Editing Coltan

{{Short description|Tantalum-niobium ore}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2023}}
[[File:Ferrocolumbite-Manganotantalite-rh3-36a.jpg|thumb|upright|right|A piece of columbite–tantalite, size 6.0 × 2.5 × 2.1 cm]]
'''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]].<ref>{{Citation
  | last = Tantalum-Niobium International Study Centre
  | title = Coltan
  | url = http://www.tanb.org/coltan
  | access-date = 2008-01-27
  | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160114090751/http://tanb.org/coltan
  | archive-date = 2016-01-14
  | url-status = dead
  }}</ref>

Tantalum from coltan is used to manufacture [[tantalum capacitor]]s which are used for mobile phones, personal computers, automotive electronics, and cameras.<ref name="USGSCR08">{{cite web|url = http://minerals.usgs.gov/minerals/pubs/commodity/niobium/mcs-2008-tanta.pdf|title = Commodity Report 2008: Tantalum|publisher = United States Geological Survey|access-date = 2008-10-24}}</ref> [[Mining in the Democratic Republic of the Congo#Mining resumes (2001–present)|Coltan mining]]<ref>{{Citation
  | title = Congo: war-torn heart of Africa
  | date = December 1, 2008
  | url = http://www.theweek.co.uk/25113/congo-war-torn-heart-africa
  | access-date = 2012-10-18
  | archive-date = 25 August 2013
  | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130825020737/http://www.theweek.co.uk/25113/congo-war-torn-heart-africa
  | url-status = dead
  }}</ref><ref>{{Citation
  | title = Breaking the Silence- Congo Week
  | date = December 15, 2009
  | url = http://www.congoweek.org/english/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=120&Itemid=207
  | access-date = 2011-10-11
  | archive-date = 2011-07-25
  | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110725192111/http://www.congoweek.org/english/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=120&Itemid=207
  | url-status = dead
  }}</ref> is widespread in the [[Democratic Republic of the Congo]].<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/the-vice-guide-to-congo-1/ |title=The VICE Guide to Congo |magazine=Vice.com |access-date=2013-04-29 |archive-date=2013-05-17 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130517115358/http://www.vice.com/vice-news/the-vice-guide-to-congo-1 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name='phoneblood'>{{Citation
 | last = Söderberg
 | first = Mattias
 | title = Is there blood on your mobile phone?
 | date = 2006-09-22
 | url = http://www.danchurchaid.org/news/news/is-there-blood-on-your-mobile-phone
 | access-date = 2009-05-16
 | archive-date = 13 January 2012
 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120113041932/http://www.danchurchaid.org/news/news/is-there-blood-on-your-mobile-phone
 | url-status = dead
 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.rescue.org/news/irc-study-shows-congos-neglected-crisis-leaves-54-million-dead-peace-deal-n-kivu-increased-aid--4331
| title=IRC Study Shows Congo's Neglected Crisis Leaves 5.4 Million Dead; Peace Deal in N. Kivu, Increased Aid Critical to Reducing Death Toll
| date=22 January 2008
| access-date=17 April 2011
}}
</ref>

== Production and supply ==
[[File:Rio Inírida - panoramio.jpg|thumb|left|[[Inírida River|Rio Inírida]] |alt=Rio Inírida]]
Approximately 71% of the global tantalum supply in 2008 was newly mined, 20% was from recycling, and the remainder was from [[tin]] [[slag]] and inventory.<ref name="USGS MYB2009">{{Citation
  | last = Papp
  | first = John F.
  | title = "Niobium (columbium) and tantalum", U.S. Geological Survey, ''2009 Minerals Yearbook'', pp. 52.1 – 52.14
  | date = January 2011
  | url = http://minerals.usgs.gov/minerals/pubs/commodity/niobium/myb1-2009-niobi.pdf
  | access-date = 2011-01-17}}</ref> Tantalum minerals are mined in the [[Democratic Republic of the Congo]], [[Colombia]], [[Rwanda]], [[Australia]], [[Brazil]], [[China]], [[Ethiopia]], [[Mozambique]] and [[Kenya]].<ref>
{{Citation | last = Kenya National Mining Corporation 
| title = Kenya Discovers Coltan Deposits &#124; National Mining Corporation Kenya
| url = https://www.nmckenya.go.ke/kenya-discovers-coltan-deposits
| access-date = 13 July 2024
| publisher = [[Kenya National Mining Corporation]]}} 
{{Citation  | last = US Geological Survey
  | author-link = USGS
  | title = Minerals Yearbook Nb & Ta
  | year = 2006
  | url = http://minerals.usgs.gov/minerals/pubs/commodity/niobium/#pubs
  | access-date = 2008-06-03
  | publisher = [[United States Geological Survey]]}}</ref> 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.<ref name="Mining Journal">
{{Citation
| work=Mining Journal
| title=Tantalum supplement
| date=November 2007 |url=http://www.noventa.net/pdf/presentations/tanatalumSCR_presentation.pdf
| access-date=2008-06-03 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080910143749/http://www.noventa.net/pdf/presentations/tanatalumSCR_presentation.pdf |archive-date=September 10, 2008 }}</ref>

Globally, 60% of all mining companies have registered with the highly regulated stock exchanges in Toronto and Vancouver. However, due to environmental regulations, no mining of coltan is currently taking place in Canada itself,<ref>
{{cite web
| volume=43
| number=6
| title=Digging for Gold, Mining Corruption: One of Africa's Poorest and Most Embattled Countries is Prey to Canadian Mining Companies Searching for the Last Great Gold mine
| author=John Lasker
| date=October 29, 2009
| url=https://canadiandimension.com/articles/view/digging-for-gold-mining-corruption
}}
</ref> 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 [[Global Advanced Metals]] Pty Ltd. A discussion of Canadian mining by [[Natural Resources Canada]], updated in 2017, does not mention either coltan or tantalum.<ref>
{{cite web
| url=http://www.nrcan.gc.ca/mining-materials/exploration/8294
| title=Canadian Reserves of Selected Major Metals and Recent Production Decisions
| author=Arlene Drake
| date=20 September 2012
| publisher=Natural Resources Canada
}}
</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite news|title=The Mineral Industry of Rwanda |author=Thomas R. Yager |url=https://minerals.usgs.gov/minerals/pubs/country/2009/myb3-2009-rw.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120407210530/http://minerals.usgs.gov/minerals/pubs/country/2009/myb3-2009-rw.pdf |archive-date=2012-04-07 |url-status=live
| work=2009 Minerals Yearbook: Rwanda
| publisher=U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Geological Survey
}}
</ref>

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.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.cnbcafrica.com/news/east-africa/2016/08/24/africas-first-coltan-separation-plant-to-be-built-in-rwanda/ |title=Africa's first Coltan separation plant to be built in Rwanda |publisher=CNBC Africa |access-date=March 25, 2018|date=August 24, 2016}}</ref> Uganda and Rwanda both exported coltan in the early 2000s after they invaded the DRC, but the bulk of this coltan was not mined within those countries but smuggled from Congolese mines, 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.<ref>{{cite news|title=Uganda indicted for plunder of natural wealth:Congo report: Uganda indicted for plunder of natural wealth|date= 24 October 2002 |url=https://www.newvision.co.ug/new_vision/news/1046353/congo-report-uganda-indicted-plunder-natural-wealth |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180304013354/https://www.newvision.co.ug/new_vision/news/1046353/congo-report-uganda-indicted-plunder-natural-wealth |archive-date=March 4, 2018 |newspaper=New Vision}}
</ref><ref>
{{cite book
| page=1990
| title=Coltan
| author=Michael Nest
| publisher=John Wiley & Sons
| year=2013
| isbn=978-0745637716
| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vXOvoA8C6qoC&pg=PA1990
| via =Google Books
}}
</ref>

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.<ref>{{cite news|date=2 August 2013 |title=Highland African Mining Company closes mine in Marropino, Mozambique |publisher=MacauHub |url=https://macauhub.com.mo/2013/08/02/highland-african-mining-company-closes-mine-in-marropino-mozambique/}}</ref>

