{"slug":"tantalum","name":"Tantalum","aliases":["Ta","coltan","tantalite","columbite-tantalite"],"category":"metals","subcategory":"minor-metals","tier":3,"what_is_it":"A dense, corrosion-resistant metal obtained mainly from tantalite ores, which are found with niobium, and used mainly in electronics, above all capacitors, and in alloys and chemicals.","unit_display":"tonnes (tantalum content)","wikidata":"Q1123","related":["niobium","tin","tungsten"],"exchanges":[],"industry_body":{"name":"US Geological Survey National Minerals Information Center","url":"https://www.usgs.gov/centers/national-minerals-information-center/niobium-and-tantalum-statistics-and-information"},"hs":[],"trade_form":null,"processing_note":"Tantalum comes mostly from tantalite ores, partly as a by-product of tin mining and from tin slags, recycling and synthetic concentrates; its ores share an HS code with niobium and vanadium ores, which is why this site shows no trade table.","production_note":null,"sources":{"usgs_mcs":{"id":"usgs_mcs","name":"USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries","short":"USGS MCS","url":"https://www.usgs.gov/centers/national-minerals-information-center/mineral-commodity-summaries","license":"Public domain (US Government work)","license_url":"https://www.usgs.gov/information-policies-and-instructions/copyrights-and-credits","citation":"U.S. Geological Survey, {year}, Mineral Commodity Summaries {year}: U.S. Geological Survey. Data release https://doi.org/10.5066/P13XCP3R","redistribution":"full","vintage":"MCS 2026","fetched_at":"2026-10-08T06:37:07.348540+00:00"}},"production":{"items":[{"item_code":"Mine production","item":"Mine production (tantalum content)","primary":true,"unit":"t","year":2025,"world":2500.0,"world_basis":"reported","rest_of_world":15.0,"top5_share":94.39999999999999,"n_countries":11,"top":[{"iso3":"COD","name":"DR Congo","value":1300.0,"share":52.0,"rank":1,"flag":"","cagr_10y":null},{"iso3":"RWA","name":"Rwanda","value":400.0,"share":16.0,"rank":2,"flag":"","cagr_10y":null},{"iso3":"NGA","name":"Nigeria","value":390.0,"share":15.6,"rank":3,"flag":"","cagr_10y":null},{"iso3":"BRA","name":"Brazil","value":190.0,"share":7.6,"rank":4,"flag":"","cagr_10y":null},{"iso3":"CHN","name":"China","value":80.0,"share":3.2,"rank":5,"flag":"","cagr_10y":null},{"iso3":"AUS","name":"Australia","value":50.0,"share":2.0,"rank":6,"flag":"","cagr_10y":null},{"iso3":"ETH","name":"Ethiopia","value":40.0,"share":1.6,"rank":7,"flag":"","cagr_10y":null},{"iso3":"RUS","name":"Russia","value":30.0,"share":1.2,"rank":8,"flag":"","cagr_10y":null},{"iso3":"BDI","name":"Burundi","value":2.0,"share":0.08,"rank":9,"flag":"","cagr_10y":null},{"iso3":"BOL","name":"Bolivia","value":2.0,"share":0.08,"rank":10,"flag":"","cagr_10y":null},{"iso3":"MOZ","name":"Mozambique","value":1.0,"share":0.04,"rank":11,"flag":"","cagr_10y":null}],"years":[2024,2025],"series":{"COD":{"2024":1270.0,"2025":1300.0},"RWA":{"2024":374.0,"2025":400.0},"NGA":{"2024":390.0,"2025":390.0},"BRA":{"2024":210.0,"2025":190.0},"CHN":{"2024":76.0,"2025":80.0},"AUS":{"2024":52.0,"2025":50.0},"ETH":{"2024":40.0,"2025":40.0},"RUS":{"2024":29.0,"2025":30.0},"BDI":{"2024":2.0,"2025":2.0},"BOL":{"2024":2.0,"2025":2.0}},"world_series":{"2024":2500.0,"2025":2500.0},"source_id":"usgs_mcs","vintage":"MCS 2026","flag_counts":{"":11}}]},"reserves":{"year":2025,"world_lower_bound":false,"world_is_sum":true,"unit":"t","statistic":"Reserves","world":400150.0,"top":[{"iso3":"CHN","name":"China","value":240000.0,"share":59.977508434337125},{"iso3":"AUS","name":"Australia","value":120000.0,"share":29.988754217168562},{"iso3":"BRA","name":"Brazil","value":40000.0,"share":9.996251405722854},{"iso3":"RUS","name":"Russia","value":150.0,"share":0.0374859427714607}],"source_id":"usgs_mcs","vintage":"MCS 2026"},"trade":{"tables":[]},"prices":{"series":[]}}