Coltan (also columbite–tantalite and known industrially as tantalite) is a dull black metallic mineral from which the elements niobium (formerly "columbium") and tantalum are extracted. The niobium-dominant mineral is columbite, hence the "col" half of the term. The mineral concentrates dominated by tantalum are referred to as tantalite.[1]
Tantalum from coltan is used to manufacture electronic capacitors, used in consumer electronics products such as mobile phones, DVD players, video game systems and computers. Coltan mining has been cited[2][3] as helping to finance serious conflict, for example in the Congo.[4][5][6]
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Approximately 71% of global tantalum supply in 2008 was met by newly mined product, 20% from recycling, and the remainder from tin slag and inventory.[7]
Tantalum minerals are mined in Australia, Brazil, Canada, Democratic Republic of Congo, China, Ethiopia, and Mozambique.[8] 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 Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Greenland, China, Mozambique, Canada, Australia, the United States, Finland, Afghanistan,[9] and Brazil.[10] A significant reserve of coltan was discovered in 2009 in western Venezuela.[11] In 2009 the Colombian government announced coltan reserves had been found in Colombia's eastern provinces.[12]
| metric tons of tantalum mined | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 1990 | 1991 | 1992 | 1993 | 1994 | 1995 | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | |
| Australia | 165 | 218 | 224 | 170 | 238 | 274 | 276 | 302 | 330 | 350 | 485 | 660 | 940 | 765 | 807 | 854 | 478 | 441 | 557 | 81 |
| Brazil | 90 | 84 | 60 | 50 | 50 | 50 | 55 | 55 | 310 | 165 | 190 | 210 | 200 | 200 | 213 | 216 | 176 | 180 | 180 | 180 |
| Canada | 86 | 93 | 48 | 25 | 36 | 33 | 55 | 49 | 57 | 54 | 57 | 77 | 58 | 55 | 57 | 63 | 56 | 45 | 40 | 25 |
| D.R. Congo | 10 | 16 | 8 | 6 | 1 | 1 | -- | -- | NA | NA | 130 | 60 | 30 | 15 | 20 | 33 | 14 | 71 | 100 | 87 |
| Africa, excl. DR Congo |
45 | 66 | 59 | 59 | 8 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 82 | 76 | 208 | 173 | 242 | 245 | 333 | 214 | 146 | 135 | 313 | 297 |
| WORLD | 396 | 477 | 399 | 310 | 333 | 361 | 389 | 409 | 779 | 645 | 1070 | 1180 | 1470 | 1280 | 1430 | 1380 | 870 | 872 | 1190 | 670 |
| 1990-1993: U.S. Geological Survey, "1994 Minerals Yearbook" (MYB), "COLUMBIUM (NIOBIUM) AND TANTALUM" By Larry D. Cunningham, Table 10; 1994-1997: MYB 1998, Table 10; 1998-2001: MYB 2002, p. 21.13; 2002-2003: MYB 2004, p. 20.13; 2004: MYB 2008, p. 52.12; 2005-2009: MYB 2009, p. 52.13. USGS did not report data for other countries (China, Kazakhstan, Russia, etc.) owing to data uncertainties. |
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| NA Not available. -- Zero. | ||||||||||||||||||||
| % of global mined tantalum production | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 1990 | 1991 | 1992 | 1993 | 1994 | 1995 | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | |
| Australia | 41.7% | 45.7% | 56.1% | 54.8% | 71.5% | 75.9% | 71.0% | 73.8% | 42.4% | 54.3% | 45.3% | 55.9% | 63.9% | 59.8% | 56.4% | 61.9% | 54.9% | 50.6% | 46.8% | 12.1% |
| Brazil | 22.7% | 17.6% | 15.0% | 16.1% | 15.0% | 13.9% | 14.1% | 13.4% | 39.8% | 25.6% | 17.8% | 17.8% | 13.6% | 15.6% | 14.9% | 15.7% | 20.2% | 20.6% | 15.1% | 26.9% |
| Canada | 21.7% | 19.5% | 12.0% | 8.1% | 10.8% | 9.1% | 14.1% | 12.0% | 7.3% | 8.4% | 5.3% | 6.5% | 3.9% | 4.3% | 4.0% | 4.6% | 6.4% | 5.2% | 3.4% | 3.7% |
| D.R. Congo | 2.5% | 3.4% | 2.0% | 1.9% | 0.3% | 0.3% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 12.1% | 5.1% | 2.0% | 1.2% | 1.4% | 2.4% | 1.6% | 8.1% | 8.4% | 13.0% |
| Africa. excl. DR Congo |
11.4% | 13.8% | 14.8% | 19.0% | 2.4% | 0.8% | 0.8% | 0.7% | 10.5% | 11.8% | 19.4% | 14.7% | 16.5% | 19.1% | 23.3% | 15.5% | 16.8% | 15.5% | 26.3% | 44.3% |
| WORLD | 100.0% | 100.0% | 100.0% | 100.0% | 100.0% | 100.0% | 100.0% | 100.0% | 100.0% | 100.0% | 100.0% | 100.0% | 100.0% | 100.0% | 100.0% | 100.0% | 100.0% | 100.0% | 100.0% | 100.0% |
Coltan is used primarily for the production of tantalum capacitors, used in many electronic devices. Many sources mention coltan's importance in the production of cell phones, but this is an over-simplification, as tantalum capacitors are used in almost every kind of electronic device.