Reserves have been identified in [[Afghanistan]],<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/20/weekinreview/20mcneil.html |newspaper=The New York Times|title=Next for Afghanistan, the Curse of Plenty?| author=Donald G. Mcneil Jr. |date=June 19, 2010}}</ref> but the ongoing war there precludes either general exploration or exploring specifically for coltan for the foreseeable future.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.wired.com/2010/06/no-the-military-didnt-just-discover-an-afghan-mineral-motherlode/ |author= Katie Drummond
| date=June 4, 2010
| title=No, the U.S. didn't just 'discover' A $1T Afghan motherlode (updated)
| magazine=Wired
}}
</ref> The United States does not produce tantalum due to the poor quality of its reserves.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://minerals.usgs.gov/minerals/pubs/commodity/niobium/ |title=Niobium (Columbium) and Tantalum: Statistics and Information |publisher=USGS |year=2018}}</ref>

Australian mining company [[Sons of Gwalia]] once produced half the world's tantalum but went into administration <!-- I gather this is Australian for "bankruptcy"? --> 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.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://thewest.com.au/business/mining/worm-turns-for-atlas-as-wodgina-ore-prices-conspire-against-it-ng-b88449093z |title=Worm turns for Atlas as Wodgina, ore prices conspire against it |author=Nick Evans  |newspaper= The West Australian|date=17 April 2017}}</ref> 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|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.<ref>{{cite web|title=Global Advanced Metals to Mine Tantalum at Greenbushes |url=https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180205005042/en/Global-Advanced-Metals-to-Mine-Tantalum-at-Greenbushes |date=February 5, 2018 |work=Business Wire |publisher=Berkshire Hathaway}}</ref>

Venezuelan President [[Hugo Chávez]] 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 [[Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia|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 fully owned enterprise of the [[Iranian Revolutionary Guard]] which had been under US sanctions since October 25, 2007.<ref>
{{cite web
| title=Venezuela emerges as new source of 'conflict' minerals
| author1=[[Emilia Díaz-Struck]]
| author2=[[Joseph Poliszuk]]
| date=March 4, 2012
| access-date=May 12, 2016
| publisher=International Consortium of Investigative Journalists
| url=https://www.icij.org/projects/coltan/venezuela-emerges-new-source-conflict-minerals
}}
</ref>

Also in 2009, the Colombian government announced coltan reserves had been found in [[Colombia]]'s eastern provinces.<ref>[http://www.semana.com/nacion/relaciones-exteriores/articulo/mas-sal-herida-relaciones-entre-colombia-venezuela/110644-3 ''Más sal a la herida en relaciones entre Colombia y Venezuela,'' 04 December 2009]</ref>  Director of the Colombian Police [[Oscar Naranjo]] Trujillo stated in October 2011 that the [[FARC]] and the [[Sinaloa Cartel]] are working together in the unlicensed coltan mining in Colombia. Colombia announced a joint operation with the United States to arrest three suspects who, according to ''[[Semana]]'', inherited the illegal business run from their brother, Francisco Cifuentes Villa, alias 'Pancho Cifuentes', who once worked for [[Pablo Escobar]].<ref>{{cite news|title=Sinaloa Cartel Expands Influence in Colombia |url=https://www.insightcrime.org/news/analysis/sinaloa-cartel-expands-influence-in-colombia/ |date=March 2, 2011 |publisher=Insight Crime |language=en}}</ref> In 2012 Colombian police seized 17 tons of coltan in [[Guainía Department]]. The police said it had been mined on an indigenous reserve and bought for $10 a kilo and sold for $80 to 100 dollars a kilo, after smuggling it across the border into Brazil, where there are [[smelting|smelter]]s, and sold on through the black market to buyers in Germany, Belgium, Kazakhstan and the United States. Colombia has 5% of global coltan reserves.<ref>
{{cite magazine
| url=http://www.semana.com/nacion/articulo/carteles-mexicanos-estarian-detras-coltan-incautado-colombia/264667-3
| title=Carteles mexicanos estarían detrás de coltán incautado en Colombia: Una alianza entre capos de ese país y grupos ilegales de nuestro país estaría explotando el mineral que es sacado hacia Brasil.
| language=es
| trans-title=Mexican cartels said to be behind Coltan seizure in Columbia: An alliance between capos of that country and illegal groups of our country said to be exploiting the ore that is taken to Brazil.
| date=September 13, 2012
| magazine=Semana
}}
</ref> One of the regions suffering from illegal gold and coltan mining in Colombia is the [[wetland]] known as Estrella Fluvial del Inírida (Inírida Fluvial Star), a [[Ramsar site|Ramsar]] protected wetland.<ref>
{{cite magazine
| title=Estrella fluvial de Inírida un paraíso amenazado por la minería
| language=es|trans-title=Inírida fluvial star, a paradise threatened by mining
| magazine=Semana|url=http://www.semana.com/nacion/multimedia/estrella-fluvial-de-inirida-un-paraiso-amenazado-por-la-mineria/507541
}}
</ref><ref>
{{cite news
| trans-title=The jungle wounded by mining: Colombians and foreigners are affecting the fragile geography of the Orinoquia and the Amazon, fevered by the ambition of gold and coltan |url=http://www.semana.com/nacion/articulo/la-selva-herida-mineria/338157-3
| language=es
| title=La selva herida por la minería: Colombianos y extranjeros están afectando la frágil geografía de la Orinoquia y la Amazonia, afiebrados por la ambición del oro y del coltán
| date=March 29, 2013
}}
</ref><ref>
{{cite news
| author=Nathan Jaccard
| trans-title=The stars of the Inírida
| title=Las estrellas del Inírida
| date=4 May 2016
| newspaper=El Espectador
| url=https://www.elespectador.com/noticias/medio-ambiente/estrellas-del-inirida-articulo-630586
}}
</ref>

