Niobium-Bearing Microbiota in REE–Nb Ores of the Tomtor Deposit (Arctic Siberia, Republic of Sakha (Yakutia))

Nb-bearing microorganisms (streptomycetes) are identified for the first time. Based on the biochemical properties, Nb has no known biological function and likely inhibits bacterial viability. Fossilized fragments of streptomycetes in form of ball-shaped tangled thin hyphae (200–300 nm thick) with a high Nb content (up to 29–32 wt %) were found using scanning electron microscopy in unique REE–Nb-rich ores of the upper horizon of borehole no. 6529 of the Yuzhny area of the Tomtor deposit.