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Columbite-Tantalite (“Coltan”) Ores Frank Melcher(1), Maria A

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Columbite-Tantalite (“Coltan”) Ores Frank Melcher(1), Maria A PPLIED A t Y o G M O I N L E O R E A G L June 2008 r o D f Number 23 E P Y O T S E SGA I I SGA T C S O S News Fingerprinting of conflict minerals: columbite-tantalite (“coltan”) ores Frank Melcher(1), Maria A. Sitnikova(1), Torsten Graupner(1), Nicola Martin(1), Thomas Oberthür(1), Friedhelm Henjes-Kunst(1), Eike Gäbler(1), Axel Gerdes(2), Helene Brätz(3), Don W. Davis(4) and Stijn Dewaele(5) (1) Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources (BGR), Stilleweg 2, 30655 Hannover, Germany ([email protected]) (2) Institute of Geosciences, Petrology & Geochemistry, Altenhöferallee, 60438 Frankfurt am Main, Germany (3) Institute of Geography, University of Würzburg, Am Hubland, 97074 Würzburg, Germany (4) Jack Satterly Geochronology Laboratory, Department of Geology, Earth Sciences Centre, University of Toronto, 22 Russell Street, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5S 3B1 (5) Department of Geology and Mineralogy, Royal Museum for Central Africa, Leuvensesteenweg 13, 30-80 Tervuren, Belgium Introduction Congo (DRC), Nigeria, Namibia). More- over, Africa is estimated to host about three CONTENTS Illegal mining of gold, diamonds, copper, quarters of the world’s tantalum resources. Fingerprinting of conflict minerals 1 cobalt and, in the last decade, “coltan” The term “blood coltan” was coined in the has fuelled ongoing armed conflicts and Congolese civil war, as the sale of this mine- From the President of SGA 2 civil war in a number of African countries. ral fuelled fighting especially in the eastern “Coltan” – an important tantalum source - provinces of the DRC. Various governmen- News of the Society: SGA presence is a central African trade name of mineral tal and rebel armed groups moved in to take at the 2008 IGC, Oslo, Norway 3 concentrates chiefly composed of members control of its production and trade. A sharp New on the website: Mineral Deposit of the columbite-tantalite group [(Fe,Mn) price increase for tantalum on the market Archive, The Rammelsberg deposit 6 (Nb,Ta)2O6]. Tantalum is a rare metal (Dec at the beginning of the century from 60 to 2007: 77 US$/kg tantalite, 30% Ta2O5) 480 US$/kg Ta2O5 made this trade highly SGA homepage on internet 14 whose strength, chemistry and electronic profitable. Large quantities of coltan were properties make it valuable in many high- smuggled from the DRC into the neighbo- Forthcoming events 15 technology and medical applications. The ring countries to be sold illegally. 10th SGA Meeting, Townsville, 17-20 use of tantalum has, for instance, been The expert group for the DRC of the Uni- August 2009 17 instrumental in reducing the size of mo- ted Nations Security Council recommended bile phones. Coltan is mined from highly the development of a traceability system SGA Membership Application Form 20 specialized granitic rare metal pegmatites that would proof the origin of coltan. Such (e.g. Černý, 1992), which commonly show a system would allow ore produced within complex zoning, and from related placer regions affected by civil war to be distin- MAIN FeatURES deposits. guished from other sources. Results of a Although the major producers of tantalum pilot study funded by the German Federal Fingerprinting of conflict minerals 1 in Australia, Brazil and Canada account for Ministry for Economic Cooperation and SGA presence at the 2008 IGC, more than 80 percent of the world produc- Development (BMZ) are presented here. Oslo, Norway 3 tion (2006: ~1,290 metric tons tantalum Combined mineralogical-geochemical- New on the website: Mineral Deposit metal; USGS Mineral Resources Program), geochronological signatures of columbite- Archive, The Rammelsberg Deposit 6 artisanal and small-scale mining of coltan is tantalite ores are used to trace the origin of essential to many local economies in Africa ore concentrates. (e.g. Mozambique, Ethiopia, Rwanda, DR page 7 u >>> 2 SGA News Number 23 June 2008 Number 23 June 2008 SGA News 3 <<< From the President of SGA News of the Society David I. Groves [email protected] SGASGA News of the Council mental impacts”, convened by J. Pašava and H. Frimmel It is a great honour to be elected President News Black shale formations occur in different geological environments of SGA, particularly as an Australian so 2007 SGA ballot throughout the geological record. Black shales are of interest in far from the European heart of the Society. No. 23 June 2008 Below are reported the results of the 2007 SGA Ballot to elect exploration since they host numerous types of ore deposits such as The fact that I am a former President of Administrative Officers for the terms of two years (January 1, base metals (copper, lead zinc +- barite), noble metals (gold and SEG shows that international collaboration, E DITOR 2008—December 31, 2009) platinum group