TA2O5 – NB2O5 – COLTAN INDUSTRIAL MINING PROJECT

SOLID MINERALS MINING IN NIGERIA

An established and well managed solid minerals sub-sector will accelerate economic, social and political growth of Nigeria by provision of gainful employment and a rise in national income earnings far exceeding the petroleum sector. In addition, solid minerals will provide local raw materials for industries and bring vital infrastructure and wealth to rural areas.

DIVERSITY AND REPARTITION
LOCATED IN ALL STATES OF THE FEDERATION

SOLID MINERALS EXPLORATION AS A
SOLUTION TO SUSTAINED ECONOMIC GROWTH

—Following the global economic recession of the late 1980s and early 1990s, developing countries started liberalizing their external trade to improve balance of payment, increase economic growth through the provision of incentives to attract capital in-flow and investment.

—The developing countries especially in Africa and Latin America turned to Solid Minerals exploration as a solution to sustained economic growth. Nigeria’s economy which is largely dependent on a mono-product (petroleum) became vulnerable to fluctuations in oil prices with the attendant shocks on the economy.

NIGERIA CAN LEAD THE MOST PIONEERING COLTAN (COLOMBITE-TANTALITE) MINING PROJECT IN AFRICA

LARGE DEPOSITS OF TANTALITE ARE KNOWN TO OCCUR IN NASARAWA, OSUN, EKITI, KWARA, CROSS RIVERS, GOMBE, KOGI STATES AS WELL AS THE FEDERAL CAPITAL TERRITORY, ABUJA. THE DEPOSITS ARE BOTH ALLUVIAL AND PRIMARY IN THE NUMEROUS PEGMATITE BODIES THAT INFEST THESE AREAS. GRADES OF WELL OVER 50% TA2O5 ARE FOUND.

MINING COLTAN (Colombo Tantalite) – IN NIGERIA

—In the early 2000s, tantalum, a rare metal with some unique properties that make it an important raw material for information and communication technologies.

—Tantalite is the most widespread tantalum mineral and makes for an important ore of the industrially useful metal. It is among the group of minerals used in the refractory industry, and is characterized by a high melting point and strength at high temperature. These properties make them useful as furnace construction minerals and for application in the aerospace and electronic industries. Despite its high cost, tantalite is more cost effective in many applications, as down time and maintenance costs are reduced. In addition to these valuable properties, tantalum, as a refractory metal, shows remarkable resistance in many of the most hostile chemical environments.

—Columbite, also called niobite, niobite-tantalite and columbate, is a black mineral group that is an ore of niobium and tantalum. Columbite and tantalite are collectively known as COLTAN in Africa. Tantalum is a valuable rare element used in electronics manufacturing while columbite is used in forming alloys that are useful in nuclear, aerospace and gas turbine engineering.

—Rare-metal pegmatites containing economic concentrations of columbite-tantalite ore minerals (coltan) are widespread in the Pan-African (600±150Ma) basement of Nigeria. These pegmatites are also important sources of precious and semiprecious stones (such as beryl, aquamarine, tourmalines).

—Until recently these pegmatites were known mainly from a broad 400km-long NE-SW trending belt stretching from the Wamba-Keffi- Nasarawa area (near the Jos Plateau) through Isanlu-Egbe in central Nigeria to the Ijero-Aramoko-llesha areas of southwest Nigeria, and a few occurrences in the Obudu and Oban massifs of southeast Nigeria.

—Large deposits of Tantalite are known to occur in Nasarawa, Osun, Ekiti, Kwara, Cross Rivers, Gombe, Kogi States as well as the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The deposits are both alluvial and primary in the numerous pegmatite bodies that infest these areas. Grades of well over 50% Ta2O5 are found.

—Tantalite currently commands a good international demand and price.

WHY THE RALLY OF NATIONS TO CONTROL THE TANTALUM MARKET?

—Tantalum Outperforms Other Materials.

Today’s global economy means increased competition. The control of cost including manufacturing efficiency, plant equipment costs and maintenance are paramount to survival. Chemical producers have recognized that increasing pressure and temperature increases efficiency in many applications. This also increases corrosion problems which Tantalum can handle.

—There is a Wide Range of Tantalum Applications.

The corrosion resistance, heat transfer properties and workability of tantalum make it a perfect construction material for a wide range of equipment and applications.

Common types of Tantalum fabrication are:

—Tantalum Heat Exchangers

—Tantalum Condensers

—Tantalum Columns or Towers

—Tantalum Reactors

—Tantalum Pressure Vessels

—Tantalum Piping Systems

—Tantalum Helical Coils

—Tantalum Pipe Spools,

—Tantalum Valve Linings

—And a variety of other components exposed to extremely corrosive fluids.

Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has unlimitedly got a great impact in the politic, social and economical sectors of nations.

—DEFENSE:

Defense industry is one of the vital economic units in most of nations.

ICT had transformed the industry from producing dumb bombs to smart weapons, from people-centric to network-centric battlefields management, from aftermath combat review to real-time combat surveillance, from land and sea to air and outer space superiority, and from hardware-based to software-based force multipliers.

—HEALTH AND MEDICINE:

Tantalum (TA) is used surgical instruments and the system of prosthesis because it does not react with the body fluids. TA is reportedly a good substitute for structural bone graft in several applications.

The most important characteristics of the TA to the bone implant are chemical and electrical neutrality, the tensile strength, pressure, torsion, to the effort of curvature, to corrosion.

—INDUSTRIAL ENGINEERING.

Somebody said: Control de Tantalum, you’ll control the world.

NATIONS  ECONOMIC’S STRATEGY ISSUES IN THE CURRENT  WORLD MARKET OF COLTAN (COLUMBITE – TANTALITE) IS TAKEN VERY SERIOUSLY.

— Why NIGERIA one of the country with important deposit of TANTALUM in the world shouuld stand aside?

VISIT TO ABUJA – NIGERIA OF THE CEO OF ZAEL, RECEIVED BY THE DISTINGUISHED SENETOR PRINCE GBOLAHAN DADA: