Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A dull black aggregate of the minerals columbite and tantalite, mined primarily in central Africa as an ore for niobium and tantalum. It is also used to make nuclear reactor parts and electronic components in devices such as cell phones and DVD players.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun a valuable black mineral combining niobite and tantalite; used in cell phones and computer chips
Etymologies
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Examples
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On Boing Boing Gadgets, this wrenching video in which Eve Ensler explains that Congolese militias use rape to enforce discipline among a slave workforce that mines columbite-tantalite ore, a common raw material for many devices.
Boing Boing 2009
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The minerals in question—cassiterite, columbite-tantalite, gold and wolframite—are widely used in consumer electronics and other products, although Congo supplies no more than 20% of global demand for these raw materials.
Can Annual Reports Save Lives? Jason Zweig 2011
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Africa provides columbite-tantalite, the mineral from which most computer chips are made.
Missing in Action:Africa and the G20 Ajong77 2009
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Overall, Congo has over half the world's cobalt, one-third of its diamonds, and three-fourths of its vital columbite-tantalite or "coltan," essential for computer chips, circuit boards, mobile phones, laptops, and other electronic devices.
Printing: Reviewing F. William Engdahl's "Full Spectrum Dominance:" Part II 2009
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Overall, Congo has over half the world's cobalt, one-third of its diamonds, and three-fourths of its vital columbite-tantalite or "coltan," essential for computer chips, circuit boards, mobile phones, laptops, and other electronic devices.
Reviewing F. William Engdahl's "Full Spectrum Dominance:" Part II 2009
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There are deposits of gold, cassiterite (a tin ore) and coltan (columbite-tantalite) ore of a high grade which in 2000 fetched very high prices as a metal used in computer and mobile phone microchips.
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His conversation contained no mention of columbite-tantalite (a.k.a. "coltan").
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Global demand for columbite-tantalite (a.k.a. "coltan"), a common cell phone component, is fueling war and environmental destruction in the Democratic Republic of Congo ... but leftists aren't supposed to acknowledge their complicity.
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Coltan - short for columbite-tantalite - sells at dlrs 50 per kilogram on the international market and is used in the manufacture of computer chips and other high-tech gadgets.
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It is also an important source of columbite-tantalite, the mineral known as coltan that is used in mobile phones and computers.
ruzuzu commented on the word columbite-tantalite
Also see coltan.
July 27, 2023