Coltan

Coltan (short for columbite–tantalites and known industrially as tantalite) is a dull black metallic ore, from which the elements niobium and tantalum are extracted. The niobium-dominant mineral in coltan is columbite (after niobium's original American name columbium), and the tantalum-dominant mineral is tantalite. Coltan (short for columbite–tantalites and known industrially as tantalite) is a dull black metallic ore, from which the elements niobium and tantalum are extracted. The niobium-dominant mineral in coltan is columbite (after niobium's original American name columbium), and the tantalum-dominant mineral is tantalite. Tantalum from coltan is used to manufacture tantalum capacitors, tantalum capacitors are used for portable telephones, personal computers, automotive electronics and cameras. Coltan mining has helped to finance serious conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo, for example the Ituri conflict and the Second Congo War. Approximately 71% of global tantalum supply in 2008 was newly mined, 20% was from recycling, and the remainder was from tin slag and inventory. Tantalum minerals are mined in Colombia, Australia, Brazil, China, Ethiopia, and Mozambique. Tantalum is also produced in Thailand and Malaysia as a by-product of tin mining and smelting. Potential future mines, in descending order of magnitude, are being explored in Egypt, Greenland, China, Australia, Finland, Canada, Nigeria and Brazil. Globally, 60% of all mining companies have registered with the lightly regulated stock exchanges in Toronto and Vancouver. However, due to environmental regulations no mining of coltan is currently taking place in Canada itself, with the exception of a single proposed mine in Blue River, British Columbia. In Canada, Tanco Mine near Bernic Lake in Manitoba has tantalum reserves, is the world's largest producer of caesium, and is operated by Cabot Corporation, which bought it in 1993. Cobalt, Ontario, formerly produced cobalt as a byproduct of its silver mines, but there has been no mining in the area since the 1980s. In 2017 one mill still operated and the mayor has invited investment from companies interested in refining the slag on abandoned mine sites. A discussion of Canadian mining by Natural Resources Canada, updated in 2017, does not mention either coltan or tantalum. A Rwandan official discussing prospective mines in his country said that Canada had 4% of global production in 2009; but in rock so hard that the ore is too expensive to extract. In 2009, Rwanda had 9% of the world's tantalum production. In 2016 Rwanda accounted for 50% of global tantalum production. In 2016, Rwanda announced that AB Minerals Corporation would open a coltan separation plant in Rwanda by mid-2017, the first to operate on the African continent. Uganda and Rwanda both exported coltan in the early 2000s after they invaded the DRC, but the coltan came from mines in the DRC, according to the final report of the UN Panel of Experts on the Illegal Exploitation of Natural Resources and Other Forms of Wealth in the Democratic Republic of Congo. In 2013 Highland African Mining Company (HAMC), now Noventa, closed its Marropino mine in the Gilé District of Zambézia Province, Mozambique, citing poor-quality infrastructure and ore that was both very radioactive and mostly depleted. HAMC was losing US$3.00 on every ton extracted and had reported accumulated losses of around US$150 million by June 2013. Reserves have been identified in Afghanistan, but the ongoing war there precludes either general exploration or exploring specifically for coltan for the foreseeable future. The United States does not produce tantalum due to the poor quality of its reserves. Australian mining company Sons of Gwalia once produced half the world's tantalum but went into administration in 2004. Talison Minerals paid $205 million to buy the Wodgina and Greenbushes tantalum business of Sons of Gwalia but temporarily closed Wodgina because of falling tantalum prices. The mine re-opened in 2011 but closed again after less than a year. Atlas Iron began mining iron ore there in 2010 and ceased operations there in April 2017. Global Advanced Mining announced in 2018 that it planned to restart tantalum production at the Greenbushes mine within a year. Talison Lithium, 51% owned by Chinese company Tianqi Lithium Industries, Inc. (SZSE:002466) and 49% by the US-based Albemarle Corporation, will continue to mine lithium at Greenbushes in parallel with the GAM tantalum operation. Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez announced in 2009 that a significant reserve of coltan was discovered in western Venezuela, although at least one coltan mining operation had previously been authorized in the area. Nonetheless he outlawed private mines in the region and, saying that the FARC was financing itself with illegal mining, sent 15,000 troops in to deal with them. Technical advisers for the mining project were allegedly provided by a subsidiary of Khatam-al Anbiya Construction Headquarters, a wholly owned enterprise of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard which had been under US sanctions since October 25, 2007.