A large carbonatite-hosted niobium deposit has been discovered at the Dagele area on East Kunlun Orogenic Belt in the northeastern Tibetan Plateau. The new alkaline rock and carbonatite-hosted niobium and rare earth deposit was discovered by Qinghai Geological Survey Institute and Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry (GIG) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and has been preliminarily assessed as a large deposit with good prospecting potential.

Niobium and rare earth are important strategic mineral resources in China. At preset, there is no niobium-rare earth mine available for large-scale development and utilization in China which mainly relies on imports of niobium resources.

The new discovery is the first large carbonatite-hosted niobium deposit unearthed in the northern margin of the Tibetan plateau. Initial research showed that the particle size and occurrence of niobium resources are significantly better that the existing niobium deposits in China. This discovery has expanded the potential niobium resources area and exploration scope in China, and would help break bottleneck in extraction and utilization of niobium resources in the country.