{| class="wikitable"
|- style="font-size:8pt"
|+ Tonnes of tantalum mined
|- style="font-size:8pt"
|  style="height:11px; text-align:center;"| &nbsp;
!  style="text-align:right;" | 1990
!  style="text-align:right;" | 1991
!  style="text-align:right;" | 1992
!  style="text-align:right;" | 1993
!  style="text-align:right;" | 1994
!  style="text-align:right;" | 1995
!  style="text-align:right;" | 1996
!  style="text-align:right;" | 1997
!  style="text-align:right;" | 1998
!  style="text-align:right;" | 1999
!  style="text-align:right;" | 2000
!  style="text-align:right;" | 2001
!  style="text-align:right;" | 2002
!  style="text-align:right;" | 2003
!  style="text-align:right;" | 2004
!  style="text-align:right;" | 2005
!  style="text-align:right;" | 2006
!  style="text-align:right;" | 2007
!  style="text-align:right;" | 2008
!  style="text-align:right;" | 2009
!  style="text-align:right;" | 2010
!  style="text-align:right;" | 2011
!  style="text-align:right;" | 2012
!  style="text-align:right;" | 2013
|- style="font-size:8pt"
! style="height:11px;"| Australia
| style="text-align:right;"| 165
| style="text-align:right;"| 218
| style="text-align:right;"| 224
| style="text-align:right;"| 170
| style="text-align:right;"| 238
| style="text-align:right;"| 274
| style="text-align:right;"| 276
| style="text-align:right;"| 302
| style="text-align:right;"| 330
| style="text-align:right;"| 350
| style="text-align:right;"| 485
| style="text-align:right;"| 660
| style="text-align:right;"| 940
| style="text-align:right;"| 765
| style="text-align:right;"| 807
| style="text-align:right;"| 854
| style="text-align:right;"| 478
| style="text-align:right;"| 441
| style="text-align:right;"| 557
| style="text-align:right;"| 81
| style="text-align:right;"| 0
| style="text-align:right;"| 80
| style="text-align:right;"| 0
| style="text-align:right;"| 0
|- style="font-size:8pt"
! style="height:11px;"| Brazil
| style="text-align:right;"| 90
| style="text-align:right;"| 84
| style="text-align:right;"| 60
| style="text-align:right;"| 50
| style="text-align:right;"| 50
| style="text-align:right;"| 50
| style="text-align:right;"| 55
| style="text-align:right;"| 55
| style="text-align:right;"| 310
| style="text-align:right;"| 165
| style="text-align:right;"| 190
| style="text-align:right;"| 210
| style="text-align:right;"| 200
| style="text-align:right;"| 200
| style="text-align:right;"| 213
| style="text-align:right;"| 216
| style="text-align:right;"| 176
| style="text-align:right;"| 180
| style="text-align:right;"| 180
| style="text-align:right;"| 180
| style="text-align:right;"| 180
| style="text-align:right;"| 180
| style="text-align:right;"| 140
| style="text-align:right;"| 140
|- style="font-size:8pt"
! style="height:11px;"| Canada
| style="text-align:right;"| 86
| style="text-align:right;"| 93
| style="text-align:right;"| 48
| style="text-align:right;"| 25
| style="text-align:right;"| 36
| style="text-align:right;"| 33
| style="text-align:right;"| 55
| style="text-align:right;"| 49
| style="text-align:right;"| 57
| style="text-align:right;"| 54
| style="text-align:right;"| 57
| style="text-align:right;"| 77
| style="text-align:right;"| 58
| style="text-align:right;"| 55
| style="text-align:right;"| 57
| style="text-align:right;"| 63
| style="text-align:right;"| 56
| style="text-align:right;"| 45
| style="text-align:right;"| 40
| style="text-align:right;"| 25
| style="text-align:right;"| 0
| style="text-align:right;"| 25
| style="text-align:right;"| 50
| style="text-align:right;"| 50
|- style="font-size:8pt"
! style="height:11px;"| D.R. Congo
| style="text-align:right;"| 10
| style="text-align:right;"| 16
| style="text-align:right;"| 8
| style="text-align:right;"| 6
| style="text-align:right;"| 1
| style="text-align:right;"| 1
| style="text-align:center;"| {{--}}
| style="text-align:center;"| {{--}}
| {{N/A}}
| {{N/A}}
| style="text-align:right;"| 130
| style="text-align:right;"| 60
| style="text-align:right;"| 30
| style="text-align:right;"| 15
| style="text-align:right;"| 20
| style="text-align:right;"| 33
| style="text-align:right;"| 14
| style="text-align:right;"| 71
| style="text-align:right;"| 100
| style="text-align:right;"| 87
| {{n/a}}
| {{n/a}}
| style="text-align:right;"| 100
| style="text-align:right;"| 110
|- style="font-size:8pt"
! style="height:22px;"| Rwanda
| style="text-align:right;"| 113
| style="text-align:right;"| 165
| style="text-align:right;"| 121
| style="text-align:right;"| 124
| style="text-align:right;"| 125
| style="text-align:right;"| 123
| style="text-align:right;"| 116
| style="text-align:right;"| 112
| style="text-align:right;"| 110
| style="text-align:right;"| 107
| style="text-align:right;"| 102
| style="text-align:right;"| 85
| style="text-align:right;"| 62
| style="text-align:right;"| 210
| style="text-align:right;"| 264
| style="text-align:right;"| 187
| style="text-align:right;"| 134
| style="text-align:right;"| 144
| style="text-align:right;"| 171
| style="text-align:right;"| 115
| style="text-align:right;"| 110
| style="text-align:right;"| 120
| style="text-align:right;"| 150
| style="text-align:right;"| 150
|- style="font-size:8pt;font-weight:bold"
! style="height:22px;"| Africa, Other
| style="text-align:right;"| 45
| style="text-align:right;"| 66
| style="text-align:right;"| 59
| style="text-align:right;"| 59
| style="text-align:right;"| 8
| style="text-align:right;"| 3
| style="text-align:right;"| 3
| style="text-align:right;"| 3
| style="text-align:right;"| 82
| style="text-align:right;"| 76
| style="text-align:right;"| 208
| style="text-align:right;"| 173
| style="text-align:right;"| 242
| style="text-align:right;"| 245
| style="text-align:right;"| 333
| style="text-align:right;"| 214
| style="text-align:right;"| 146
| style="text-align:right;"| 135
| style="text-align:right;"| 313
| style="text-align:right;"| 297
| style="text-align:right;"| 391
| style="text-align:right;"| 390
| style="text-align:right;"| 230
| style="text-align:right;"| 140
|- style="font-size:8pt;font-weight:bold"
! style="height:11px;"| WORLD
| style="text-align:right;"| 396
| style="text-align:right;"| 477
| style="text-align:right;"| 399
| style="text-align:right;"| 310
| style="text-align:right;"| 333
| style="text-align:right;"| 361
| style="text-align:right;"| 389
| style="text-align:right;"| 409
| style="text-align:right;"| 779
| style="text-align:right;"| 645
| style="text-align:right;"| 1070
| style="text-align:right;"| 1180
| style="text-align:right;"| 1470
| style="text-align:right;"| 1280
| style="text-align:right;"| 1430
| style="text-align:right;"| 1380
| style="text-align:right;"| 870
| style="text-align:right;"| 872
| style="text-align:right;"| 1190
| style="text-align:right;"| 670
| style="text-align:right;"| 681
| style="text-align:right;"| 790
| style="text-align:right;"| 670
| style="text-align:right;"| 590
|- style="font-size:8pt"
| colspan="25" style="height:32px;"| 1990–1993: U.S. Geological Survey, "1994 Minerals Yearbook" (MYB), "Columbium (niobium) and tantalum" by Larry D. Cunningham, <br />Table 10; 1994–1997: MYB 1998, Table 10; 1998–2001: MYB 2002, p.&nbsp;21.13; 2002–2003: MYB 2004, p.&nbsp;20.13; 2004: MYB 2008, p.&nbsp;52.12; <br />2005-2009: MYB 2009, p.&nbsp;52.13.  USGS did not report data for other countries (China, Kazakhstan, Russia, etc.) owing to data uncertainties.
|- style="font-size:8pt"
| {{N/A}} Not available. || colspan="24" | {{--}} Zero.
|}

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:right;"
|- style="font-size:8pt"
|+ % of Global tantalum production from mining
|- style="font-size:8pt"
|  style="height:11px; text-align:center;"| &nbsp;
!  style="text-align:right;" | 1990
!  style="text-align:right;" | 1991
!  style="text-align:right;" | 1992
!  style="text-align:right;" | 1993
!  style="text-align:right;" | 1994
!  style="text-align:right;" | 1995
!  style="text-align:right;" | 1996
!  style="text-align:right;" | 1997
!  style="text-align:right;" | 1998
!  style="text-align:right;" | 1999
!  style="text-align:right;" | 2000
!  style="text-align:right;" | 2001
!  style="text-align:right;" | 2002
!  style="text-align:right;" | 2003
!  style="text-align:right;" | 2004
!  style="text-align:right;" | 2005
!  style="text-align:right;" | 2006
!  style="text-align:right;" | 2007
!  style="text-align:right;" | 2008
!  style="text-align:right;" | 2009
!  style="text-align:right;" | 2010
!  style="text-align:right;" | 2011
!  style="text-align:right;" | 2012
!  style="text-align:right;" | 2013
|- style="font-size:8pt"
! style="height:11px;"| 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%
|  | 0.0%
|  | 10.1%
|  | 0.0%
|  | 0.0%
|- style="font-size:8pt"
! style="height:11px;"| 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%
|  | 26.4%
|  | 22.8%
|  | 20.9%
|  | 23.7%
|- style="font-size:8pt"
! style="height:11px;"| 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%
|  | 0.0%
|  | 3.2%
|  | 7.5%
|  | 8.5%
|- style="font-size:8pt"
! style="height:11px;"| 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%
|   {{n/a}}
|   {{n/a}}
|  | 14.9%
|  | 18.6%
|- style="font-size:8pt"
! style="height:11px;"| Rwanda
| {{sdash}}
| {{sdash}}
| {{sdash}}
| {{sdash}}
| {{sdash}}
| {{sdash}}
| {{sdash}}
| {{sdash}}
| {{sdash}}
| {{sdash}}
| {{sdash}}
| {{sdash}}
| {{sdash}}
| {{sdash}}
| {{sdash}}
| {{sdash}}
| {{sdash}}
| {{sdash}}
| {{sdash}}
| {{sdash}}
|  | 16.2%
|  | 15.2%
|  | 22.4%
|  | 25.4%
|- style="font-size:8pt"
! style="height:22px;"| Africa, Other
|  | 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%
|  | 57.4%
|  | 49.4%
|  | 34.3%
|  | 23.7%
|- style="font-weight:bold"
!  style="font-size:8pt; height:11px;"| WORLD
| style="font-size:7pt" | 100.0%
| style="font-size:7pt" | 100.0%
| style="font-size:7pt" | 100.0%
| style="font-size:7pt" | 100.0%
| style="font-size:7pt" | 100.0%
| style="font-size:7pt" | 100.0%
| style="font-size:7pt" | 100.0%
| style="font-size:7pt" | 100.0%
| style="font-size:7pt" | 100.0%
| style="font-size:7pt" | 100.0%
| style="font-size:7pt" | 100.0%
| style="font-size:7pt" | 100.0%
| style="font-size:7pt" | 100.0%
| style="font-size:7pt" | 100.0%
| style="font-size:7pt" | 100.0%
| style="font-size:7pt" | 100.0%
| style="font-size:7pt" | 100.0%
| style="font-size:7pt" | 100.0%
| style="font-size:7pt" | 100.0%
| style="font-size:7pt" | 100.0%
| style="font-size:7pt" | 100.0%
| style="font-size:7pt" | 100.0%
| style="font-size:7pt" | 100.0%
| style="font-size:7pt" | 100.0%
|}

