by Hannah Machiorlete, Allie Osgood, Ivy Denham-Conroy, and Ada Barbee
Overview
Tantalum and Its Leading Extractors
Tantalum is a rare, non-corrosive transition metal found in low quantities in the Earth’s crust (about 1 part per million) with desirable properties for a variety of applications. Tantalum conducts electricity well and is a biocompatible material, providing uses for both the medical and electronics industries. It’s mined as tantalum ore, most commonly containing tantalum and niobium compounds. Therefore, tantalum extractors must separate these two elements with hydrometallurgy, which employs hydrofluoric acid and other acids to leach into the ore, refining tantalum using solubility aspects of chemistry.
In 2012, global tantalum mine production was 1,090 tons and is expected to grow to 1,680 tons in 2017. Between 2000 and 2015, tantalum extraction and refinement has shifted in favor of Central American and sub-Saharan African countries, such as Brazil and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). In 2014, Rwanda, the DRC, and Brazil were the leading producers of tantalum. The USGS reported this shift in their 2014 Minerals Yearbook, and expect growth in both production and consumption of tantalum as the demand for electronics increases (Papp 2016).
Environmental Impacts
The extraction and production/refining process pose a variety of environmental risks to the communities affected by the tantalum industry. Tantalum is often a by-product of tin mining, therefore degradation of the surrounding waterways and land from tin extraction is added to the impacts of tantalum. For example, in the town of Phuket in Thailand, an added tantalum refinery utilized the toxic chemical hydrofluoric acid in their production posing a health hazard to the air and water quality of the region. This misuse by the refineries and the pollution to the Andaman sea by the careless tin mining corporation presented a monumental abuse to the ecosystem and community of Phuket. (American University 1996). Tantalum, in large amounts, has been known to cause damage/irritation to respiratory tracts and eyes upon “inhalation, ingestion or skin absorption”. Also, many of the mineral mines including tantalum are located in areas rich with biodiversity such as Kahuzi-Biega National Park in the Congo, which is home to some of the last native gorilla species. Mining in many countries continues to lead to deforestation and habitat destruction.
Consumption/Uses
Tantalum has many uses in today’s industrialized world, the top being electronics, as the electronics industry is responsible for 60% of global tantalum use (Papp and Yager and Bleiwas 2015). Because it can be applied in very thin layers as coatings, tantalum can coat metals and thus have the ability of a system to store an electrical charge in very small volumes, making it perfect for small portable devices like mobile phones. Worldwide, 100,000 metric tons of tantalum were produced in 2013. Tantalum is used in everyday devices such as mobile phones, as well as hearing aids, and hard drives. Because it is non-toxic and therefore not harmful to mammals, it is frequently used in the medical field, especially to coat stronger materials such as stainless steel, as well as more directly as a surgical material including uses such as replacing bones and plates and supporting blood vessels. Additionally, it is used in the chemical industry as a result of tantalum’s resistance to corrosion, for “lining for pipes, tanks, and vessels.” It is also used in certain special glass lenses in the form of tantalum oxide to increase the refractive index, as well as to make cutting tools in the form of the hard chemical compound tantalum carbide (Schulz and Papp 2014). According to the USGS 2017 Mineral Commodity Summaries, “identified resources of tantalum are considered adequate to meet projected needs” worldwide (U.S Department of the Interior 2017).
Greenbushes, Western Australia
The town of Greenbushes, in Western Australia, was the location of some of the biggest and most productive tantalum mines in the world until around 2008. Approximately 70 km southeast of Bunbury, WA and 300km south of Perth, Greenbushes “occupies the highest point of the Darling scarp” and is located in the middle of the Greenbushes State Forest. The town and the mines “adjoin an agricultural region comprised of sheep and cattle farms, tree plantations and vineyards” . The Blackwood river runs through the town which is situated in the Blackwood Valley. The Greenbushes area is home to many conservation sanctuaries for native wildlife and fauna in the area. Western Australia is comprised of veins/dikes holding granite and “volcanic-sedimentary rock.” These pegmatites composed of the volcanic tuff is “the dominant host rock for primary tantalum mineralisation”. The main open pit and underground tantalum ore mine, located near Greenbushes, was the Cornwall pit which is still active today, but predominantly for surface mining. The annual tantalum capacity of the Greenbushes mine was 550 thousand metric tons in 2013 (Tse 2015). The still active Greenbushes mines have their own crusher and processing plants, making it a destination for inputs of extracted tantalum from other mines to be processed and then finally shipped out of the Fremantle port. Around 2015, the Greenbushes mines were extracting and then processing up to 453 metric tons per year: a big decline from what they were producing in the prime years between 2000 to 2008.
