Tantalum metal

Tantalum is a rare, non-radioactive metal. In nature, tantalum (Ta) is almost always found with niobium (also known as columbium) in oxide form. The principal source for tantalum is the mineral columbite-tantalite found in Australia, Brazil, Canada and the Democratic Republic of Congo, with lesser quantities originating from Southeast Asia. The tantalum content of the ore found in the DRC and neighbouring countries is uniquely high.

In its refined forms, tantalum is grey, heavy and very hard. Its ductility enables it to be drawn into very fine wires. It is used to make a variety of super alloys with desirable properties such as high melting point, high strength and ductility. At high temperatures, tantalum becomes very reactive. Its melting point is only exceeded by tungsten and rhenium. Scientists at Los Alamos laboratory, USA, have produced a tantalum carbide graphite composite material, which is said to be one of the hardest materials ever made with a melting point of 3738ºC. Tantalum is almost completely immune to chemical attacks below 150ºC, and is only vulnerable to hydrofluoric acid, acidic solutions containing the fluoride ion, and free sulphur trioxide.

Tantalum usage

60% of its commercial use is in the field of consumer electronics (cellular phones, DVD players, computers, gaming platforms, specialty electronics, etc.) where it is used for its capacity to store and release electrical charges.

Tantalum is also widely used in surgical applications, as it is immune to bodily fluids and is non-irritating. It is also used in the fabrication of chemical process equipment, nuclear reactor components, copper wire coating, furnace parts, anodes in cathode protection, heat exchangers, turbines for aircraft and electrical generation and camera lenses, as tantalum oxide films are stable and have good refractive and dielectric (anti-static) properties.

Tantalum world market

Tantalum is not traded on any metal exchange market. It is mainly sold on long-term supply contracts, which are not publicly disclosed.

We are lacking reliable figures on the world tantalite production and the world tantalum consumption. Yet official figures state that the main producer is by far Australia, which « officially » supply 60% of the world tantalum metal produced from ore (that is to say excluding the recycling of tantalum components).

The world tantalum processing industry is also highly concentrated. Very few companies are involved in it: the US CABOT and its numerous subsidiaries, the German H. C. STARCK, two Kazakh companies, BELOGORSKY and IRTYSH, and a few Chinese companies controlling medium-sized processing plants.

Tantalum is critical to the global electronics industry because it offers the design engineer high capacitance in a small case size.

Pricing for raw material has remained steady, while materials pricing for tantalum have been more readily influenced by changes in the high-tech economy.

Driven by the acceleration of miniaturization in electronics, the average yearly growth rate of tantalum consumption is reported to be about 5% to 8%. This growth has caused a significant increase in exploration.

Niobium metal

Columbium and niobium are synonymous. The chemical element niobium (Nb) with atomic number 41 was given the name Columbium in 1801, and officially designated niobium by the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry in 1950.

Niobium usage

Niobium is added to steel and stainless steel to create high strength low alloy steel. It doubles the strength and toughness of steel due to grain refining while reducing weight. Therefore ferro-niobium alloy is used in oil and gas pipelines, chemical processing equipment, car and truck bodies, architectural steel, tool steels, ships’ hull, railroad tracks, nuclear reactors (helping keep reactors safe) or cutting tools in machining operation are fabricated from niobium carbide (to avoid high temperature deformation).

Superconducting magnets are fabricated from niobium-titanium/tin alloy. The magnet, made with an alloy of niobium and tin, proves to be three times stronger than the next best magnet made without niobium. Niobium based magnets are used in medical magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) equipment, magnetic levitation high speed train (in Japan) or particle physics experiments.

Niobium-nickel-ferro alloys, because of high temperature resistance, improved creep, corrosion and oxidation resistance, are used for the manufacture of turbine blades of jet aircraft, turbine blades of electric power plants, high temperature and pressure tubing of heat exchangers and boilers, etc… for the refineries and power plants.

Niobium oxide, because of its high index of refraction, high dielectric constant and increase in the light transmittance is used for camera lenses, coating on glass for computer and TV screens or high quality scratch resistance thin-eye glasses and resistant watch glass.
Because of high dielectric constant and stability, niobium powder has been recently used to manufacture capacitors for the electronic industry.

Niobium alloys are also becoming more popular in the manufacture of high quality jewellery, because of their lightweight and hypoallergenic characteristic.