[[Image:global-mined-tantalum-production-1990-2009.png|thumb|400px|alt=Plot of global mined tantalum production, 1990–2009, for World, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Democratic Republic of Congo, and the rest of Africa.|Data sources:<ref>1990-1993: U.S. Geological Survey, ''[http://minerals.usgs.gov/minerals/pubs/commodity/niobium/230494.pdf 1994 Minerals Yearbook]'' (MYB), "Columbium (niobium) and tantalum" by Larry D. Cunningham, Table 10; 1994-1997: [http://minerals.usgs.gov/minerals/pubs/commodity/niobium/230498.pdf MYB 1998] Table 10; 1998-2001: [http://minerals.usgs.gov/minerals/pubs/commodity/niobium/niobimyb02r.pdf MYB 2002] p. 21.13; 2002-2003: [http://minerals.usgs.gov/minerals/pubs/commodity/niobium/niobimyb04.pdf MYB 2004] p. 20.13; 2004: [http://minerals.usgs.gov/minerals/pubs/commodity/niobium/myb1-2008-niobi.pdf MYB 2008] p. 52.12; 2005-2009: [http://minerals.usgs.gov/minerals/pubs/commodity/niobium/myb1-2009-niobi.pdf MYB 2009] p. 52.13.  USGS did not report data for other countries (China, Kazakhstan, Russia, etc.) owing to data uncertainties.
.</ref>]]

== Use and demand ==
Coltan is used primarily for the production of [[tantalum capacitor]]s, used in [[mobile phone]]s and almost every kind of electronic device.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Five things you need to know about coltan|url=https://www.icij.org/investigations/coltan/five-things-you-need-know-about-coltan/|access-date=2020-08-06|website=ICIJ|date=4 March 2012|language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Coltan, Cell Phones, and Conflict: The War Economy of the DRC|url=https://www.newsecuritybeat.org/2008/12/coltan-cell-phones-and-conflict-the-war-economy-of-the-drc/|access-date=2020-08-06|website=New Security Beat|date=2 December 2008|language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=2019-08-19|title=What is Coltan? 5 Facts You Should Know {{!}} INN|url=https://investingnews.com/daily/resource-investing/critical-metals-investing/tantalum-investing/coltan-facts/|access-date=2020-08-06|website=Investing News Network|language=en-US}}</ref> Niobium and tantalum have a wide range of uses, including refractive lenses for glasses, cameras, phones and printers. They are also used in semiconductor circuits, and [[capacitor]]s for small electronic devices such as hearing aids, [[Artificial cardiac pacemaker|pacemaker]]s, and MP3 players, as well as in computer hard drives, automobile electronics, and  [[surface acoustic wave]] [[SAW filter|SAW filters]] for mobile phones.<ref>
{{cite report
| title=Coltan, the Congo and your cell phone: The connection between your mobile phone and human rights abuses in Africa
| author= Ewan Sutherland
| publisher=Massachusetts Institute of Technology
| page=6
| ssrn=1752822
| date=April 11, 2011
}} affiliated with [http://www.crids.be/ Research Associate, CRIDS, University of Namur1] and [http://link.wits.ac.za/profile/staff18.html University of the Witwatersrand].</ref>

Coltan is also used to make high-temperature [[alloys]] for jet engines, air-based [[turbines]], and land-based [[turbines]].<ref name="T.I.C.">
{{Cite web
  | title = Applications for Tantalum
  | url = http://www.tanb.org/tantalum1.html
  | access-date = 2008-06-03
}}
</ref> More recently, in the late 2000s, the nickel-tantalum super-alloys used in jet engines account for 15% of tantalum consumption, but pending orders for the [[Airbus]] and the [[Boeing 787 Dreamliner|787 Dreamliner]] may increase this proportion, as well as China's pending order for 62 787-8 airplanes.<ref>{{cite web
 |work         = Futuregram
 |publisher    = Project 2049 Institute
 |title        = China and Congo's coltan connection
 |url          = http://www.project2049.net/documents/china_and_congos_coltan_connection.pdf
 |author       = Tiffany Ma
 |page         = 5
 |via          = Google Scholar
 |language     = en
 |volume       = 09
 |issue        = 3
 |access-date  = 2018-03-03
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20180205141055/http://project2049.net/documents/china_and_congos_coltan_connection.pdf
 |archive-date = 2018-02-05
 |url-status   = dead
}}</ref><ref>
{{cite web
| publisher= Boeing
| title=Boeing's orders and deliveries information (as of May 2009)
| url=http://active.boeing.com/commercial/orders/index.cfm
}}</ref>

In 2012, electronics companies that used coltan included [[Acer Inc.]], [[AMP Incorporated|AMP]], [[Apple Inc.]], [[Canon Inc.]], [[Dell]], [[HP Inc.]], [[HTC]], [[IBM]], [[Intel]], [[Lenovo]], [[LG]], [[Microsoft]], [[Motorola]], [[Nikon]], [[Nintendo]], [[Nokia]], [[Panasonic]], [[Philips]], RIM (now [[Blackberry Limited]]), [[Samsung]], [[Sandisk]], [[Sharp Corporation]], [[Sony]], and [[Toshiba]]. Some companies have taken steps to reduce their use of conflict minerals by tracing the source of minerals in their supply chains, auditing smelters, and certifying conflict-free coltan mines. As of 2012, the companies that lagged behind these efforts the most were [[Nintendo]], [[HTC]], [[Sharp Corporation]], [[Nikon]], and [[Canon Inc.]]<ref>{{Cite web|date=2012|title=Lezhnev, R. & Hellmuth, A. (2012). Taking conflict out of consumer gadgets: Company rankings on conflict minerals 2012. Enough Project.|url=https://enoughproject.org/files/CorporateRankings2012.pdf|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120822173256/http://www.enoughproject.org/files/CorporateRankings2012.pdf |archive-date=2012-08-22 }}</ref>