elements), uranium, molybdenum, nickel, man- rather than competition, is seen as the way Massimo Chiaradia ganese, vanadium, mercury, antimony, tin, phosphorus and others. forward as we seek to maximise service to Department of Mineralogy YES NO Previously, some of the deposits were sub-economic, containing our Membership. University of Geneva President: David Groves (Australia) 184 14 large amounts of low-grade mineralized black shale, but with the Geneva Vice-President: Fernando Tornos (Spain) 184 14 recent development of ore processing methods like bioleaching, As President, I have a number of goals SWITZERLAND Exec. Secretary: Jan Pašava (Czech Rep.) 193 5 many of these low-grade prospects became economically profi- that I will be seeking to achieve in col- Treasurer: David Leach (USA) 184 14 table. Both scientific results into the genesis and environmental laboration with the outstanding Executi- SGA News is a publication of SGA (Society Promotion Man.: Gregor Borg (Germany) 183 15 issues related to mining and processing of black shale-hosted ores ve and Council that has been elected for of Geology Applied to Mineral Deposits) Chief editors of Min. Deposita: will be a major focus of this session. 2008/2009. I would like to see our Mem- to maintain the extremely high standards of and appears twice a year. Bernd Lehmann (Germany) 190 8 Schedule: bership increase by at least 25 percent over the journal. Over the past five years, Mi- Larry Meinert (USA) 190 8 10 oral presentations the next two years, and the Society also neralium Deposita has become the premier SGA News can be also read in the SGA Chief editor of SGA News: 9 poster presentations achieve a firmer financial foundation, par- journal in economic geology in terms of its homepage on Internet: Massimo Chiaradia (Switzerland) 193 5 Keynote speakers: ticularly through strategic planning headed academic and industry impacts. http://www.e-sga.org Cheif editor of SGA Website: Paul Emsbo – USGS Denver by Dave Leach, our Treasurer. I am also Georges Beaudoin (Canada) 195 3 Alan Kaufmann – University of Maryland determined that our biennial meeting, SGA After the next Council Meeting to be held Student Representative: 2009, in Townsville, Queensland, Australia in Quebec City, Canada in late May, the C ON ce PT AND PRINTING Anna Vymazalová (Czech Republic) 190 8 in August 2009, will be a great scientific Membership will be canvassed to approve WMXDesign GmbH 2. SGA SPONSORED SESSIONS: success for SGA. We have an impressive some changes to the Satutes of the Society Heidelberg, Germany The regional Vice-Presidents MRD-10 Symposium on “Large ore provinces of Central Asia”, Organizational Committee, chaired by Pat which will help us expedite our business Asia: H. Fan (China) 195 3 convened by Ginayat R. Bekzhanov, Bernd Lehmann and Dmitry Williams and strongly supported by his col- and allow us to better interact with SEG and Australia/Oceania: D. Huston (Australia) 192 6 Pusharovsky leagues at EGRU at James Cook University. IAGOD who have ex-officio members on L AYOUT Europe: Richard Herrington (UK) 191 7 The geological situation of Central Asia is dominated by a huge The other two university-based economic our Council. Your assistance in responding Massimo Chiaradia, Geneva, Switzerland Middle East: H. Harbi (Saudi Arabia) 192 6 collage of Phanerozoic subduction-accretion complexes (Altaid geology centres, CODES at U Tas and the to our requests for your vote on these mat- North Africa: S. Bouhlel (Tunisia) 192 6 orogenic system) in between the Urals to the west, Siberian plat- Centre for Exploration Targeting at UWA, ters will be greatly appreciated. North America: A. Conly (Canada) 194 4 form to the north, Circum-Pacific orogenic belt and North China are also involved in the organisation. Col- INFORMATION FOR C ONTRIBUTORS South Africa: John Moore (South Africa) 194 4 Craton to the east, and the Cenozoic Alpide mountain ranges to the laboration with SEG through Rich Goldfarb After the next Council Meeting, I hope Items for publication may be sent to: South America: Carmen Holmgren (Chile) 193 5 south. This region hosts a number of major ore provinces with a will involve a day of invited talks to com- to be able to write a more detailed article SGA News (see address below) wide spectrum of worldclass mineral deposits, of which precious plement the normal SGA sessions. on our strategic plans, a more definitive Manuscripts should be sent by e-mail us- metals, base metals, and rare metals stand out. The Symposium view of SGA 2009, and an indication of the ing Microsoft Word for text and Jpeg or Tiff Councillors for the term – January 1, 2008 - December 31, 2011 wants to contribute to the better understanding of the major controls Council also need to aid the Editors of location of SGA 2011. formats for pictures and figures (the latter on the formation of large ore provinces, and invites detailed mine- Mineralium Deposita in any way they can must be in grey level tones, not colour!).
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