Niobium world market

Main reserves and producers of niobium are known to be located in Brazil and Canada, but countries like China, Australia, and of course Central African countries hold reserves that still need to be fully assessed and exploited. New players are beginning to come into this emerging market.

Demand of niobium ferroalloys in steelmaking increased about 19% compared with that of 2005; niobium demand in super alloys (mostly for aircraft engine components) decreased about 2% compared with that of 2005, and overall apparent consumption rose about 38%.

Tin metal

Tin (Sn) is one of the few metals that has been used and traded by humans for more than 5000 years.

Throughout history, it has been used in combination with copper to make bronze. In the first century AD, copper was first coated with tin. In the early 16th century tin-plated iron was manufactured. Tin has interesting properties: a low melting point, malleability, resistance to corrosion and fatigue, as well as the ability to alloy easily with other metals. It is also non-toxic and easy to recycle.

Cassiterite (SnO₂) is by far the most important tin ore, although small amounts of tin are recovered from sulphide minerals such as stannite (Cu₂FeSnS₄). Tin is extracted by roasting cassiterite in a furnace with carbon. Though it is a very common metal, tin makes up only about 0.001% of the earth’s crust.

Tin usage

Tin is an important commodity in international trade. Worldwide, it is used in hundreds of industrial processes and products, such as food packaging, culinary equipment, electronics, tin chemicals, plumbing solders, engineering alloys, pewter and bronze in music and arts, dental amalgams, anti-corrosion and engineering coatings, wine capsules and fire retardants.

Tin resists corrosion and acts as a protective coating for other metals. It is added to glass to produce automotive and window glasses. Tin is also part of many useful alloys: bronze is an alloy of tin and copper; tin and lead are alloyed to make pewter and solder; an alloy of tin and niobium is used to make superconductive wire. Tin salts may also be sprayed onto glass. Tin is used as plating to avoid corrosion of various metals.

Tin world market

Tin, together with copper, were the first metals to be traded at LME (London Metal Exchange) in 1877.

After the closing of several tin mines in Indonesia, world annual production of tin went down from 2005 to 2007 from 348,500 tons to 337,000 tons, thus creating a deficit of 30,700 tons per year. The five top producers of tin are China, Indonesia, Peru, Bolivia and Brazil produce more than 90% of the world production, yet they cannot cope with the deficit which is foreseen to increase in the coming years.

The average price of tin jumped up in one year from $8,774 per tonne at mid 2006 to $13,080 per tonne at mid 2007. Recently, it has reached $17,000 per tonne.

The growth rate of tin usage in the world for 2006 was 18.6 %. In Asia only, tin usage increased by 27 %, and in China, by 34 %. This increase is due to the gradual implementation of the lead-free soldering regulations, but also to the general increase of electronic device production throughout the world.

Tungsten metal

Tungsten was discovered in 1783 by two Spanish chemists while sampling wolframite. Today, tungsten is still primarily obtained from wolframite - (Fe, Mn) WO₄ - and scheelite - CaWO₄). Tungsten ores are processed with alkalis to form tungsten trioxide (WO₃) and then heated with carbon or hydrogen gas to form tungsten metal.

Tungsten usage

Tungsten having the highest melting point of all metallic elements, it is used to make filaments for incandescent light bulbs, fluorescent bulbs and television bulbs. Expanding at nearly the same rate as borosilicate glass, it is used to make metal to glass seals. Because tungsten is extremely stable at high temperatures, it is used in X-ray production, heating elements in electric furnaces, parts of spacecraft and missiles, high-speed cutting tools or rocket engine nozzles.

Combined with carbon in tungsten carbide (WC), it becomes a very hard compound, used for tips of drill bits, high-speed cutting tools or mining machinery. Combined with disulfide, it is a dry lubricant that can be used in temperatures as high as 500ºC. Combined with calcium and magnesium, it is used in fluorescent light bulbs.

Tungsten world market

China is by far the most important producer and has the largest resource of tungsten worldwide. Canada and Russia also take a major role in its production. Whereas, the United States with a significant assessed reserve of tungsten still need to import most of the material they process.

Tungsten prices have remained steady until 2002, when they suddenly increased from $5,000 per metric ton to over $ 25,000 at mid-2005.