Tantalite, is a mineral group that is close to columbite. The two are often grouped together as a semi-singular mineral called coltan or "columbite-tantalite" in many mineral guides. However, tantalite has a much greater specific gravity than columbite (8.0+ compared to columbite's 5.2). Tantalite has been found in Namibia, Nigeria, Canada, Madagascar, northern Europe, and Maine, California, Colorado and Virginia in the United States. Brazil has the world's largest reserve of tantalite (52.1%).As at 2006, 75% of world tantalite production comes from Australia. Tantalite is also mined in Guiana and Vichada, Colombia. Tantalite was discovered in 1887 and is named after its chemical composition containing manganese and tantalum.
Within the metaphysical realm of minerals, Tantalite helps the believer's mind settle and ground itself for the onset of thought based on planning and setting foundations for the future. It is a mineral that helps the believer to ease away such thought that contains poor or wrongful judgment as well as thought that contains different types of negativity. Tantalite can also help to guide a believer in the right direction.
Please note that MIROFOSS does not suggest in any way that minerals should be used in place of proper medical and psychological care. This information is provided here as a reference only.
Tantalite is used as one of the primary minerals to extract the rare element tantalum which is used in metal alloys and electronic equipment.
Tantalite is usually found in pegmatite and alluvial deposits.
Iron-rich tantalite is the mineral tantalite-(Fe) or ferrotantalite and manganese-rich is tantalite-(Mn) or manganotantalite. Tantalite is also very close to tapiolite. Those minerals have the same chemical composition, but different crystal symmetry orthorhombic for tantalite and tetragonal for tapiolite. Tantalite is black to brown in both colour and streak. Manganese rich tantalites can be brown and translucent.
| Cleavage | Imperfect | |
| Colour(s) | Black, Brown | |
| Specific Gravity | 8.10 | |
| Diaphaneity | Opaque | |
| Fracture | Brittle - Uneven - Very brittle fracture producing uneven fragments | |
| Mohs Hardness | 6.0 to 6.5 | |
| Luminescence | Non-fluorescent | |
| Lustre | Sub metallic | |
| Streak | Brown | |
| Habit(s) | Crystalline to Disseminated to Massive | |
| Radioactivity | Non-radioactive | |
| Magnetism | Non-magnetic |
The following health hazards should be noted when handling tantalite
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TOXIC |
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ENVIRONMENTAL HAZARD Tantalite contains the rare element tantalum which is defined as being an environmental hazard if allowed to enter the local ecosystem. |
The following image shows the elemental breakdown of the mineral tantalite along with the mineral crystal structure:
| Crystal System | Orthorhombic |  |
| Class | Dipyramidal | |
| Axial Ratios | a : b : c = 0.399 : 1 : 0.3523 | |
| Morphology | Short prismatic to tabular | |
| Optical Data Type | Biaxial (+) | |
| Pleochroism (x) | Red | |
| Pleochroism (y) | Redish brown | |
| Pleochroism (z) | Orange |  |
| RL Values | nα = 2.140 nβ = 2.150 nγ = 2.340 | |
| 2V | N/A | |
| Max Birefringence | δ = 0.200 (See colour chart at right) | |
| Surface Relief | Very high | |
| Dispersion | Strong r < v |
Tantalite can be referenced in certain current and historical texts under the following three names:
The mineral tantalite can be translated into the following select languages:
| Arabic | تاتنتالايت | Bulgarian | танталит | Chinese (Sim) | 钽锰矿 |
| Croatian | tantalitu | Czech | Danish | ||
| Dutch | tantaliet | Esperanto | Estonian | ||
| Finnish | French | German | Alvarolit | ||
| Greek | Τανταλίτης | Hebrew | Hungarian | ||
| Italian | Japanese | タンタライト | Korean | 탄탈 | |
| Latin | Lithuanian | tantalitas | Norwegian | tanta | |
| Persian | تانتالیت | Polish | tantalit | Portuguese | tantalita |
| Romanian | tantalit | Russian | Мангантанталит | Slovak | |
| Spanish | Alvarolita | Swedish | tantalit | Tagalog | |
| Turkish | Ukrainian | Танталіт | Vietnamese |
Tantalite can be found in a few places around the world. The map below shows major documented concentrations of tantalite:
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The MIROFOSS database offers free printable geological identification tags for personal and non-profit use. These tags can be used to properly identify mineral samples in your collection. -Click here- to download a full size jpeg image for a tantalite identification tag; which can be printed on paper or used with a plastic laser printer. |
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What's this? What can I do with it? |
| Crystallography | Palache, Charles, Harry Berman & Clifford Frondel (1944), The System of Mineralogy of James Dwight Dana and Edward Salisbury Dana Yale University 1837-1892, Volume I: Elements, Sulfides, Sulfosalts, Oxides. John Wiley and Sons, Inc., New York. 7th edition, revised and enlarged: 780. |
| Optical Data | Grice, J. D., Ferguson, R. B., Hawthorne, F. C. (1976): The crystal structures of tantalite, ixiolite and wodginite from Bernic Lake, Manitoba. I. Tantalite and ixiolite. Canadian Mineralogist 14, 540-549. [in fact structure of manganotantalite] |
| History | American Mineralogist (1988): 73: 666-667 American Mineralogist (1995): 80: 613-619. |
| Geographical Data | Mindat.org. Retrieved on 2012-03-05 |
| Physical Identification | Webmineral.com. Retrieved on 2012-03-05. |
| June 18, 2014 | The last time this page was updated |
| ©2018 MIROFOSS™ Foundation | |
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