Soenke Zehle on Mon, 3 Jun 2002 20:33:57 +0200 (CEST) |
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<nettime> The Economics of Tantalum Revisited... |
More sobering news about the interdependence of the virtual economy, "ethnic strife," environmental crisis and the like. S/Z From: "David Duthie" <David.Duthie@unep.org> Last April I posted a short piece on the threat that tantalite mining posed to lowland gorillas in DRC (see BIOPLAN Archive http://www.unep.org/bpsp/bioplan_archive/BIOPLANS-APR-2001/BIOPLAN_POSTING- 2001-4-5.htm) Below is a short update on the situation which nicely illustrates how global issues, and fluctuations on Wall Street, can create tidal waves at the local level that, in turn, have negative impacts on globally significant biodiversity. Now it seems that PlayStations, as well as the mobile mobile phones I highlighted last year, are the root causes of the demand - and I just contributed to the purchase of one for my nephew's birthday! Below the article from Oryx I am pasting a summary from a market report "The Economics of Tantalum", 8th edition, ISBN 0 86214 862 6 (published February 2002), a view from the other side of the fence? Notice the price of the Roskill report - Hard copy price =A3 1,200/ $US 2,400/Euro 2,100 plus postage/ packing!!! Coincidentally, this month also marks the release of the final reports of the IIED Mining, Minerals and Sustainable Development Project, commissioned by the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), and now available for download (free!) at: www.iied.org/mmsd (18 pdf files averaging around 1150KB). Let's hope that this report has some of the solutions needed for the tantalite issue. The Press Release for MMSD is below the Roskill summary. Best wishes David Duthie UNEP/GEF BIOPLAN is an electronic list server established by the UNDP-UNEP implemented Biodiversity Planning Support Programmme and maintained by UNDP-GEF to serve the global community involved in planning for national implementation of the Convention on Biological Diversity. ******************************************************************* Oryx 36(1):12-13 Update on coltan mining in the Democratic Republic of Congo Tantalum is a rare, blue-grey metal that has a wide range of uses, including in the manufacture of capacitors to store electrical charges in portable computers and mobile phones. There are tantalum deposits in many parts of the world, including Australia, the Americas and Asia, but when a world shortage occurred in 2000 (primarily because of a demand for PlayStations) the biggest impact was in Africa. In the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), thousands of miners entered World Heritage Site national parks to mine 'coltan', the African name for an ore of tantalum and its sister mineral, columbium or niobium. The name coltan is derived from columbite-tantalite. To support these mining camps, professional hunters killed vast quantities of wildlife for meat. One of the worst affected species was the Eastern lowland, or Grauer's, gorilla Gorilla beringei ssp. graueri that occurs only in DRC and whose population may have been decimated. During 2000 the price of tantalum skyrocketed from $40 per pound to $500 per pound, but it has now returned to its original level. There has been speculation that failing demand is related to the downturn of the high-tech industries, global recession, development of alternatives to tantalum, expansion of mining in Australia and international pressure for a boycott of Central African tantalum. Whilst all of these elements may have contributed, one of the key factors is that during the shortage in 2000 panic-buying by major companies led to the creation of massive stockpiles. Those companies are now using up their expensive stock and the market is therefore depressed. Although demand appears to have slumped, this is probably temporary. As the fleeting price premium and international demand have disappeared, many miners are de-camping from the national parks. Some, however, continue to mine as they have little to return to, and, even though they are barely scraping a living, they cannot afford to stop. Despite protestations from many companies that they do not purchase Congolese tantalum, it is still being sold on the 'spot' market, where sources can be impossible to trace. Much of the 'coltan belt' of eastern DRC is under the control of rebel forces, and the humanitarian agency Refugee International has reported that the rebel authorities are trying to impose taxes on international aid, including shipments of medicines, in order to replace the income that they received from coltan. The political situation in DRC is always volatile, although at the time of writing progress is being made to ensure that the 'Inter-Congolese Dialogue' multi-party peace talks will take place. Joseph Kabila's efforts to find a route to peace are being praised internationally, but the greatest challenge is to secure the same regard and