It is also used in high temperature alloys for air and land based turbines.[14] The upsurge in electronic products over the past decade resulted in a peak in late 2000, lasting a few months. In 2005 the price was still down at early 2000 levels.[15][16]
The United States Geological Survey estimates that tantalum production capacity could meet global demand, which is growing at four percent annually, at least until the year 2013.[7]
Conflicts, including the Rwandan occupation in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) made it difficult for the DRC to exploit its coltan reserves. Mining of the mineral is mainly artisanal and small-scale. A 2003 UN Security Council report[17] charged that a great deal of the ore is mined illegally and smuggled over the country's eastern borders by militias from neighbouring Uganda, Burundi and Rwanda.[18]
Coltan smuggling likely provides income for the military occupation of Congo, as well as prolonged civil conflict, according to an activist website, Toward Freedom.[19]
To many, this raises ethical questions akin to those of conflict diamonds. Owing to the difficulty of distinguishing legitimate from illegitimate mining operations, several processors such as Cabot Corp (USA) have decided to forgo central African coltan altogether, relying on other sources.
Toward Freedom claims that the 2000 launch of the Sony PlayStation 2 increased demand for tantalum electrolytic capacitors, causing the world price of coltan to increase sharply, in turn resulting in accelerated mining of the Congolese hills containing coltan. Sony claims it has discontinued its use of tantalum acquired from the Congo, sourcing it from other countries. However, Towards Freedom claims that some of it must have come from the Congo.[19]
All three countries named by the United Nations as smugglers of coltan have denied being involved. Austrian journalist Klaus Werner has documented links between multi-national companies like Bayer and the illegal coltan traffic.[20] A United Nations committee investigating the plunder of gems and minerals in the Congo listed in its final report[17] approximately 125 companies and individuals involved in business activities breaching international norms. Companies accused of irresponsible corporate behavior are for example the Cabot Corporation,[21] Eagle Wings Resources International[22] Forrest Group[23] and OM Group.[24]
Much coltan from the DRC is being exported to China for processing into electronic-grade tantalum powder and wires.[25]
Estimates of the Congo's fraction of the world's coltan reserves range from 64%[26] to 80%.[27] Tantalum, the primary mineral extracted from Coltan is also mined from other sources, and Congolese coltan represented around 10% of world production in recent years.[28][29]
Because of uncontrolled mining, the land is being eroded and is polluting lakes and rivers, affecting the ecology of the region.
The Eastern Mountain Gorilla's population has diminished as well. Miners are far from food sources and have been hunting gorillas.[30] The gorilla population has been seriously reduced and is now critically endangered. In Central and West Africa an estimated 3–5 million tons of so-called "bush meat" is obtained by killing animals (including gorillas) each year.[31]
There has been a significant drop in the production and sale of coltan and niobium from African mines since the dramatic price spike in 2000, based on dot com speculation and multiple ordering. This is confirmed in part by figures from the United States Geological Survey.[32][33]
The Tantalum-Niobium International Study Centre in Belgium, a country with traditionally close links to the Congo, has encouraged international buyers to avoid Congolese coltan on ethical grounds:
The central African countries of Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda and their neighbours used to be the source of significant tonnages. But civil war, plundering of national parks and exporting of minerals, diamonds and other natural resources to provide funding of militias has caused the Tantalum-Niobium International Study Center to call on its members to take care in obtaining their raw materials from lawful sources. Harm, or the threat of harm, to local people, wildlife or the environment is unacceptable.[34]
For economic rather than ethical reasons, a shift is also being seen from traditional sources such as Australia, towards new suppliers such as Egypt.[35] This may have been brought about by the bankruptcy of the world's biggest supplier, Australia's Sons of Gwalia, although the company continues to produce and export ore.