Domestic production and use

1. There has been no important domestic tantalum mining since 1959. Domestic tantalum resources are of low grade, some mineralogically complex, and most are not commercially recoverable.
2. Most metal, alloys, and compounds were shaped by three companies; tantalum units were obtain from imported concentrates and metal and from foreign and domestic scrap.
3. The major end use for tantalum was in the manufacture of electronic components, more than 60% of use, mainly in tantalum capacitors. Major end uses for tantalum capacitors comprise automotive electronics, pagers, personal computers, and portable telephones.

Recycling

Tantalum was mostly used from new scrap that was generated during the construct of tantalumrelated electronic components and new and old scrap products of tantalum-containing cemented carbides and superalloys.

Substitutes

The following materials can be substituted for tantalum, but usually with less effectiveness: columbium in carbides; aluminum and ceramics in electronic capacitors; columbium, glass, platinum, titanium, and zirconium in corrosion-resistant equipment; and columbium, hafnium, iridium, molybdenum, rhenium, and tungsten in high temperature applications.

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