co-operation within his own country. Little is known of the impact of the fall in the price of coltan on the bushmeat situation. It is possible that the withdrawal of some miners has benefited wildlife by reducing hunting pressure. However, it is also possible that dependence on bushmeat will continue to escalate as the human population grows ever poorer. Deeply aware of the urgency of the situation, Fauna & Flora International is actively working to identify possible solutions and partnerships to assist in alleviating this conservation and humanitarian crisis. Karen Hayes Consultant, Corporate Affairs, Fauna & Flora International Hicks & Hayes, 49 Stokes Croft, Frome, Somerset BA11 1QD, UK E-mail: office@hicksandhayes.com ******************************************************** The Economics of Tantalum, 2002 188 pages with 104 tables and 24 figures New markets will maintain growth in demand Global demand for tantalum has increased strongly since the mid-1990s, exhibiting annual growth of 24%py, to reach a total of over 2,600t Ta2O5 in 2001. This growth in demand has been due largely to the use of tantalum capacitors in small portable electronic components such as laptop computers= , video cameras, games consoles and, most importantly, mobile phones. There are a number of new markets for tantalum capacitors that will maintain the growth in demand for tantalum, the most important being under-hood applications in automobiles. Growth in tantalum demand in capacitors is expected to average 9-10% py through to 2005. Other new markets for tantalum have been developed: tantalum oxides are finding use in electronic= s applications, including computer memory chips and processors. These have the potential to be major consumers of tantalum in the future, although the amount of tantalum used per unit is very small. The key trends, issues an= d developments in the market are now analysed in this major new report from Roskill. It provides a clear insight into all areas of the industry and an authoritative analysis of the prospects for the future. What the report contains Independent, in-depth research and analysis Essential market intelligence for successful business planning Detailed survey of production in 52 countriesUp-to-date profiles of over 45 producing companies, and their activities, including Sons of Gwalia Ltd; Paranapanema; Tanco' Yichin Tantalum and Niobium Mine and SC Sevredmet. Forecasts for end-use consumption and world supply and demand REPORT HIGHLIGHTS Sons of Gwalia are to increase output to approximately 2.5Mlb per year (1,130tpy) by 2003. The company plans to raise production capacity further= , to 5Mlb/y (2,250t) by 2006. The increase in tantalum consumption over the past few decades has transformed it from a minor by-product of tin mining t= o a valuable resource. The rise in the value of tantalite in 2000 spurred the exploration & development of tantalite deposits in a number of countries, & also led to an increase in opportunist mining in central Africa. Tantalum capacitors are chosen for under-hood applications in automobiles due to their high temperature capability (up to 150=B0C). However, demand will be tempered by substitution of tantalum capacitors wit= h cheaper ceramic types wherever possible, which will tend to moderate demand for tantalum in this application. In recent years there has been an increas= e in demand for tantalum carbides due to their suitability for machining printed circuit boards. Demand is expected to show growth of approximatel= y 5%py in the near future. Tantalite production in Central Africa increased dramatically during the period of elevated prices during the latter half of 2000. The US Geographical Survey statistics of 2000 show output of 200 Ta2O5 from Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda and Uganda, although the true figure may be double this. Most of this material was mined illegally inside National Park areas of the DRC that are under the control of rebel militias= , and sold through neighboring countries. CONTENTS 1. Summary 2. Introduction Occurrences: Tin slags; Mining and processing of tantalum ores 3. Tantalum supply and demand Primary tantalum supply; Production of tantalum concentrates; Synthetic concentrates; Inventories;Secondary tantalum; Tantalum supply and demand balance 4. Production and processing by country Angola; Armenia; Argentina; Australia: Anaconda Nickel Ltd.; Australasian Gold Mines NL; Australian Zirconia Ltd.; Haddington International Resources Ltd.; Kanowna Lights Ltd.; Sons of Gwalia Ltd.; Glengarry Resources NL; Austria: Plansee GmbH; Treibacher Industrie AG; Belgium; Bolivia; Brazil: Metallurg do Brasil Ltda.; Paranapanema Group; Burundi; Canada: Avalon Ventures Ltd.; Highwood Resources Ltd.; Tantalum Mining Corp.; Chad; China: Conghua Tantalum & Niobium Smelter; Dongfang Tantalum Industrial Co.; Jiujiang Tanbre Smeltery; Limu Non-Ferrous Metal Co.; Ninxia Oriental Tantalum Industry Co. Ltd.; Nanping Niobium-Tantalum