NioBay Secures $500,000 Grant to Advance Crevier Niobium and Tantalum Project

[SMM Flash] NioBay Metals has received a C$500,000 grant from the Government of Québec to advance processing work at its Crevier niobium and tantalum project in Québec, Canada. The funding will support the production of niobium and tantalum concentrates from 140 metric tonnes of material and optimisation of the project's hydrometallurgical processes for producing niobium and tantalum oxides.

The grant comes as Québec seeks to strengthen its position in critical and strategic minerals. NioBay says Crevier will focus on producing niobium oxide for battery and superalloy manufacturers, including defence-industry suppliers, alongside tantalum oxide for high-tech applications. The project is located approximately 50 km north of Girardville and within the Nitassinan ancestral territory of the Pekuakamiulnuatsh First Nation.

The funding could help advance the project's processing capabilities and provide further technical information on the production of Nb and Ta oxides. For the niobium and tantalum markets, development of additional North American processing capacity could support supply diversification beyond established producing regions. However, Crevier remains a development-stage project, meaning its eventual contribution to commercial supply will depend on further technical, economic and project-development milestones.