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KEY MINERAL FOR GADGETS AND ELECTRONIC EQUIPMENT

TANTALUMIN

FORM

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Tantalum is a strategic metal being

a key metal in one of the most used

gadgets in modern society, the

mobile phone. Tantalum is also

used in other types of electronic

equipments and is thus high in

demand. The trade name for the

most common tantalum-bearing

mineral is coltan whereas the min-

eralogical name is columbite.

Ethiopia presently supplies close to

ten percent of the World produc-

tion of tantalum and has a good

potential for a considerable

expansion of the percentage.

Introduction

The Kenticha tantalum-

bearing pegma tites were

first discovered during a

1:250.000 scale geological

mapping programme carried

out by Ethiopian geologists in

close cooperation with Soviet

geologists in 1980. A major mapping

and evaluation programme financed by

the Soviet Union was carried out in 1981

to 1985. The project aimed at determin-

ing the extent of the tantalum-bearing

rocks and to establish whether they

were of commercial interest.

The Kenticha pegmatite is situated in

the Adole area within the Precambrian

basement of southern Ethiopia, which is

the southern part of the Arabian-Nubian

Shield formed by accretion of ocean arc

terranes. The Neoproterozoic rocks can

be divided into two distinct lithologic

units:

1. Granite-gneiss complex and

2. Ophiolitic fold and thrust belts.

The latter are composed of mafic and

ultra mafic volcanic rocks and metasedi-

ments. After several phases of deforma-

tion and metamorphism the units were

intruded by a number of pegmatites

among which the Kenticha pegmatite

field stand out.

The Kenticha pegmatite field

Pegmatites are abundant throughout

the southern part of neoproterozoic

rocks, but are especially abundant in the

Kenticha pegmatite field area where

Tantalum in Ethiopia

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I N D I A N O C E A N

Gulf ofTadjoura

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G U L F O F A D E N

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Lak

A U D O R A NGE

A H M A R M T N S

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Muqdisho(Mogadishu)

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Kisumu

Nairobi

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Ethiopia is located on the horn of africa bordering

Sudan, Somalia, Kenya and Eritrea..

Table

they occur in an area of about 2,500 km2.

The pegmatites are emplaced at or near

a major NNE-SSW trending shear zone.

The pegmatites range from barren

feldspar-muscovite pegmatites to differ-

ent types of rare-element pegmatites.

The Kenticha pegmatite is a large

pegmatite exposed for 2 km in length

and 400 to 700m in width. It was

emplaced in package of steeply dipping

serpentinites and talc-tremolite schists.

The thickness of the pegmatite varies. In

locations where both hanging and foot

wall contacts are exposed, thickness

ranges between 40 and 100m.

The Kenticha pegmatites display

complex zoning with up to nine mineral

paragenetic assemblages. Apart from

columbite a number of lithium minerals,

beryls and sulphides are found.

Tantalum deposit

The Kenticha tantalum deposit is mined

by Ethiopian Mineral Development

Share Company (EMDSC). The produc-

tion is around 70 tonnes of Ta metal per

year (120 tonnes of concentrate at 60

percent Ta2O5. The probable reserve of

primary ore is 17,000 tonnes at Ta2O5 at

a grade of 0.017 percent Ta2O5, whereas

the reserve of Ta2O5 in the weathered

zone was calculated to 2400 tonnes at

0.015 percent Ta2O5.

Additional commodities

The pegmatites in the Adola area display

a variety of minerals of which the lithi-

um bearing phases such as spodumene

and Li-micas over time may be a valuable

additional by-product.

Coltan is known to host a number of

element such as rare earth elements

(REE) of which neodymium (used for

powerful magnets) europium used in TV

screens are the best known. Uranium is

also a frequent element hosted in

coltan.

In the Kenticha pegmatite certain

parts of the coltan mineralization does

carry low levels of uranium. Uranium in

coltan can be a problem or an asset

depending on the level of uranium. In

most parts of the Kenticha coltan the

uranium is below the critical level of

0.5%. Certain markets e.g. Europe does

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Kenticha mine

LakeTana

PrecambrianPhanerozoic Intrusives

High-grade PrecambrianUndifferentiated gneisses and schists

Low-grade Precambrian

Metaultramafic-mafics

Metavolcano-sediments Undifferentiated sediments

Paleozoic Rocks

Gabbro

Diorite

Granite-tonalite

Sandstone and tillites

Mesozoic Rocks

Addis Ababa

Geo

logy

: Mod

ifie

d fr

om M

enge

sha

et a

l.(19

96)

Geo

logi

cal m

ap o

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Cenozoic RocksEarly-Mid Tertiary basalt

Upper Tertiary-Quaternary - basaltMid Tertiary-Quaternary - felsic rocks

Early Tertiary sediment

Upper Tertiary-Quaternarysediment

Fig. 1. Simplified geological map of Ethiopia

with localities of building stone in the central

and southern parts of the country.

not allow import of coltan with uranium con-

tents above 0.5% whereas other markets e.g.

China allows higher uranium contents.

Presently the Ethiopian Mineral Develop -

ment Share Company seeks partners to devel-

op a plant to separate uranium from the tanta-

lum.

Further potential

No systematic exploration has been carried

out for further rare metal pegmatites.

However, in the surrounding a large number of

small showings of coltan have been found,

many of which are mined by small-scale min-

ers. These are only surface deposits.

However, information from the company

mining the pegmatite indicate that the shear

zone hosting the Kenticha rare metal peg-

matite can be followed for more that a hun-

dred kilometres towards North containing a

number of columbite showings.

Reports of columbite minerals in placer

deposits further north towards the border to

Somaliland, and the presence of several coltan

mineralizations across the border near

Hergiesa substantiate the assumption that

there is a vast potential for finding further

commercial tantalum deposits in Ethiopia.

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Outcrop of tantalum pegmatite

Columbite crystals in pegmatite

Weathered out columbite crystals

Ministry of Mines and Energy of Ethiopia

Dear Investor

We take this opportunity to welcome you

to Ethiopia

We promise to make every possible

effort to provide you all required informa-

tion on the mineral sector in Ethiopia

If you require information on the min-

ing law, licensing conditions and the

investment climate in Ethiopia

Please contact the Mineral Licensing and

Administration Core Processes:

Ministry of Mines and Energy

Mineral Licensing and Administration

Core Processes

P.O.Box 486

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Tel. +251 11 6461214

Fax +251 11 6463454

Email:

www.

If you require information on the geology

and mineral opportunities in Ethiopia

Please contact The Geological Survey of

Ethiopia (GSE):

Geological Survey of Ethiopia

P.O.Box 2303

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Tel. +251 6 464482

Fax +251 6 463326

Email: Survey@ethionet.gov.et

www.geology.gov.et

We are looking forward to your mining

investment in Ethiopia