Mine; Yichin Tantalum and Niobium mine; Xinjiang Non-Ferrous Metals Industry Corp.; Zhuzhou Cemented Carbide Works; Congo Brazzaville; Democratic Republic of Congo: Soci=E9t=E9 Mini=E8re et Industrielle du Kivu; Zairetain; Egypt; Ethiopia; Equatorial Guinea; Estonia; Finland; France; French Guiana; Germany: GfE; Freiberger NE-Metall, GmbH.; W.C. Heraeus GmbH.; H.C. Starck GmbH, & Co. KG= ; Trade; Ghana; Greenland; Guyana; India; Ireland; Ivory Coast; Japan: Trade; Kazakhstan; Belagorsky Mining-Concentrating Combine; Irtysh Polymetallurgical Works; Ulbinsky Metallurgical plant; Malaysia; Mongolia; Mozambique; Namibia; Nigeria; Norway; Poland; Portugal; Russia: Malyshevsky RudoUpravlenie; Novoorlovsky GOK; SC Sevredmet; Solikamsk Magnesium Works; JSC Uralredmet.; Zabaikalsky GOK; Trade; Rwanda; Saudi Arabia; Sierra Leone= ; Singapore; South Africa; Spain; Thailand: H.C. Starck (Thailand) Co., Ltd.; Thailand Smelting and Refining Co; Uganda; UK; Ukraine; USA: Chapleau Resources Ltd.; Coosa Association; American Nickel Alloy Manufacturing Corp.; Cabot Corp.; Fansteel Inc.; Kennametal Inc.; Metallurg Inc.; Metallurgical Industries Inc.; Nuclear Metals Inc.; Phoenix Metallurgical Co. of Texas; Resources Alloys and Metals Inc.; H.C. Starck Inc.; DLA sales= ; Trade; Venezuela; Zimbabwe 5. Consumption of tantalum China; CIS; Japan; USA 6. End-uses of tantalum Tantalum capacitors: Capacitor materials; Tantalum foil capacitors; Porous anode/wet electrolyte capacitors; Porous anode/dry electrolyte capacitors; Tantalum chip capacitors; Tantalum powder and capacitor development; Tantalum capacitor manufacturers (AVX Corp.; Bourns Inc.; Elna; Epcos; Fujitsu Media Devices Ltd; Hitachi AIC; Kemet Corp.; NEC Corp.; Nichicon Corp; Ningxia; Nippon Chemi-Con; North American Capacitor Co.; Panasonic Industrial; Partsnic Co. Ltd.; Shenzhen Capacitors Industrial Co. Ltd.; Vishay Intertechnology Inc.) Demand for tantalum capacitors; Consumption of tantalum in capacitors; Principal market drivers for capacitors (Cellular phones; Personal computers; Mass storage; Automotive uses; Digital cameras) Other electronic components: SAW filters; Dynamic random access memory chips; Ferro-electric memory chips; Semiconductor chips; Liquid crystal displays; Alloy additives: Consumption and markets for high performance alloys; Consumption of tantalum alloy additives; Industrial applications; Aerospace applications of superalloys (Future demand for superalloys) Tantalum mill products: Corrosion resistant applications; Other uses for tantalum metal (Surgical uses; Ballistics; Spinnerets) Ultra-high vacuum getter pumps (Mirror-finished tantalum; Radio nuclide encapsulation) Tantalum carbides: Demand for cemented carbides; Producers and consumers of tantalum carbides; Tantalum chemicals 7. Prices Ores and concentrates; Tantalum products You can order a hard copy of this report to be sent to you by post or courier or you can order it and download it over the Internet http://www.roskill.co.uk/tantalum.html ************************************** Mining, Minerals and Sustainable Development Project News Release London, 1 May 2002 Breaking New Ground: What can minerals do for development? Today marks the release of Breaking New Ground1? the result of the most ambitious global study yet undertaken of minerals and their role in development. Based at the International Institute for Environment and Development in London, with regional teams in South and North America, Southern Africa and Australia, and activities in a further 16 countries, th= e two-year project included broad opportunities for participation in identifying problems and solutions. The report is being released in advance of the World Summit for Sustainable Development.2 The goal was to unearth the most controversial problems of minerals development and its impacts on poverty, human well-being, the environment and other factors key to sustainable development. In this sector, these include the impact on indigenous communities, efficiency and resource consumption, armed conflict, protected areas and biodiversity, corruption, human rights, management of mining waste and many others. "MMSD is a projec= t covering a new, different and challenging topic that brings us into a discussion which might have been avoided in the past. The process that will follow the report will be something to look forward to," says Yolanda Kakabadse, President of IUCN ? The World Conservation Union. "From the industry perspective, taking part in this project was a risky business. It was nevertheless an essential step, not least for business reasons. The industry realised it is difficult to do well as a business whe= n you belong to an industry that has a bad reputation. If we allowed the widespread negative attitudes to our activities to go on, we would eventually have difficulty accessing resources in the ground and markets fo= r our products," says Sir Robert Wilson, Chairman of Rio Tinto plc. 1 Breaking New Ground, the Report of the Mining, Minerals and Sustainable Development Project is available online at www.iied.org/mmsd. It will be available in final published form from Earthscan Publications in early July= . 