Shift in Global Tantalum Mine Production, 2000 to 2014

Mining & Minerals - Evaluations / Other Metals

Date posted: 12/25/15

The USGS reports that tantalum has a unique set of properties that make it useful in a number of diverse applications. The ability of the metal to store and release electrical energy makes it ideally suited for use in certain types of capacitors that are widely used in modern electronics. Approximately 60% of global tantalum consumption is in the electronics industry. The ductility and corrosion resistance of the metal lends itself to application in the chemical processing industry, and its high melting point and high strength retention at elevated temperatures make it an important component of super alloys used in aircraft engines. As a major industrialized nation, the U.S. is a leading consumer of tantalum and tantalum-containing products. Domestic deposits typically are of low grade, and no tantalum has been recovered from mining activities in the U.S. since 1959. Consequently, the U.S. is nearly completely reliant on imports to meet its domestic consumption of tantalum for economic and national security needs. The recovery of tantalum from mine production is economically viable in only a few countries. Although developed countries dominated tantalum mine production in the early 2000s, production today is dominated by countries in the Great Lakes Region of Africa. There is concern that the sales of minerals, including columbite-tantalite or coltan, a mineral term from which tantalum is derived, have helped finance rebel groups accused of violating human rights as part of the continuing armed conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and neighboring countries. These accusations have prompted the passage of legislation in the U.S. to curb the procurement of these mineral commodities, referred to as conflict minerals, from the DRC. .