=== Resource curse ===
{{Main|Resource curse}}
Certain countries rich in natural resources have been said to suffer from the apparently paradoxical "resource curse" - showing ''worse'' economic development than countries with ''fewer'' resources.<ref name="Humphreys 2007">{{cite book|title=Escaping the Resource Curse|author=Humphreys|publisher=Columbia University Press|year=2007|location=New York|page=1|display-authors=etal}}</ref>   Wealth of resources may also correspond to "... the likelihood of weak democratic development, corruption, and civil war".<ref name="Humphreys 2007" /> High levels of corruption lead to great political instability because whoever controls the assets (usually the political leaders and the government, in the case of the Democratic Republic of the Congo) can use them for their own benefit.  The resources generate wealth, which the leaders use to stay in power "... either through legal means, or coercive ones (e.g. funding militias)".<ref>{{cite book|author= Humphreys|title= Escaping the Resource Curse|year= 2007|publisher= Columbia University Press|location= New York|pages= 10–11|display-authors= etal}}</ref> The increased importance of coltan in electronics "occurred as warlords and armies in the eastern Congo converted [[artisanal mining]] operations&nbsp;... into slave labour regimes to earn hard currency to finance their militias," as one anthropological study put it in 2008.<ref name="mantz1">{{cite journal|last= Mantz|first= J. W|title= Improvisational economies: Coltan production in the eastern Congo|journal= Social Anthropology|doi=10.1111/j.1469-8676.2008.00035.x|volume=16|pages=34–50|year = 2008|issue= 1}}</ref> When much of eastern Congo [[Second Congo War|came under the control]] of [[Rwanda]]n forces in the 1990s, Rwanda suddenly became a major exporter of coltan, benefiting from the weakness of the Congolese government.<ref name=dvr>
{{cite book| author=David van Reybrouck
| title=Congo: The Epic History of a People
| publisher=[[HarperCollins]]
| year=2012
| page=456f
| isbn=978-0-06-220011-2
| title-link=Congo: The Epic History of a People
| author-link=David van Reybrouck
}}
</ref>{{request quotation|date=October 2015}} The soaring price "brought in as much as $20 million a month to rebel groups" and other factions trading coltan mined in northeastern Congo, according to a U.N. report.<ref name=a>{{cite report |title=The Role of Multinational Corporations in the Democratic Republic of the Counge |author=Billy Batware |date=December 5, 2011 |url=https://acuns.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/RoleofMultinationalCorporations.pdf |publisher=ACUNS |access-date=March 1, 2018 |archive-date=August 21, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180821114442/https://acuns.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/RoleofMultinationalCorporations.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref>

=== Mining ===
For Congolese, mining is the readiest source of income, because the work is consistently available, even if only for a dollar a day.<ref name="Smith 2011">{{cite journal|last=Smith|first=James H.|title=Tantalus in the Digital Age: Coltan ore, temporal dispossession, and "movement" in the Eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo|journal=American Ethnologist|date=February 1, 2011|volume=38|issue=1|pages=17–35|doi=10.1111/j.1548-1425.2010.01289.x}}</ref> The work can be laborious; miners can walk for days into the forest to reach the ore, scratch it from the earth with hand tools, and pan it. About 90% of young men{{dubious|date=May 2016}} in Congo have done this.<ref name=kill/> Research found that many Congolese leave farming because they need money quickly and cannot wait for crops to grow. Farming also presents its own obstacles. For example, the lack of roads in the Congolese interior makes it extremely difficult to transport produce to market and a harvest can be seized by militias or the military.<ref name="Smith 2011" /> With their food gone, people resort to mining to survive. But organized mines may be run by corrupt groups such as militias. The Congolese mine coltan with few tools, no safety procedures, and often no mining experience.<ref name="mantz1"/> No government aid or intervention is available in many unethical and abusive circumstances. Miners consider coltan mining a way to provide for themselves in the face of widespread war and conflict and a government that has no concern for their welfare.<ref name=kill>{{cite web
| url=http://www.roape.org/093/10.html
| last=Jackson
| first=Stephen
| title=Making a killing: criminality and coping in the Kivu war economy
| work=Review of African Political Economy
| publisher=ROAPE Publications
| access-date=28 January 2013
| archive-date=27 May 2014
| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140527093503/http://www.roape.org/093/10.html
| url-status=dead
}}</ref>

A 2007 study of the radioactivity of the coltan mined in [[Masisi]] and other parts of the [[North Kivu Province]] found "that grinding and sieving coltan can give rise to high occupational doses, up to 18 [[Sievert|mSv]] per year on average."<ref>{{citation|journal=Journal of Radiological Protection |publisher= IOP Publishing Ltd |title=Occupational radiation exposures of artisans mining columbite–tantalite in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo |author1= Mustapha, A. O.|author2= Mbuzukongira, P.| author3= Mangala, M. J. |date= 25 May 2007 | volume=27|pages= 187–95 | number=2|pmid= 17664663 |doi= 10.1088/0952-4746/27/2/005 |bibcode= 2007JRP....27..187M |s2cid= 1473788 }}</ref>

== Ethics of mining in the Democratic Republic of Congo ==
{{See also|Coltan mining and ethics}}
Conflicts in the [[Democratic Republic of Congo]] (DRC) have made it difficult for the DRC to benefit from the exploitation of its coltan reserves. Mining of coltan is mainly artisanal and small-scale and vulnerable to extortion and human trafficking.<ref name="dorner-1">{{cite web
 |last        = Dorner
 |first       = Ulrike
 |author2     = Franken, Gudrun
 |author3     = Liedtke, Maren
 |author4     = Sievers, Henrike
 |title       = Artisanal and Small-Scale Mining (ASM)
 |date        = 2012-03-01
 |url         = http://www.polinares.eu/docs/d2-1/polinares_wp2_chapter7.pdf
 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20121004082628/http://www.polinares.eu/docs/d2-1/polinares_wp2_chapter7.pdf
 |url-status  = dead
 |archive-date = 2012-10-04
 |access-date = 2012-09-09
}}</ref> A 2003 [[UN Security Council]] report<ref name="unreport">
{{Citation| author = Panel of Experts on the Illegal Exploitation of Natural Resources and Other Forms of Wealth in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
| title = S/2003/1027
| date =  2003-10-26
| url = https://www.un.org/Docs/journal/asp/ws.asp?m=S/2003/1027
| access-date =2008-04-19
| publisher = [[United Nations]]
}}
</ref> stated that much of the ore is mined illegally and [[Smuggling|smuggled]] across Congo's eastern border by militias from neighbouring [[Uganda]], [[Burundi]] and Rwanda.<ref>
{{cite press release
| url=https://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2001/sc7057.doc.htm
| publisher=UN
| date=3 May 2001
| title=Security Council Condemns Illegal Exploitation of Democratic Republic of Congo's Natural Resources
| access-date=2008-05-12
}}
</ref> All three countries named by the [[United Nations]] as coltan smugglers denied doing this. [[Austria]]n journalist {{Interlanguage link|Klaus Werner|de}} however has documented links between multi-national companies like [[Bayer]] and the smuggling and illegal coltan mines.<ref>
{{cite book
| last=Werner |first=Klaus
| year= 2003
| trans-title=The New Black Book of Brand Companies |language=de
| title=Das neue Schwarzbuch Markenfirmen
|publisher=Deuticke
| isbn= 978-3-216-30715-6
}}
</ref> A United Nations committee investigating the plunder of gems and minerals from the Congo, listed in its final report in 2003<ref name="unreport" /> approximately 125 companies and individuals whose business activities breach international norms. Companies accused of irresponsible corporate behavior included [[Cabot Corporation]],<ref>{{Cite web
| author = Friends of the Earth-United States
| title = FOE complaint to Department of State concerning U.S. companies
| date = 2004-08-04
| url = http://oecdwatch.org/files/raid-foe_vs-_us-companies_complaint
| access-date = 2009-05-15
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110727142226/http://oecdwatch.org/files/raid-foe_vs-_us-companies_complaint
| archive-date = 2011-07-27
| url-status = dead
}}</ref> Eagle Wings Resources International<ref>{{Cite web
| author = Friends of the Earth-United States
| title = Groups File Complaint With State Department Against Three American Companies Named in UN Report
| date = 2004-08-04
| url = http://oecdwatch.org/files/raid-foe_vs-_us-companies_press-release
| access-date = 2009-05-15
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100413165114/http://oecdwatch.org/files/raid-foe_vs-_us-companies_press-release
| archive-date = 2010-04-13
| url-status = dead
}}</ref> the [[Forrest Group]]<ref>{{Citation| last = BBC| title = Scramble for DR Congo's mineral wealth| date =  2006-04-17| url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4900734.stm| access-date =2008-04-19| work = [[BBC News]] }}</ref> and [[OM Group]].<ref>{{Citation| last = Friends of the Congo| title = Coltan: What You Should Know| url = http://www.friendsofthecongo.org/new/coltan.php| access-date = 2008-04-19| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080210190646/http://www.friendsofthecongo.org/new/coltan.php| archive-date = 2008-02-10| url-status = dead}}</ref> Some of the fighters were eventually tried before the [[International Criminal Court]] tribunal in [[The Hague]] on charges of crimes against humanity.