2 The WSSD, scheduled for August in Johannesburg, will review world progres= s in sustainable development in the ten years since the first Earth Summit in Rio and attempt to set a future agenda. Breaking New Ground calls for specific actions:3 ? An Industry Protocol for Sustainable Development ? A Commitment to Address the Negative Legacy of the Past ? Supporting Legalisation of Artisanal and Small-scale Mining ? Integrated Management of the Full Mineral Chain4 ? More Effective Government Management of Mineral Investment ? A More Equitable International Trade Regime for Minerals "This attempt to surface the issues that affect the sector has resulted in an enormous agenda for work to be done now. The best performers are already doing many of these, but the worst have far to go to catch up. If we cannot get this sector collectively to contribute more positively to sustainable development they will not deserve the license to operate," says MMSD Projec= t Coordinator Richard Sandbrook. "The Mining, Minerals and Sustainable Development Project has made a serious effort to find out what concerns people about this essential but highly criticized industrial sector. It has been a rough journey. Many are in denial about its legacy. "We have tried t= o run the most inclusive and open process possible, and to give everyone a chance to help define a better future. Some have chosen to avoid the issues= , or have felt uncomfortable sitting down with others they are in serious conflict with," says MMSD Project Director Luke Danielson. For more information contact: Gabriela Flores, tel: +44-20-7269-1631, or email: gabriela.flores@iied.org 3 Details on these proposals are contained in the Agenda for Change, Breaking New Ground Chapter 16. 4 The chain consists of exploration, extraction, smelting, refining, fabricating, manufacturing, use, re-use, recycling and disposal, where applicable. Notes to Editors ? Breaking New Ground offers a series of conclusions. Society's continuing need for various mineral commodities is clear. Equally clear is that simply meeting market demand for minerals will not achieve what society expects an= d insists on. A few of the many expectations are: ? countries, especially emerging economies, expect that minerals developmen= t will bean engine of sustained national economic growth; ? local communities expect that the industry will provide employment, infrastructure andother benefits that match the risks and impacts they experience, all within a framework that will leave people better off when the project is over than when it started; ? the industry's own employees expect safer and healthier working conditions, a bettercommunity life, and some kind of security and consideration if and when theiremployment ends; ? local citizens and human rights campaigners expect companies to respect andsupport basic rights, even when they are operating where government does not; ? environmental organisations expect a much higher standard of performance, and thatthe industry will stay out of ecologically and culturally sensitive areas; ? investors expect higher returns, and have shown dissatisfaction with the industry'sfinancial results; ? consumers expect safe products that will not degrade the environment, and that were not produced in substandard conditions. ? The Mining, Minerals and Sustainable Development Project is an independen= t two-year process of research and consultation seeking to understand how the mining and minerals sector can best contribute to the global transition to sustainable development. ? MMSD is a project of the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) and was commissioned by the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD). ? Project conclusions are based on four regional processes, over 175 commissioned studies, 23 global workshops and experts meetings, and a 7-wee= k public review of preliminary conclusions. ? More information on MMSD is available at www.iied.org/mmsd. To order the report published by Earthscan, contact: Earthscan: earthinfo@earthscan.co.uk Earthprint: orders@earthprint.com Mining, Minerals and Sustainable Development is a project of the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) in London, UK. The Project is made possible by the support of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD). IIED is a company limited by guarantee and incorporated in England. Reg. No. 2188452. VAT Reg. No. GB 440 4948 50. Registered Charity No. 800066 # distributed via <nettime>: no commercial use without permission # <nettime> is a moderated mailing list for net criticism, # collaborative text filtering and cultural politics of the nets # more info: majordomo@bbs.thing.net and "info nettime-l" in the msg body # archive: http://www.nettime.org contact: nettime@bbs.thing.net