Want to see something interesting? Haven't seen anyone talk...

Want to see something interesting? Haven't seen anyone talk about this here yet.

Warning... This is pie in the sky (defs not in LYC SP!) stuff and very long term potential upside.

1. Watch this

"Ten thousand tonnes of magnets, with a combined stored magnetic energy of 51 Gigajoules (GJ), will produce the magnetic fields that will initiate, confine, shape and control the ITER plasma.

For the most technically challenging raw material—the niobium-tin (Nb3Sn) superconducting strands used in ITER's toroidal field and central solenoid magnet systems—500 metric tons of strand (more than 100,000 km) were produced by nine suppliers in a procurement effort that lasted from 2008 to 2015. This large-scale industrial effort demanded a ramp-up of global production capacity from 15 metric tons/year to 100 metric tons/year, as well as the introduction of three new strand suppliers."

That's for one reactor.

2. Read this Rare Earths study 2015.pdf

My calcs on the journal article's attempt to gauge how rare and scare niobium is - At the current niobium production / demand rate (primarily steel / super alloys) known niobium reveres would run out in 58 years without any more fusion reactors being built. If we assume that the 5,140 reactors are built, reducing reserves by ¼, this would reduce the supply of niobium to 43 years. If they supplied 30% of total global power then the niobium may last less than 30 years.

3. Read this https://www.ga.gov.au/scientific-topics/minerals/mineral-resources-and-advice/australian-resource-reviews/niobium

Summary into my rabbit hole of fussion, niobium and well LYC.... the ITER Fusion reactor is a giant test reactor under construction with input from nearly every major country, in France. The magnet use is immense with the niobium RE taking more than 6 years to source.... This is one reactor.

If this works, and we should find out more in 2025 when it's turned on, and is efficient for power generation, it could be a substitute for gas, coal and even nuclear power generation for base load use alongside wind / solar / hydro.... it'd take decades but.. LYC has a significant and extremely high grade Niobium deposit (Crown)... just sitting there.

This is a long term wild card for LYC that holds potential (maybe in a few years) attract additional interest in LYC outside of the NdPr / permanent magnet / renewable-energy-transition story we currently understand.

Long shot.... but free long term upside is free long term upside...