OREANDA-NEWS.  January 31, 2012. The US-incorporated producer of rare earth metals Molycorp Silmet, based in northeastern Estonia, may soon become the world's largest producer of niobium, a rare earth metal used in electronics, aviation and energy production.

"When we finish our niobium project [in February], we will be the world's largest producer of pure niobium," said company director David O'Brock.

This year, Molycorp Silmet plans to invest 14 million euros into a new production line and lab, creating around fifty new jobs in the Sillamae region, reported ETV. "The world market demands increasingly purer compounds, and we need to respond," said O'Brock.