia is a further distant third, but that could change. Newly discovered niobium-rich carbonatites have been discovered in Central Australia as part of the rift zone that eventually broke up the former supercontinent Rodina. A new study by researchers at Curtin University dated the deposit to 800 million years ago and found its origin to be the Earth’s mantle after a rift zone opened up. The paper, Multi-method geochronology and isotope geochemistry of carbonatites in the Aileron Province, central Australia was published in Geological Magazine. Dr. Maximilian Dröllner, one of the paper’s authors, noted:

"These carbonatites are unlike anything previously known in the region and contain important concentrations of niobium, a strategic metal used to make lighter, stronger steel for aircraft, pipelines, and EVs, and a key component in some next-generation battery and superconducting technologies.”

"Using multiple isotope-dating techniques on drill core samples, we found that these carbonatites were emplaced between 830 and 820 million years ago, during a period of continental rifting that preceded the breakup of Rodinia. This tectonic setting allowed carbonatite magma to rise through fault zones that had remained open and active for hundreds of millions of years, delivering metal-rich melts from deep in the mantle up into the crust.”

     The locations of the sampled areas and a regional magnetic intensity map are shown below.

     Dating carbonatites in the past has been difficult due to complex geological histories. The team utilized isotope chemistry and high-resolution imagery to date the carbonatite rocks that host the niobium-rich ore. The team unraveled the complex geological history of the rocks.

     The graphic below shows the time period to which the igneous intrusion dates, over 60 million years from 830 million years ago to 760 million years ago, and a paleogeologic map showing the configuration of the supercontinent Rodinia during those times.

 

     

References:

 

800-million-year-old rare rocks predicted to support future superconducting technologies. Meenal Mehta. Green Matters. December 29, 2025. 800-million-year-old rare rocks predicted to support future superconducting technologies

Multi-method geochronology and isotope geochemistry of carbonatites in the Aileron Province, central Australia. Maximilian Dröllner, Christopher L Kirkland, Hugo KH Olierook, Andreas Zametzer, Bruno V Ribeiro, Jonas Kaempf, Martin Danišík, Bryant Ware, Kai Rankenburg, and David E Kelsey. Geological Magazine , Volume 162 , 2025 , e33. Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 September 2025. Multi-method geochronology and isotope geochemistry of carbonatites in the Aileron Province, central Australia | Geological Magazine | Cambridge Core

Niobium. Wikipedia. Niobium - Wikipedia