What is coltan?

Coltan (short for columbite–tantalite 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, and the tantalum-dominant mineral is tantalite^​

Tantalum from coltan is used to manufacture tantalum capacitors, used in electronic products. Coltan mining has been cited^​​ as helping to finance serious conflict, for example the Ituri conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo

Production and supply

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.

Tantalum minerals are mined in Australia, Brazil, Canada, Democratic Republic of Congo, 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 Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Uganda, Greenland, China, Mozambique, Canada, Australia, the United States, Finland, Afghanistan, and Brazil. Significant reserve of coltan was discovered in 2009 in western Venezuela. In 2009 the Colombian government announced coltan reserves had been found in Colombia's eastern provinces.

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