Niobium

Niobium is a late-game metal resource used primarily as an intermediate step toward Thermium. In the base game, the initial supply comes from the Space Destinations system: the destination must first be revealed with a Research Module to uncover Niobium deposits, after which it can be recovered with a Cargo Bay like any other solid resource. In a standard playthrough there is only one planet, the Superconductive Asteroid, that yields Niobium.

In the DLC, Niobium is found much more directly. It appears as low-mass mineable tiles throughout the Superconductive Asteroid, usually surrounded by Obsidian and Magma, which makes extraction difficult. A single Niobium Volcano can also generate on that asteroid, providing an effectively infinite source of the metal.

Niobium can also be recycled from Thermium once Thermium production has started. This makes Niobium part of a closed production loop that can be sustained as long as Tungsten remains available.

• Metal Refinery: 100 kg Thermium → 100 kg Niobium
• Rock Crusher: 100 kg Thermium → 50 kg Niobium + 50 kg Sand

Its main use is in the Molecular Forge, where it is combined with Tungsten to create Thermium.

• 5 kg Niobium + 95 kg Tungsten → 100 kg Thermium

Niobium is also a valid construction material. Buildings made from it gain +500°C overheat temperature and +50% decor. In practice, there is usually little reason to use Niobium for construction instead of Thermium if both are available, since Thermium offers the better overall performance for high-temperature applications. The main exception is decorative use: Niobium is as good as Gold for decor purposes, while still being usable as a metal ore.

Because Thermium can be refined back into Niobium at a 1:1 ratio, only a small starter amount is needed to begin the conversion loop. After that point, the long-term supply is effectively constrained by Tungsten rather than Niobium itself.