- Niobium producing countries are led by Brazil at a 93% share
- Global mine production totalled roughly 112,000 tonnes in 2025
- Canada ranks second with an estimated 6,000 tonnes of output
- The US holds zero output despite 210,000 tonnes of reserves
- DRC, Russia and Rwanda each contribute under 1,000 tonnes
- Nigeria, Mozambique, Burundi and Angola round out the ranking
Niobium producing countries remain one of the most geographically concentrated supply pictures in the entire critical minerals space. Global mine production reached an estimated 112,000 tonnes of contained niobium in 2025, and a single country — Brazil — accounted for roughly 93% of it. That concentration matters because niobium’s main use, as a grain-refining additive in high-strength steel, has no cost-effective substitute at scale. For background on why the metal is classified as critical and where it fits in defence and infrastructure supply chains, see our What Is Niobium explainer.
How We Ranked the Niobium Producing Countries
Entries one through six are drawn directly from USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026 world mine production data, the only dataset that breaks niobium out on a country-by-country basis with confirmed or USGS-estimated tonnage. Entries seven through ten are not itemized separately by USGS — they sit inside its unbroken “other countries” line — so we sourced them from trade-body reporting and government announcements instead, and we flag each as secondary rather than official. This is a companies-and-countries split worth noting: if you want the corporate view of who actually controls this supply, see our separate list of the leading niobium producing companies.
1. Brazil — approximately 104,000 tonnes
Brazil is not just the largest niobium producing country, it is close to a single-source monopoly, concentrated in Minas Gerais (Araxá) and Goiás (Catalão) and dominated by CBMM. In 2024, CBMM and Toshiba unveiled a prototype electric bus running on niobium-titanium-oxide batteries, and CBMM has committed $80 million to a battery-grade niobium oxide facility it plans to scale to 20,000 tonnes a year by 2030. The risk sits on the buyer side: CBMM alone controls an estimated 77% of the global market, giving one privately held company effective pricing power over the entire steel and aerospace supply chain. More on Brazil’s mineral strategy is in our Brazil critical minerals hub.
2. Canada — approximately 6,000 tonnes
Canada’s entire national output comes from one site: the Niobec underground mine in Saint-Honoré, Quebec, operated by Magris Resources. USGS revised Canada’s reserve estimate upward to 640,000 tonnes this cycle based on updated company and government reporting, even as 2025 estimated mine output eased to 6,000 tonnes from 6,900 tonnes in 2024. Because it is a single-mine national supply, any operational disruption at Niobec — a strike, a flood, a permitting delay — would remove essentially all of Canada’s contribution to global supply overnight. See our Canada critical minerals hub for the wider picture.
3. Congo (Kinshasa) — approximately 970 tonnes
The Democratic Republic of the Congo produces niobium almost entirely as a by-product of tantalum mining, extracted from the same coltan ore bodies in the country’s eastern provinces. USGS estimated 2025 output at 970 tonnes, up slightly from 930 tonnes in 2024. The supply chain here carries meaningfully more risk than the North American or Brazilian entries on this list: DRC-origin coltan is subject to Dodd-Frank Section 1502 conflict-minerals reporting and OECD due-diligence requirements because of links to armed groups in the mining regions. Background on the country’s broader mineral profile is in our DRC critical minerals hub.
4. Russia — approximately 300 tonnes
Russian niobium output has held flat at 300 tonnes for several reporting cycles, produced from legacy operations rather than new capacity. The country’s real long-term potential lies in the Tomtor deposit in Siberia, one of the largest known niobium-rare-earth resources in the world and still largely undeveloped. Western sanctions and the difficulty of attracting foreign capital or technology partners for a project of that scale are the main reasons Tomtor has stayed on paper rather than moving toward production.
5. Rwanda — approximately 200 tonnes
Like the DRC, Rwanda’s niobium is a secondary product of coltan mining rather than a targeted niobium operation, with domestically mined columbite-tantalite historically running at roughly 18% niobium pentoxide content. USGS-estimated 2025 output of 200 tonnes is down slightly from 210 tonnes in 2024. Because tantalum, not niobium, drives the economics of Rwandan mining decisions, Rwanda’s niobium supply moves with tantalum demand and pricing rather than with niobium-specific market signals — a distinction easy to miss when Rwanda appears on a niobium-focused list.
6. China — approximately 40 tonnes
China is a study in asymmetry: an estimated 40 tonnes of domestic mine output in 2025 against a position as the world’s largest niobium importer, consuming roughly 36% of global ferroniobium supply for its steel and electric-vehicle industries. China imports about 95% of the niobium it needs, most of it from Brazil — of Brazil’s ferroniobium exports, China alone takes an estimated 49%. That dependency, not domestic mining, is what makes China’s role in niobium producing countries data worth watching, since Beijing’s steel and EV demand effectively sets the marginal buyer price for Brazilian output.
