Mineral Facts and Problems: 1960 Edition Page: 232
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MINERAL FACTS AND PROBLEMS, ANNIVERSARY EDITION
GOVERNMENT POLICIES
Government programs of a nondefense or
semidefense nature include the organization,
in 1957, of a Tantalum and Columbium Metals
Producers Industry Advisory Committee, in-
cluding representatives from industry and
Government, to discuss problems of mutual
concern and formation of a Materials Advisory
Board panel in 1958.
Public Law 733, 84th Congress, was enacted
to provide "temporary assistance to producers
of columbium-tantalum bearing ores and con-
centrates of domestic origin for an interim
period." The program provided for the pur-
chase, at premium prices, of up to 250,000
pounds of contained combined pentoxides and
expired on December 31, 1958. The Office of
Minerals Exploration encourages exploration
for columbium ores in the United States by
providing loans for 50 percent of approved
costs of exploration.
RESEARCH
Research on columbium technology has
greatly accelerated in the past 10 years (1).
Industry, private research institutions, uni-
versities, and Government agencies have pub-
lished information on the ore resources, prop-
erties, preparation, and uses of the metals,
their alloys, and compounds.The Bureau of Mines has been evaluating
resources and has been studying analytical
procedures, extraction, separation, reduction,
and purification of the metal in recent years.
The most important facets of Bureau work
have included sampling and evaluation of the
Bear Valley Placers in Idaho and other north-
western placers; determination of columbium
reserves in Arkansas and the development of
methods to concentrate the minerals and ex-
tract the metal; beneficiation studies of colum-
bium-tantalum bearing minerals in alluvial
black-sand deposits in the northwest; extrac-
tion of columbium and tantalum from low-
grade ores, including euxenite and tin slags;
separation by solvent extraction; anhydrous
separation; reduction techniques; and prepara-
tion of high-purity metals and alloys.
Industry and institutions have numerous re-
search programs under way. These include
new uses, high-purity metal production, im-
proved high-temperature alloys, processes for
concentrating pyrochlore-type ores, improved
impact and corrosion resistant steels, and other
basic problems.
Important recent results of research have
included: new commercial separation methods,
new techniques to produce ingot by electron
bombardment, and improved alloys.OUTLOOK
Current trends indicate that consumption of
columbium will continue its rapid growth.
Columbium utilization is expanding in steel,
nonferrous alloys including those with a co-
lumbium base, and for nuclear applications.
The greatest volume is expected in columbium
alloys.
New uses expected to accelerate demand for
columbium are high-temperature alloys for gas
turbines, jet engines, aircraft reactors, missiles,
and aircraft. structural applications; corrosion-and heat-resistant steels; special steels for con-
struction machinery, ship hulls, and special im-
pact resistant parts such as aircraft landing
gear.
New sources of columbium have been found
in pyrochlore type ore bodies and in black-sand
deposits large enough to fill anticipated de-
mand for many decades. Industry has ex-
pended extensive efforts on the problem of
beneficiating such ores reportedly with con-
siderable success.PROBLEMS
The U. S. dependence upon water-borne im-
ports of ore could result in a critical supply
situation during a war. The relative lack of
developed resources in North America tends
to discourage increased use of columbium in
applications where alternate materials can be
used. Quantitative data on world ore reserves
are not complete, and some columbium-tanta-
lum minerals are not readily identified.
The problems common to all pegmatite min-
ing are shared by columbium. These difficul-
ties include exploring for pegmatites that do
not have surface expression, sampling and
measuring reserves, mining and disposing ofhigh percentages of waste, recovering fine-
sized columbite-tantalite particles, and recover-
ing and marketing low value byproducts.
More economical methods are needed to
beneficiate unusual ores such as pyrochlore and
columbium-bearing titanium minerals. Ex-
traction from all ores, separation, reduction,
purification of the metal products, and analyt-
ical techniques are expensive and often tech-
nologically difficult procedures. The problem
of improving methods is hampered by incom-
plete basic metallurgical and chemical data on
the metal, its alloys, and compounds.
High columbium prices and scarcity have232
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United States. Bureau of Mines. Mineral Facts and Problems: 1960 Edition, report, 1960; Washington D.C.. (https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc38790/m1/240/: accessed April 23, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, UNT Digital Library, https://digital.library.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.