The mining boom in Australia, peaking around the 2000s, supplied employment for over 266,000 people in 2013. Australia was the leading global extractor and producer of tantalum with huge mines in Greenbushes and Wodgina most recently controlled by Global Advanced Metals (formerly Talison Minerals). Due to bankruptcy and the economic downturn around 2008-2009 that dropped tantalum prices, the Greenbushes mines “were put on care and-maintenance status” with the Wodgina mines (Papp 2016). In this stagnant period, cheaper tantalum began to be produced in central African countries, therefore surpassing Australia as the leading producer of tantalum. In 2000, Australia produced 45% of the global tantalum, but in 2014 Australia’s tantalum production dropped to 4% (Papp and Yager and Bleiwas 2015). The mines adjacent to Greenbushes provide a substantial amount of the livelihood for the locals living in the town. The lumber milling and mining industries are the main sources of income for the town. Because of the geographic shift in tantalum production, today lumber milling along with education and farming are the predominant employment forms of the town. As a small town, Greenbushes is a perfect place mining, for not a lot of people are affected by the large scale operations. Even with the valued nature in the area, mining is seen as an admired and prized part of the community.This respect is seen through the establishment of the Cornwall pit as a popular tourist destination in Greenbushes. It is one of the only locations where people can view a working mine in the area.
In 2011, around 375 people were living in suburb of Greenbushes located in the Bridgetown-Greenbushes area. In the full area, including Bridgetown, there were around 4,000 people in 2011. 80.5% of Greenbushes locals are Australian-born while others come primarily from the United Kingdom and New Zealand. Approximately half of the population consider themselves Christian while a substantial amount also consider themselves atheists. The Greenbushes residents are proud of their primary school, however, a little less than half of the inhabitants only reached year nine as their highest level of education. The largest age groups of most of the Greenbushes residents are 40-59 year olds and over 60 year olds. Aboriginal people do not make up a huge portion of the Greenbushes area, only about 64 Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islanders live in the Bridgetown-Greenbushes area according to a census in 2011. No matter the individual demographics, the “small country town” of Greenbushes represents a nurturing home, and an important livelihood for local and surrounding residents.
Minas Gerais, Brazil
Citizens of Minas Gerais vary, particularly in comparison between rural and city lifestyles. Large metropolitan areas, such as Belo Horizonte (the state’s capital), enjoy greater access to healthcare and education, while disparate rural areas do not have as much access to those services (Beatriz et al 2012). The government is left-leaning, as the current Governor Fernando Pimentel is a member of Brazil’s labor party. Out of the 19.5 million residents, a majority of people are Portuguese, while other European and African ancestries constitute the population (Encyclopedia Britannica, 2017). Therefore, cultural influence is predominantly Portuguese. A majority of people are Catholics, with 21% identifying with another religion or atheistic beliefs. Distinct foods with pork and vegetables grown in the region provide a distinct cuisine. Along with food, tourists are attracted to Minas Gerais’ “colonial architecture” and natural scenery, such as enormous caves and waterfalls.
Minas Gerais (“general mines” in Portuguese), as its name suggests, is a region in Brazil world renowned for its lucrative mineral exports and agricultural economies. Besides natural resource economies, Minas Gerais predominantly employs citizens in service positions. According to the Hudson Institute for Mineralogy, there are large iron deposits in the southern region of the state. Brazilian iron ore exports are predominantly from the same region (Encyclopedia Britannica 2017). Mineral exports compose a larger portion of Brazil’s GDP, but agriculture employs more citizens. Minas Gerais is located in the Brazilian highlands, and generally experiences moderate rainfall, warm temperatures, and remnants of deforested tropical woodland that promote agricultural exploits such as coffee, sugar cane, rice, beans, corn, and dairy products (Encyclopedia Britannica 2017). Slash-and-burn agriculture is common practice to replenish soil fertility for agriculture, contributing to deforestation. Timber harvest also removes plots of forest for charcoal production; In 2003, Minas Gerais contributed 1.61 million tons of wood for such purpose. Natural environments, not manipulated by human exploits, of the region include mountainous deciduous forest and woodland savanna, with various parts drained by the Sao Francisco River. With access to water, hydropower is significant energy source, accounting for 70% of Brazil’s energy demand is supplied by hydropower (Pomela 2015). From mine exports, agriculture, and tourism, Minas Gerais is the third most profitable region in Brazil.