Income from coltan smuggling likely financed the military occupation of Congo,<ref>
{{cite book
| title=Historical Dictionary of the Democratic Republic of the Congo
| author1=Emizet Francois Kisangani
| author2=Scott F. Bobb
| date=2009
| publisher=Scarecrow Press
| edition=3
| isbn=978-0810863255
| page=91
}}</ref> and prolonged the civil conflict afterwards. A UN panel studied the eastern Congo for months before releasing a remarkably sharp condemnation of the ongoing [[military occupation]] of eastern Congo by Ugandan, Rwandan, and other foreign military forces, as well as the many bands of Congolese rebels fighting with one another. The UN report accused the fighters of massively looting Congolese natural resources, and said that the war persisted because the fighters were enriching themselves by mining and smuggling out coltan, timber, gold, and diamonds.<ref>{{cite news
| work=Radio Expeditions
| title=Coltan Mining and Eastern Congo's Gorillas
| url=https://www.npr.org/programs/re/archivesdate/2001/dec/20011220.coltan.html
| publisher=NPR
| date=May 2, 2001
| author=Alex Chadwick
| access-date=February 28, 2018
| archive-date=July 7, 2017
| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170707170623/http://www.npr.org/programs/re/archivesdate/2001/dec/20011220.coltan.html
| url-status=dead
}} partner organization=[[National Geographic Society]], updated December 20, 2001</ref> They also said that smuggled minerals financed the fighting and provided money for weapons. A 2005 report on the Rwandan economy by the South African [[Institute for Security Studies]] found that Rwanda official coltan production soared nearly tenfold between 1999 and 2001, from 147 tons to 1,300 tons, and for the first time provided more revenue than from the country traditional primary exports, tea and coffee. Similarly, Uganda exported 2.5 tons of coltan exports a year before the conflict broke out in 1997. In 1999 its export volume exploded to nearly 70 tons.
{{quote box
| border = 2px
| align = left
| bgcolor = white
| title =
| halign = left
| fontsize = 12
| quote = "Part of the increase in production is due to<br /> the opening of new mines in Rwanda.<br /> However, the increase is primarily due to<br /> the fraudulent re-export of coltan of<br /> Congolese origin."
| salign = left
}}
Many of the corporations participating in the 1999-2000 business stampede caused by $400 coltan were in fact participants in the conflict. The Rwandan army, as Rwanda Metals, exported at least 100 tons per month. A UN panel estimated that the Coltan extraction causes problems that adjoin or overlap those caused by [[blood diamond]]s and uses similar methods such as smuggling across the porous Rwandan border, [[environmentalist]]s and [[human rights]] workers began to speak of "[[conflict mineral]]s" or "[[conflict resource]]s" more generally. It is difficult to verify the sourcing of [[fungible]] materials like ores, so some processors, [[Cabot Corporation]] (USA) for example, have announced that they would avoid unsourced Central African coltan altogether.<ref>{{cite news
| work=Reuters
| date=October 3, 2011
| title=Congo in talks with Malaysia Smelting over tin foundry
| url=https://af.reuters.com/article/investingNews/idAFJOE7920KM20111003
| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111031180302/http://af.reuters.com/article/investingNews/idAFJOE7920KM20111003
| url-status=dead
| archive-date=October 31, 2011
}}
</ref> The Rwandan army could have made $20 million a month, and must have made at least $250 million over 18 months. "This is substantial enough to finance the war," the panel noted in its report.
{{quote box
| border = 2px
| align = right
| bgcolor = white
| title =
| halign = left
| fontsize = 12
| quote = "Here lies the vicious circle of the war.<br /> Coltan has permitted the Rwandan army<br /> to sustain its presence in the Democratic<br /> Republic of the Congo. The army has<br /> provided protection and security to the<br /> individuals and companies extracting the<br /> mineral. These have made money which is<br /> shared with the army, which in turn<br /> continues to provide the enabling<br /> environment to continue the<br /> exploitation."<ref>(UN report 2001)</ref>
| salign = right
}}
In 2009, DRC coltan was going to China to be manufactured into wires and electronic-grade tantalum powder.<ref>
Tiffany Ma, "China and Congo's Coltan Connection," ''Project 2049 Futuregram'' (09-003), June 22, 2009, at http://project2049.net/documents/china_and_congos_coltan_connection.pdf
</ref> Coltan imports from the DRC into Europe usually went to Russia or Central/Eastern Europe, via the route through [[Dar es Salaam]] in [[Tanzania]] and [[Piraeus]] in Greece to the Balkans. An offshore consortium registered in the British Virgin Islands named [[Nova Dies BVI IBC|Nova Dies]] controlled most of the trans-Balkan trade route.<ref>
[https://www.linkedin.com/company/nova-dies-british-virgin-islands-international-business-company Nova Dies Company profile] LinkedIn</ref>{{unreliable source?|date=February 2018}} This export pipeline mostly carries unprocessed coltan mined in unsafe artisanal mines, so this market hinders development of safer extraction infrastructure in the DRC. The Balkan trade route, therefore, poses a long-term threat to the DRC's economy; it finances and validates the vast harm done to DR Congo by the violent and corrupt past and current system.<ref>[http://www.newsday.co.tt/commentary/0,197374.html ''The coltan killing fields'', Newsday, 9 July 2014]</ref>

Estimates of Congo's coltan deposits range upwards from 64% of global reserves.<ref>
{{cite web
| title=The Democratic Republic of the Congo: Major Challenges Impede Efforts to Achieve U.S. Policy Objectives; Systematic Assessment of Progress Is Needed" GAO-08-562T
| date= March 6, 2008
| url=http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d08562t.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080306210102/http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d08562t.pdf |archive-date=2008-03-06 |url-status=live
}}
</ref><ref>[http://www.globalwitness.org/media_library_detail.php/138/en/ -- on request for their source the GAO gave the Global Witness report "Under-Mining Peace: Tin - the Explosive Trade in Cassiterite in Eastern DRC"  June 30, 2005] {{Dead link|date=July 2019 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> but estimates at the high end of the range are difficult to trace to reliable data.<ref name="Nest">
{{cite book
| last=Nest
| first=Michael
| title=Coltan
| date=2013
| publisher=John Wiley & Sons
| location=New York
}}
</ref> Professional bodies like the [[British Geological Survey]] estimate that Central Africa as a whole has 9% of global assets.<ref name="bgs">
{{cite web
| title=Niobium-tantalum
| url=https://www.bgs.ac.uk/downloads/start.cfm?id=2033
| publisher=British Geological Survey|access-date=24 May 2014|author=Richard Shaw
| author2=Kathryn Goodenough
}}
</ref> [[Tantalum]], the primary element extracted from coltan, can also be obtained from other sources, but Congolese coltan represented around 10% of world production in 2008.<ref>{{cite web
| url=http://tanb.org/coltan
| title='Coltan' &#124; Tantalum-Niobium International Study Center
| publisher=Tanb.org
| access-date=2013-04-29
| archive-date=2010-10-28
| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101028135022/http://tanb.org/coltan
| url-status=dead
}}</ref><ref>
[http://minerals.usgs.gov/minerals/pubs/commodity/niobium/myb1-2008-niobi.pdf 2008 Minerals Yearbook, USGS]
</ref>

