Tantalum Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast 2014 - 2024
Tantalum is a hard, bluish grey, transition metal. Previously it was known as tantalium and is a rare earth metal. It is characterized by its incredibly high melting point which is bettered only by tungsten, rhenium, osmium and carbon. Tantalum along with similar metals such as Neobium, can be found in minerals such as coltan, columbite and tantalite. Most of the tantalum is derived from hard rock mines; however it can also be obtained from tin slags, and artisanal mines. Tantalite is highly resistant to corrosion and is a part of the refractory metals group. The main application of tantalum is in the electronics industry where it is employed in manufacturing capacitors and high power resistors. In this application, tantalum has to compete with low cost ceramic and aluminum capacitors. As a result tantalums’ use is mostly limited to high end capacitors where stability and high volumetric capacity is of paramount importance. Other electronic applications of tantalum are sputterin...