Tantalum mining has occurred at least since 1975, normally extracted as a columbite-tantalite composite, and 100% of the mineral is exported for processing internationally (White 1975). According to Mackay and Simandl, the Volta Grande mine south of the center of Minas Gerais is one of the world’s leading producers of tantalum (2014). Belo Sun Mining manages the project, adjacent to Altamira. In 2013, the Volta Grande mine had a 6.32 Mt deposit of 0.0377% tantalum tetraoxide, though it mostly produces tin (Mackay, Simandl, 2014). Due to its fractional extraction, few effects of mining are linked to tantalum. According to the Belo Sun, their electricity needs are supplied by a hydropower plant and their water requirements are fulfilled by “collected rainwater and surface run-off”. However, McGill Research Group noted the Volta Grande’s potential to release lead and arsenic into waterways for their gold project. In theory, this could be connected to tantalum extraction. The Volta Grande Gold Project has concerned indigenous groups that live “10 km down the site” and garnered political opposition of the native people. Though not for a tantalum operation, Brazilian dams that supply water to mining operations have failed in the past, as one did in 2015, resulting in drinking water contamination from iron and other metals in Minas Gerais.
Karongi District, Western Province, Rwanda
The Karongi District is in the Western Province of Rwanda, and is one of the seven districts that make it up. “It is bordered by Rutsiro to the North, Ngororero and Muhanga to the North-East, Nyamasheke and Nyamagabe to the South, Ruhango District to the East and the Democratic Republic of Congo and Lake Kivu to the West.”
Rubengera is the capital town in the Karongi District, but it has other major towns such as Kibuye which is the “headquarters” of the Western Province and home to a lakeside resort. As a result of its tropical climate and the fact that is bordered by a lake, much of the Karogi District’s economy is based off tourism and the agricultural sector. Major crops are tea, coffee, maize, beans, Irish potatoes, manioc, banana plantation and fruits. But there is also a lot of potential for mining in this area as a result of many quarries rich in precious stones and minerals including tantalum.
Minerals are becoming a very important economic resource in Rwanda. According to Newton Mthethwa in 2016, mining “is the second-biggest source of foreign direct exchange behind tourism,” contributing to 1.5% of Rwanda’s gross domestic product of $7.9-billion. In 2006, the Rwandan Minerals Industry’s goal was $54 million and then 2013 they reached $228 million far exceeding their initial goals. Just last year, in February 2016, “The government has signed three large-scale mining agreements with Tri Metals Mining (Rwanda) Limited to undertake mining operations in Bisesero, Karongi District” worth $39 million. In 2014 Rwanda produced 50% of all global tantalum concentrates, while they only produced 12% in 2000. “The country now has a good reputation for mining and the Rwandan people see their mines as an asset.”
According to the 2013 Karongi District Gender Statistics Report, out of a total population of 331,571, for every 100 women living in tro Kongari District, there were 89 men (2012). 50.75 % of girls are enrolled in primary education (2011), and 51% of girls are enrolled in secondary education. Also, There is a 1.7 percent population growth rate (2012). In 2016, 21.3% of the population was under extreme poverty, so with the revenue generated by the $39 million mining deal, this number will most likely see a decrease in the coming years. According to the National institute of Statistics of Rwanda in the Fourth Population and Housing Census of 2012, in the District of Karongi,“Christianity is the predominant religion in Karongi District with 91.8% , Protestant are 43.2%, Adventist are 25.5%,Catholic are 22.9%, and Jehovah Witness are 0.2%, Muslims represent 0.6% of the resident population, 2.4% of the resident population declared to be without religion” (National institute of Statistics of Rwanda, “Fourth Population and Housing Census, Rwanda, 2012,” accessed 2/25/17).
Goma, Democratic Republic of the Congo
Goma is a city located in the Nord-Kivu Province in Eastern Congo, near the border between Congo and Rwanda. As of 2012, approximately 800,000 people lived in Goma (Bariyo and Maylie, 2010). The city of Goma is on the Northern bank of Lake Kivu, near Virunga National Park, and in close vicinity to Mount Nyiragongo, an active volcano (Rosen, 2015). In 2002, Mount Nyiragongo erupted, destroying “over 40 percent of Goma’s buildings” (Rosen, 2013). The city is still being slowly but surely rebuilt today. The social climate in Goma may be as unpredictable as the volcano near it. Militants, as well as Non Governmental Organization workers and United Nations workers all inhabit Goma (Rosen, 2013). Due to the large number of international aid workers, a large portion of the economy now caters to those workers, reflected in the hospitality services in the area, such as hotels and restaurants (Rosen, 2015). However, now the economy relies more heavily on foreign aid workers, so the prospect of them leaving could damage the economy.
