UNITED STATES TARIFF COMMISSION TANTALUM AND COLUMBIUM ORE Comment This summary covers tantalum and columbium ores and concentrates. 1/ The ore-minerals of tantalum and columbium (also known as niobium) invariably occur together and the ores are classified as tantalites or columbites according to the element which predominates. There are only a few known commercial deposits of these ores in the world. About one-third of the tantalite consumed in the United States is used, when processed, as metal; one-third in alloys; and the remainder in chemical compounds such as tantalum oxide and potassium-tantalum fluoride. (See separate summary, tantalum and columbium (or niobium) metals and alloys, par. 302 (r)). Virtually all of the columbite is consumed in the production of columbium metal and alloys. In the United States tantalum and columbium ores are found together in small, low-grade bodies. The most promising domestic deposit developed is in the Black Hills of South Dakota. Some ores have also been mined in Colorado, New Mexico, North Carolina, and Wyoming. United States production of these ores is small and domestic requirements are filled almost wholly by imports. Domestic output of both tantalite and columbite was very irregular in prewar years. United States production of tantalite amounted to 36,000 pounds in 1938 and declined to 340 pounds in the following year. The output of tantalite during the war ranged from a low of 200 pounds in 1942 to a high of 9,400 pounds in 1943. 1946-47 production averaged about 3,300 pounds. In Domestic production of columbite amounted to 2,000 pounds in 1938 and declined to 280 pounds in 1939. Although no columbite was produced during 1940-42, the 1943 output of 5,800 pounds was the largest in the history of the industry. No domestic production of columbite has been reported in recent years. United States imports of tantalum ore and concentrates averaged about 40,000 pounds in the period 1937-39, increased to 643,000 pounds in 1943, and averaged about 300,000 pounds in 1946-48. Imports of columbium ore in the years just prior to World War II ranged from 923,000 pounds in 1937 to 109,000 pounds in 1939. In 1943, imports of columbium ore and concentrates amounted to 2,400,000 pounds; in 1945 they reached a peak of 4,300,000 pounds. Imports declined after the end of World War II and averaged about 2,400,000 pounds annually for the years 1946-48. For many years Australia was the chief source of tantalum ores and concentrates, but, with the development of important ore deposits in the Belgian Congo and Brazil, these countries have surpassed Australia as the dominant source of United States imports (see table 2). Tantalum ores from the Belgian Congo and Brazil, however, are of lower grade than those from Australia. Nigeria has been by far the major source of columbite, with small amounts coming from Brazil and the Belgian Congo (see table 3). United States exports of tantalum and columbium ores and concentrates were negligible in the prewar period and they have been small in postwar years. In 1946 and 1947 columbium ores or concentrates were exported to Sweden and amounted to 8,000 pounds valued at $4,000 and 11,000 pounds valued at $5,000, respectively; in 1948 exports, all to Switzerland, totaled 660 pounds, valued at $2,000. There were no tantalum ores and concentrates exported until 1948, when 60 pounds valued at $1,300 were exported to Argentina and to Italy. Tantalite and columbite are strategic and critical materials and are listed SUMMARIES OF TARIFF INFORMATION TANTALUM AND COLUMBIUM ORE Table 2.- Tantalum ore (tantalite): United States imports for Preliminary. 2/ Included with Other British South Africa prior to 1942. 3/ Includes 7,521 pounds valued at $7,103, from Other British South Africa and 3,501 pounds valued at $4,110, from the Union of South Africa. Source: Official statistics of the U. S. Department of Commerce. UNITED STATES TARIFF COMMISSION TANTALUM AND COLUMBIUM ORE Table 3.- Columbium ore (Columbite): United States imports for Nigeria Belgian Congo All other 922,114 627,200 89,600 2,350,329 2,411,695 2,818,900 1,822,843 540 17,941 19,532 7,717 Source: Official statistics of the U. S. Department of Commerce. SUMMARIES OF TARIFF INFORMATION TITANIUM ORE (PAR. 1719) Tariff Status Par. 1719. Titanium ores and concentrates, crude, or not advanced in value or condition, which were free of duty under the Tariff Act of 1922, are free of duty also under the Tariff Act of 1930 as "minerals, crude, or not advanced in value or condition by refining or grinding, or by other process of manufacture, n.s.p.f." The duty-free status of titanium ores and concentrates (except ilmenite and ilmenite sand) was bound in the Geneva agreement. UNITED STATES TARIFF COMMISSION TITANIUM ORE Trade Statistics Table 1.- Titanium ores and concentrates: United States 1/ Statistics available prior to 1939 cover imports only. titanium ores and concentrates in 1937 and 1938 were as follows: Total imports of Represents mine shipments as compiled by the U. S. Bureau of Mines. Not available. Not separately classified in export statistics prior to 1941. Excludes mixed zircon-rutile-ilmenite concentrates imported from Australia and classified by the U. S. Department of Commerce as zirconium ores (see separate summary). 7 Less than 500. 8 Value for ilmenite represents cost of production for some producers whose product is consumed by affiliated companies. Source: Production, U. S. Bureau of Mines; exports and imports, official |