The United States responded to conflict minerals with section 1501 of the 2010 [[Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act|Dodd-Frank Act]], which required companies that might have [[Conflict minerals law|conflict minerals]] including Coltan in their [[supply chain]] to register with the US Securities and Exchange Commission and disclose their suppliers. The legislation appears to have had limited success. Based on extensive qualitative fieldwork conducted from 2014 to 2016 with coltan buyers operating in [[Bukama Territory]], [[Kalemie]] and [[Lubumbashi]], [[Katanga Province]], one researcher suggested that conflict mineral reforms resulted in better oversight and organization of supply chains, but that inaction by the Congolese government had led to locally negotiated solutions and territorialization, leading to secretive mining activities.<ref>
{{cite journal |last1=Diemel |first1=J.A. |date=12 February 2018 |title=Authority and access to the cassiterite and coltan trade in Bukama Territory (DRC) |journal=The Extractive Industries and Society |volume=5 |issue=1 |pages=56–65 |doi=10.1016/j.exis.2017.12.001|bibcode=2018ExIS....5...56D }}
</ref>

== Environmental concerns ==
Uncontrolled mining in the DRC causes [[soil erosion]] and [[pollution|pollutes]] lakes and rivers, affecting the [[hydrology]] and [[ecology]] of the region.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=a6hTAAAAMAAJ Cobalt monograph, Centre d'information du cobalt, Battelle Memorial Institute, 1960]</ref><ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=UyE49SzKWHIC&pg=PA255 Dennis, W. H., ''Metallurgy 1863-1963'', Centre d'information du cobalt, Battelle Memorial Institute, 2010] {{ISBN|1412843650}}</ref>

The eastern [[mountain gorilla]]'s population has diminished as well. Miners, far from food sources and often hungry, hunt gorillas.<ref>{{Cite book |last = Taylor and Goldsmith|first = Andrea and Michele|title = Gorilla Biology: A Multidisciplinary Perspective
| date = December 2002
| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=I37XTdpG9voC&pg=PA414
| access-date = 2010-11-19
| isbn = 978-0-521-79281-3
}}
</ref> The gorilla population in the DRC fell from 17,000 to 5,000 in the decade prior to 2009, and Mountain Gorillas in the Great Lakes region numbered only 700, UNEP said in 2009. Hunted for [[bushmeat]], a prized delicacy in western Africa, and threatened by logging, slash-and-burn agriculture and armed conflict, the gorilla population was critically endangered, they said.<ref>
{{cite news
| title=Jane Goodall issues call to save gorillas: Jane Goodall, the famous conservationist, has called on the world to protect gorillas under threat from ongoing deforestation and war.
| url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/democraticrepublicofcongo/3541723/Jane-Goodall-issues-call-to-save-gorillas.html |author=Louise Gray
| date=December 2, 2008
| newspaper=The Telegraph
}}
</ref> The population of Grauer's gorillas were particularly threatened by changes in their environment, with a population in January 2018 of only about 3,800.<ref>
{{cite journal
| journal=Veld & Flora
| title=One of the world's rarest apes faces extinction
| volume=103
| number=4
| date=January 2018
| page=150
| language=en
| issn=0042-3203|hdl=10520/EJC-c236ee9d4
}}
</ref><ref>{{cite journal| pmid=27760201 | doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0162697 | pmc=5070872 | volume=11 | title=Catastrophic Decline of World's Largest Primate: 80% Loss of Grauer's Gorilla (Gorilla beringei graueri) Population Justifies Critically Endangered Status | year=2016 | journal=PLOS ONE | page=e0162697 | last1 = Plumptre | first1 = AJ | last2 = Nixon | first2 = S | last3 = Kujirakwinja | first3 = DK | last4 = Vieilledent | first4 = G | last5 = Critchlow | first5 = R | last6 = Williamson | first6 = EA | last7 = Nishuli | first7 = R | last8 = Kirkby | first8 = AE | last9 = Hall | first9 = JS| issue=10 | bibcode=2016PLoSO..1162697P | doi-access=free }}</ref>

An estimated 3–5 million tons of bushmeat is obtained by killing animals, including gorillas, every year. Demand for bushmeat comes from urban dwellers who consider it a delicacy, as well as from remote populations of artisanal miners.<ref>{{Citation
| last = Olive
| first = Brooke
| title = Mountain Gorillas, Bushmeat or Blackmail?
| date = August 21, 2007
| url = http://www.aboutmyplanet.com/env4=ironment/mountain-gorillas/
| access-date = 2009-12-17
}} {{Dead link|date=July 2020 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> Environmentalists who interviewed miners in and around [[Kahuzi-Biéga National Park]] and the [[Itombwe Mountains|Itombwe Nature Reserve]] found that the miners did confirm that they had been eating bushmeat and that they did think that the practice had caused a decline in primate numbers. Since the miners said they would cease the practice if they had another food supply, the authors suggested that efforts to stop the gorilla population decline should consider addressing this issue to reduce the depredations of subsistence hunting. The mines in these nature reserves were producing [[cassiterite]], gold, coltan and [[wolframite]], and "most mines were controlled by armed groups."<ref>
{{cite journal
| title=The socio-economics of artisanal mining and bushmeat hunting around protected areas: Kahuzi–Biega National Park and Itombwe Nature Reserve, eastern Democratic Republic of Congo
| author1=Charlotte Spira | author2=Andrew Kirkby |author3=Deo Kujirakwinja |author4=Andrew J. Plumptre |doi=10.1017/S003060531600171X |date=11 April 2017 |journal=Oryx|volume=53 |issue=1 |pages=136–144 |doi-access=free }}</ref>

== Health concerns ==
There is a high prevalence of respiratory complaints in Congolese informal coltan miners. It has been suggested that efficient occupational safety measures be implemented. Also, there is a need to regulate the informal mining business due to a high death toll.<ref name="Leon_2018">{{cite journal | vauthors = Leon-Kabamba N, Ngatu NR, Kakoma SJ, Nyembo C, Mbelambela EP, Moribe RJ, Wembonyama S, Danuser B, Oscar-Luboya N| title = Respiratory health of dust-exposed Congolese coltan miners | journal = Int Arch Occup Environ Health | volume = 91 | issue = 7 | pages = 859–864| date = October 2018 | doi = 10.1007/s00420-018-1329-0 |pmid = 29951778| pmc= | bibcode = 2018IAOEH..91..859L | s2cid = 49481027 }}</ref>

== Price increases and changes in demand ==
The production and sale of coltan and [[niobium]] from African mines dropped significantly after the dramatic price spike in 2000 from the [[Dot-com bubble|dot-com]] frenzy, from $400 to the current price level of around $100. Figures from the [[United States Geological Survey]] partially confirm this.<ref>U.S. Geological Survey, [http://minerals.usgs.gov/minerals/pubs/commodity/niobium/231302.pdf Mineral Commodity Summaries, January 2002], Tantalum p. 166-7
</ref><ref>
U.S. Geological Survey, [http://minerals.usgs.gov/minerals/pubs/commodity/niobium/tantamcs05.pdf Mineral Commodity Summaries, January 2005], Tantalum p. 166-7
</ref> <!-- so what is source for the other part, please? Needs more explanation and/or references --> The Tantalum-Niobium International Study Centre in [[Belgium]], the country that colonized the DRC, has encouraged international buyers to avoid Congolese coltan on ethical grounds: "take care in obtaining&nbsp;... raw materials from lawful sources. Harm, or the threat of harm, to local people, wildlife or the environment is unacceptable."<ref>
{{Cite web
  | last = Tantalum-Niobium International Study Center
  | title = Tantalum
  | url = http://www.tanb.org/tantalum1.html
  | access-date =2008-01-27
}}
</ref>

In addition to environmental harm caused by erosion, pollution and deforestation, agriculture and as a result food security suffered in the DRC as a result of mining. A follow-up UN report in 2003 noted a sharp increase in 1999 and 2000 in the global price of tantalum, which naturally increased coltan production. Some of the increased production came from eastern DC where there are "rebel groups and unscrupulous business people" forcing farmers and their families to leave land where the rebels wanted to mine, "forcing them to work in artisanal mines...widespread destruction of agriculture and devastating social effects occurred, which in a number of instances were akin to slavery."<!-- (Anup Shah 2010): think this might be attribution where my source cites a source. Not sure, leaving it here commented out for now -->

A shift also took place from traditional sources such as Australia to new suppliers such as Egypt,<ref>{{Citation
  | last = Gippsland Limited
  | title = Abu Dabbab Tantalum
  | url = http://www.gippslandltd.com/Projects/AbuDabbab.aspx
  | access-date = 2011-04-02
  | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20111017145438/http://www.gippslandltd.com/Projects/AbuDabbab.aspx
  | archive-date = 2011-10-17
  | url-status = dead
  }}</ref> perhaps because of the bankruptcy of the world's biggest supplier, Australia's [[Sons of Gwalia]] may have caused or contributed to this change. The operations previously owned by Gwalia in [[Wodgina mine|Wodgina]] and [[Greenbushes]] continue to operate in some capacity.