Democratic Republic of Congo has been home to lots of conflict in the past 30 years. There have been two Congolese wars, and though they are technically over, several armed military groups remain, especially in eastern Congo. Sexual violence rates are high in DRC, especially in eastern DRC, where many militant groups still operate. There are relatively few statistics on this however. There hasn’t been a census in DRC for over 30 years, as the population changes and migrates often, in part due to the violence (Dranginis, 2014). Approximately 1.7 million Congolese people are displaced from the Congo, most of whom fled from Eastern DRC due to violence. In addition, thousands of refugees from neighboring countries, including Rwanda, now live in DRC (“Democratic Republic of the Congo”). Also, Congolese army members have abused civilians, making the source of authority in the Congo unclear.
The area surrounding Goma is rich in minerals, and “more than two million miners in Eastern Congo alone extract tantalum metal from coltan ore.” Goma has become a “transport point for mineral exports” (Bariyo and Maylie, 2010) and there have been multiple instances where rebel groups have blocked roads surrounding Goma. From September 2010 through March 2011 Democratic Republic of Congo faced “the Government’s suspension of trading companies in Goma that reportedly purchased uncertified minerals from mines” (Yager, 2013). Later, In 2012, the Dodd-Frank Act was passed to keep American companies from buying minerals that support rebel groups, however, most of the minerals that pass through Goma, including Tantalum, is “processed in nearby Rwanda or Uganda” and trade still continues (Bariyo and Maylie, 2010). There has been an effort to cut back on conflict minerals, but that “has not yet lowered the number and intensity of armed conflicts in DRC” (Vogel and Raeymaekers, 2016). Though mining is often seen as oppressive by outsiders, many Colognese view minerals as “a potential future connection to the world beyond Congo, in which Congolese become owners of things that other people need as well as owners of their own territories, and in which peace emerges from this condition” (Vogel and Raeymaekers, 2016).
Conclusion
Tantalum extraction produces varying consequences, generally provides economic benefit, contributes to environmental degradation, and facilitates political unrest in the case of the Democratic Republic of Congo. However, these conflicts are usually masked in the globalized market for tantalum electronic products. In the four countries we reviewed, all of the tantalum mined as immediately exported and refined elsewhere, indicating that tantalum production is a global operation with countries specializing in each form of production. Therefore, global economic shifts greatly impact countries, like the decline of production in Greenbushes and the increase of production in central Africa. Multiple mining companies went bankrupt in Australia and forced them to adopt a new timber intensive economy. In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, conflict over control of tantalum mines exhibited power struggles between rebel forces and the Congolese government. There are differences in transparency of production due to different governmental structures and the degree of commercialization. Electronic products don’t portray these conflicts because of the disconnect between production and consumption of tantalum.
There are various local impacts in sites of tantalum extraction, some considered positive and negative. Environmental impacts are not the only consequence of mineral extraction, but underrepresented groups are also impacted. In Brazil, large mining corporations utilize water resources and on occasion contaminate waterways with heavy metals. Groups of people, indigenous groups in particular, that rely on these water resources at any point may have contaminated drinking water. However, mineral extraction in Minas Gerais is considered beneficial for the economy, contributing more to the Brazilian GDP than local agricultural exports. Largely due to mineral extraction, Minas Gerais is a very lucrative asset to Brazil. On the other hand, in Greenbushes, due to few aboriginal inhabitants in the town, the indigenous groups of that area are not necessarily negatively affected by the tantalum industry. In addition, In Karongi, Rwanda, the environmental aspect is not talked about very much, as the mining sector is a dominant part of the economy. There are different implications for the mineral depending on its site of extraction. For example, in the DRC, tantalum is the cause, or at least a contributor, to many of the conflicts that go on there, while in Rwanda, which borders the DRC, the mining of tantalum is considered by the government to be very important. But some of the tantalum that is exported from Rwanda is not as “ conflict free” as it seems because they are smuggled across the border from the DRC and sold as “clean,” conflict free minerals in Rwanda.
References
American University. Tantalum and Thailand (TANTAL). February 11, 1996. Accessed February 19, 2017. http://www1.american.edu/TED/TANTALUM.HTM.
