Africa, obscure metals, high technology

By Meredeth Turshen | 24 August 2009

An interesting article in Discovery magazine on the precious metals in our everyday electronics and their connection to Africa.

The Secret Sauce of Hi-Tech: Obscure Metals
The metals of modern technology lie hidden in a handful of unlikely spots, from frozen Russian plains to sweltering African valleys.
by Andrew Grant
From the July-August special issue, published online August 17, 2009

1. Tantalum
It is a soft, grayish-blue metal with a melting point of 5,463 degrees Fahrenheit (higher than all but two other elements) and, more important, an exceptional ability to store electric charge. This property makes tantalum perfect for producing the electricity-storing capacitors ubiquitous in the circuit boards of computers, digital cameras, and cell phones. “Tantalum is used in every electronic device there is,” says Jack Lifton, an independent consultant specializing in technology metals. “We don’t know any other way to make practical devices.” Tantalum is refined from ores such as coltan, a rock composed of the minerals columbite and tantalite.

The source The Democratic Republic of the Congo is a major supplier, although you would not know that from the official numbers. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) does not list the Central African nation as a leading tantalum source, yet for years rogue militias have managed to smuggle Congolese coltan out onto the market. According to a 2008 United Nations report, over the past decade armed smugglers from the Congo and neighboring countries have taken in hundreds of millions of dollars while routinely sexually assaulting women and enslaving children as miners or soldiers. They have also ravaged the Congo’s lush forests, killing endangered gorillas and other rare animals in the quest to dig up more coltan. (Some electronics manufacturers, including Apple and Motorola, have pledged not to purchase metals from the war-torn nation.) The illegal trade also undercuts legitimate suppliers. In December the mining firm Talison suspended operations at an Australian quarry that was the largest tantalum mine in the world, partially because of coltan smuggling.

World Production: 900 tons per year
Market Price: $36 per pound

Read the rest here:
http://discovermagazine.com/2009/jul-aug/17-secret-sauce-of-hi-tech-obscure-metals