== See also ==
* [[Conflict minerals]]
* [[Fairphone]]
* [[Mining industry of the Democratic Republic of the Congo]]
* [[Cobalt]]
* [[Cassiterite]]
* [[Mining in Australia]] <!-- needs update/expansion as it does appear to mention coltan. But there is production there so it's related enough for see also -->

== References ==
{{Reflist|2}}

== Further reading ==
* {{cite journal|title=Can the provenance of the conflict minerals columbite and tantalite be ascertained by laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy?|journal = Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry|volume = 400|issue = 10|pages = 3377–82|pmid = 21537914|year = 2011|last1 = Harmon|first1 = R. S.|last2 = Shughrue|first2 = K. M.|last3 = Remus|first3 = J. J.|last4 = Wise|first4 = M. A.|last5 = East|first5 = L. J.|last6 = Hark|first6 = R. R.|doi = 10.1007/s00216-011-5015-2|s2cid = 26612472}}
* {{cite journal|title=Coltan from Central Africa, international trade and implications for any certification|journal=Resources Policy|volume=37|pages=19–29|doi=10.1016/j.resourpol.2011.12.008|year=2012|last1=Bleischwitz|first1=Raimund|last2=Dittrich|first2=Monika|last3=Pierdicca|first3=Chiara|issue=1 |bibcode=2012RePol..37...19B |url=http://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/1403597/1/Bleischwitz_4184_Bleischwitz.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170922204351/http://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/1403597/1/Bleischwitz_4184_Bleischwitz.pdf |archive-date=2017-09-22 |url-status=live}}
* {{cite journal|url=https://journals.co.za/content/journal/10520/EJC-c236ee9d4|title=Veld & Flora - One of the world's rarest apes faces extinction|journal=Veld & Flora|volume=103|issue=4|pages=150|date=December 2017}}
* {{cite journal|title=Authority and access to the cassiterite and coltan trade in Bukama Territory (DRC)|journal=The Extractive Industries and Society|volume=5|pages=56–65|doi=10.1016/j.exis.2017.12.001|year=2018|last1=Diemel|first1=J.A.|issue=1 |bibcode=2018ExIS....5...56D }}
* {{cite journal|title="Referees become players": Accessing coltan mines in the Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo|journal=The Extractive Industries and Society|volume=5|pages=66–72|doi=10.1016/j.exis.2017.11.008|year=2018|last1=Wakenge|first1=Claude Iguma|issue=1 |bibcode=2018ExIS....5...66W }}
* {{cite web|url=https://openaccess.leidenuniv.nl/handle/1887/49000|title=The Resource Curse in the Democratic Republic of Congo: Analysing the Coltan Conflict and the Involvement of Foreign Actors|date=September 2017}}
* {{cite journal|title=The socio-economics of artisanal mining and bushmeat hunting around protected areas: Kahuzi–Biega National Park and Itombwe Nature Reserve, eastern Democratic Republic of Congo|journal=Oryx|volume=53|pages=136–144|doi=10.1017/S003060531600171X|year=2019|last1=Spira|first1=Charlotte|last2=Kirkby|first2=Andrew|last3=Kujirakwinja|first3=Deo|last4=Plumptre|first4=Andrew J.|issue=1 |doi-access=free}}
* {{cite web|url=http://digitalknowledge.cput.ac.za/handle/11189/5950|title=President Trump's threats in coltan supply chain due diligence stunt Congo's 2020 nation branding vision|year=2017|last1=Momo|first1=Alain Michael}}
* {{cite web|url=http://repositori.uib.es/xmlui/handle/11201/2147|title=Corporate social responsibility and the supply chain: cell phone companies and the case of coltan|date=2017-04-24|last1=Fortuny|first1=Barceló de|last2=Elisabet|first2=Marta}}
* {{cite web|url=http://library.wur.nl/WebQuery/wda/abstract/2214221|title=Stadium Coltan : artisanal mining, reforms and social change in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo}}
* {{cite web|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/284646687|title=Analytical Fingerprint of Columbite-Tantalite (Coltan) Mineralisation in Pegmatites – Focus on Africa}}
* {{cite web|url=http://www.project2049.net/documents/china_and_congos_coltan_connection.pdf|title=China and Congo's coltan connection|access-date=2018-03-03|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180205141055/http://project2049.net/documents/china_and_congos_coltan_connection.pdf|archive-date=2018-02-05|url-status=dead}}
* {{cite web|url=http://law.bepress.com/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=7300&context=expresso|title=The Eastern Lowland Gorilla: Saving the Victims of Coltan}}
* {{cite web|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/266137895|title=Blood Diamonds of the Digital Age: Coltan and the Eastern Congo}}
* {{cite journal|title=Occupational radiation exposures of artisans mining columbite–tantalite in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo|journal=Journal of Radiological Protection|volume=27|issue=2|pages=187–195|doi=10.1088/0952-4746/27/2/005|pmid=17664663|year=2007|last1=Mustapha|first1=A. O.|last2=Mbuzukongira|first2=P.|last3=Mangala|first3=M. J.|bibcode=2007JRP....27..187M|s2cid=1473788 }}
* {{cite web|url=http://www.coldtype.net/Assets.04/Mon.04/GM.11.04.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040617001525/http://www.coldtype.net/Assets.04/Mon.04/GM.11.04.pdf |archive-date=2004-06-17 |url-status=live|title=The victim's licence: Our fairytale version of Rwanda's genocide has allowed us to overlook new atrocities}}
* {{cite journal|title=Formalising artisanal and small-scale mining: insights, contestations and clarifications|journal=Area|volume=49|issue=4|pages=443–451|doi=10.1111/area.12328|year=2017|last1=Hilson|first1=Gavin|last2=MacOnachie|first2=Roy|bibcode=2017Area...49..443H |s2cid=152063208 |url=https://purehost.bath.ac.uk/ws/files/202120345/Area_Final.pdf}}
* {{cite journal|url=https://inis.iaea.org/search/search.aspx?orig_q=RN:40070610|title=Tantalum: A strategic metal|journal=Dyna (Bilbao)|volume=84|issue=3|pages=219–224|year=2009|last1=Garcia-Yagues|first1=M. R.|last2=Lopez-Lopez|first2=J.|last3=Lopez-Lopez|first3=G.}}
* {{cite web|url=https://www.africaportal.org/publications/the-drc-and-its-neighbourhood-the-political-economy-of-peace/|title=The DRC and its Neighbourhood: The Political Economy of Peace|date=October 2014}}
* {{cite journal|title=Mineralogy: Painful extractions|journal=Nature|volume=517|issue=7533|pages=142–143|doi=10.1038/517142a|year=2015|last1=Bloodworth|first1=Andrew|bibcode=2015Natur.517..142B|doi-access=free}}

== External links ==
{{Wiktionary}}
* {{Commons category-inline|Columbite-Tantalite}}

{{Ores}}
{{Industry country lists|state=collapsed}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Niobium minerals]]
[[Category:Oxide minerals]]
[[Category:Politics of mining in Africa]]
[[Category:Tantalum minerals]]
[[Category:Mining in the Democratic Republic of the Congo]]
[[Category:Tantalum mining]]
[[Category:Forced labour]]
[[Category:Child labour]]