Bariyo, Nicholas, and Devon Maylie. “Rebels Threaten Mining Exports in Congo.” Wall Street Journal (Online), July 10, 2010. Accessed February 26, 2017. http://search.proquest.com/docview/1024543207/fulltext/93733F340F6A48AEPQ/1?accountid=12069.
Beatriz Alkmim, Maria, Renato Minelli Figueira, Milena Soriano Marcolino, Clareci Silva Cardoso, Monica Pena de Abreu, Lemuel Rodrigues Cunha, and Antonio Luiz Pinho Ribeiro, et al. 2012. “Improving patient access to specialized health care: the Telehealth Network of Minas Gerais, Brazil.” Bulletin Of The World Health Organization 90, no. 5: 373-378. Environment Complete, EBSCOhost (accessed February 26, 2017).
“Democratic Republic of the Congo.” In CIA World Factbook. Last modified January
2017. Accessed February 27, 2017. https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/
the-world-factbook/geos/cg.html.
Dranginis, Holly. Interrupting the Silence Addressing Congo’s Sexual Violence Crisis within the Great Lakes Regional Peace Process. March 20, 2014. Accessed February 26, 2017. http://www.enoughproject.org/files/InterruptingtheSilence_AddressingCongosSexualViolenceCrisiswithintheGreatLakesRegionalPeaceProcess.pdf.
Mackay, Duncan, and A. Simandl. “Geology, Market and Supply Chain of Niobium and Tantalum—a Review.” Mineralium Deposita 49, no. 8 (2014): 1025-047. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00126-014-0551-2
“Minas Gerais.” Britannica Online Academic Edition, 2017, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
National Institute of Statistics of Rwanda. Fourth Population and Housing Census, Rwanda, 2012. January 15, 2015. Accessed January 25, 2017. http://statistics.gov.rw/sites/default/files/publications/799c7e06-fb98-4cd0-867e-c6ec2eead1df/District_Profile_Karongi_02_april_2015.pdf.
National institute of Statistics of Rwanda. 2013 Karongi District Gender Statistics Report. March 2013. Accessed February 25, 2017. http://www.statistics.gov.rw/file/2073/download?token=I0Axmra6.
Papp, John F. 2014 Minerals Yearbook- Niobium (Columbium) and Tantalum [Advanced Release]. April 2016. Accessed February 25, 2017. https://minerals.usgs.gov/minerals/pubs/commodity/niobium/myb1-2014-niobi.pdf.
Papp, John F., Thomas R. Yager, and Donald I. Bleiwas. Shift in Global Tantalum Mine Production, 2000-2014. December 2015. Accessed February 25, 2017. https://pubs.usgs.gov/fs/2015/3079/fs20153079.pdf.
Pomela, Marina. “Energy Sources in Brazil.” The Brazil Business, 2015, The Brazil Business.
Rosen, Armin. “A Day in the DRC:.” The Atlantic, May 21, 2013. Accessed February 26, 2017. https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2013/05/a-day-in-the-drc/276038/.
Rosen, Jonathan W. to Al Jazeera America newsgroup, “After years of war, Goma, DRC, is open for business,” February 14, 2015. Accessed February 26, 2017. http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2015/2/14/after-decades-of-war-goma-drc-is-open-for-business.html.
Schulz, Klaus, and John Papp. Niobium and Tantalum—Indispensable Twins. June 2014. Accessed February 26, 2017. https://pubs.usgs.gov/fs/2014/3054/pdf/fs2014-3054.pdf.
Tse, Pui-Kwan. 2013 Minerals Yearbook- Australia [Advanced Release]. August 2015. Accessed February 25, 2017. https://minerals.usgs.gov/minerals/pubs/country/2013/myb3-2013-as.pdf.
U.S Department of the Interior. Mineral Commodity Summaries 2017. January 2017. Accessed February 26, 2017. https://minerals.usgs.gov/minerals/pubs/mcs/2017/mcs2017.pdf.
U.S Department of The Interior. The Mineral Industry of Congo (Kinshasa). By Thomas R. Yager. 2013. Accessed February 26, 2017. https://minerals.usgs.gov/minerals/pubs/country/2013/myb3-2013-cg.pdf.
Vogel, Christoph, and Timothy Raeymaekers. “Terr(it)or(ies) of Peace? The Congolese Mining Frontier and the Fight Against “Conflict Minerals”.” Antipode 48, no. 4 (September 2016). http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/anti.12236/full.
White, Max Gregg. “Niobium (columbium) and tantalum resources of Brazil.” U.S. Department of the Interior, Geological Survey 75-29 (1975). https://pubs.er.usgs.gov/publication/ofr7529