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 It’s
All Elemental
Can you guess which rare metal is used in the manufacture of nuclear
reactors, aircraft and missile parts, special glass for camera lenses,
and is the only known metal not rejected by the human body? If you have
not guessed the answer yet, the next clue will surely give it away. This
element has the atomic number 73, in other words the atoms of this
element have 73 protons in the nucleus and 73 electrons around the
nucleus. Give up? The answer is tantalum.
North America's only
significant producer of the element tantalum is the Tantalum Mining
Corporation of Canada, or TANCO. The TANCO mine, located near Bernic Lake
about 180 kilometers northeast of Winnipeg, Manitoba, is situated on top
of a pegmatite, one of only three such giant pegmatites known in the
world.
The pegmatite yields
several different mineral concentrates besides tantalum such as lithium,
cesium and rubidium. The chief mineral currently extracted at the mine is
spodumene. Spodumene has the chemical formula LiAlSi2O6
and is used mainly in the pyroceramics and specialty glass industries but
also in steelmaking, TV screens and in tiles. TANCO is the sole supplier
of spodumene for Corning Ware™ and Visions™ cookware in addition to
being one of only two major worldwide suppliers of the mineral.
The TANCO mine is also
the world's primary source of the rare metal cesium. The cesium occurs as
the mineral pollucite with formula CsAlSi2O6. Cesium
is used in the electronics industry and has been applied in space flight
applications, rocket engine construction, and the making of photoelectric
cells commonly used in traffic control and automatic door openers. Cesium
has applications as well in biomedical engineering, and as a catalyst in
the production of petrochemicals, organic chemicals, and sulfuric acid.
The rare metals such as tantalum, cesium and rubidium have been called the
"metals of the future" because of their numerous high_tech
applications in the aerospace, electronic, automotive and computer
industries. TANCO remains a major producer for these markets and will
certainly benefit from the growing demand for these rare metals as
they continue to be put to new use.
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