7. Nigeria — secondary-sourced, not USGS-itemized
Nigeria does not appear as a named line in USGS’s world production table, but trade-data reporting put it at roughly the world’s second-largest tantalum producer in 2024, around 16% of global supply, extracted as columbite-tantalite ore across Plateau, Kaduna, Bauchi and Kano states. Niobium is co-produced from the same ore but is not separately reported. Production is overwhelmingly artisanal and small-scale, and inconsistent grading and chain-of-custody documentation remain the main obstacle to Nigeria attracting more international processor demand.
8. Mozambique — secondary-sourced, not USGS-itemized
Mozambique shows up in USGS’s own import-source statistics — supplying an estimated 6–9% of niobium and tantalum ore imported into the US in recent years — rather than in the world mine production table itself. Its niobium comes from the long-established pegmatite belt around Alto Ligonha. Because the only public figures are trade-flow shares rather than audited mine-level output, an actual annual tonnage for Mozambique isn’t independently published, which is why it sits below the USGS-itemized countries here.
9. Burundi — secondary-sourced, not USGS-itemized
Burundi is part of the same Great Lakes coltan belt as the DRC and Rwanda, and USGS Minerals Yearbook country reports have documented artisanal columbite-tantalite output there for decades, historically in the low thousands of kilograms of contained niobium in a given year. Output is volatile year to year and tied to the same regional conflict-minerals traceability schemes, including the ITSCI programme, that govern Rwandan and Congolese supply.
10. Angola — emerging, pre-production
Angola is the one entry on this list with zero current tonnage: the government has confirmed it is advancing the Bonga and Tchivira Carbonatite Complex in Quilengues toward production, positioning the country to become the first African primary niobium producer — as distinct from the coltan by-product route that supplies Nigeria, Mozambique, Burundi, DRC and Rwanda. No public timeline for first output has been confirmed, so Angola’s inclusion here reflects announced development intent rather than measurable supply.
The table below summarizes officially reported and secondary-sourced niobium output by country, cross-checked against USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026.
| Rank | Country | 2025e Nb Output | Global Share | Data Basis |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Brazil | ~104,000 t | ~93% | USGS confirmed |
| 2 | Canada | ~6,000 t | ~5% | USGS confirmed |
| 3 | Congo (Kinshasa) | ~970 t | <1% | USGS confirmed |
| 4 | Russia | ~300 t | <1% | USGS confirmed |
| 5 | Rwanda | ~200 t | <1% | USGS confirmed |
| 6 | China | ~40 t | <1% | USGS confirmed |
| 7 | Nigeria | Not itemized | Co-produced with tantalum | Secondary (trade reporting) |
| 8 | Mozambique | Not itemized | 6–9% of US ore imports | Secondary (USGS import stats) |
| 9 | Burundi | Not itemized | Artisanal, historic | Secondary (USGS Minerals Yearbook) |
| 10 | Angola | Pre-production | N/A | Secondary (government announcement) |
The Outlook for Niobium Producing Countries in 2026
The list of niobium producing countries is unlikely to reshuffle at the top in the near term — Brazil’s reserve base of 14 million tonnes dwarfs everyone else’s, and CBMM shows no sign of ceding market share. The more interesting movement sits further down the list: Angola’s push toward primary production, Nebraska’s Elk Creek project working toward becoming the first US niobium mine since the 1950s, and Russia’s undeveloped Tomtor deposit are the three watchpoints most likely to add a genuinely new supply source rather than just shuffle existing rankings. None of them changes the concentration risk this year, but any one of them succeeding would be the first real dent in Brazil’s near-monopoly in decades. For policy context on why that concentration is treated as a strategic risk, see the IEA’s critical minerals programme.
Which is the largest niobium producing country and why?
Brazil, by a wide margin, driven by CBMM’s control of the Araxá and Catalão deposits — see the ranking table above for the current split by country.
What criteria determines this ranking?
Countries with USGS-confirmed world production data are ranked first; countries not itemized separately by USGS but documented through trade reporting or government announcements fill the remaining spots, flagged as secondary in each entry.
Why doesn’t the United States appear on this list despite large reserves?
The US has not mined niobium domestically since the 1950s and imports 100% of what it consumes, mostly from Brazil and Canada, though a Nebraska project is working toward changing that — see our What Is Niobium page for background.
Which African countries produce niobium?
The Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, Nigeria and Burundi all produce niobium as a by-product of coltan mining, while Angola is developing what would be the continent’s first primary niobium mine.
Could niobium supply become less concentrated in the future?
Possibly — Angola’s new project, Nebraska’s Elk Creek development, and Russia’s undeveloped Tomtor deposit are the clearest candidates for adding a genuinely new source of supply, though none has reached production yet.
