Mining and metals company AB Minerals is partnering with the African Minerals and Geoscience Centre (AMGC) in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, to establish the first columbite-tantalite (coltan) smelter in Africa.

The plant, which will be built in North America and shipped in containers to Dar es Salaam, will have the capacity to process 3 000 t/y of coltan concentrate.

“By upgrading the raw ore into high-purity tantalum and niobium prior to export, there will be significant tax revenue accrued for the Tanzanian government, as well as many employment opportunities created to operate the plant. AMGC will, moreover, be instrumental in helping AB Minerals as we expand our operations and also seek to establish smelters in other African countries,” says AB Minerals CEO Frank Balestra.

In November last year, Mining Weekly reported that AB Minerals had developed a new disruptive processing technology to assist African coltan mining countries with the low-cost production of metallurgical-grade tantalum powder and niobium oxide using an industrial-scale processing plant.

Balestra notes that, internationally, there is significant interest in tantalum, which is widely used in the manufacture of electronics and superalloys, and niobium, which is used in the production of high-strength low-alloy steels. The value of coltan can be significantly increased through smelting, separating all the minerals in the concentrate and upgrading them to oxides.

However, up until now, 100% of the coltan ore produced in African countries – including the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda, Ethiopia, Nigeria and Sierra Leone – has been exported as mineral ore concentrates, rather than metals or high-value intermediate products. This creates far less value for the miners and the country from which the ore is exported than if the coltan was upgraded on the continent before export.

“The new coltan smelter will, thus, reduce the export of raw materials and ensure that a lot more value is captured by African coltan mining countries. “Importantly, key beneficiaries of the project are artisanal and small-scale mining companies and cooperatives, who represent a significant number of the total miners in many African countries.”

A key strength of the processing technology is delivering cost-effective separation through reduced energy and water consumption while creating minimal environmental impact. “These plants can be installed in any jurisdiction in the world and will meet even the most rigorous environmental standards,” says Balestra.

In September, the Governing Council of AMGC – a Pan-African body specialising in minerals geosciences and geological information – approved the joint venture proposal to install the first coltan smelter in Africa at the AMGC facility, based in Dar es Salaam. The project has also been endorsed by the Tanzanian government.

In the same month, AB Minerals announced that it had engaged Dubai-based consultancy Destiny Mineral & Agricultural Consultants (DMAC) to lead the $40-million financing for the construction of the coltan processing facility. This transaction will take the project through construction to commercial production, including all contingencies and working capital requirements for full-scale operations.

“We are excited to partner with DMAC. The company has extensive knowledge in the African mining industry and will assist us in accelerating our vision of value- addition for tantalite-bearing minerals on the African continent,” says Balestra.

He points out that having a strategic partnership with AMGC creates many operational advantages for the installation of the processing plant. A significant amount of Africa’s tantalite ore is already transported to Dar es Salaam’s port and then shipped to foreign smelters, making it the ideal location for the smelter. The AMGC’s multimillion-dollar laboratory is also home to a highly skilled technical team and the equipment required to run the processing plant.

Mandated by the Regional Inter-Ministerial Committee of the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region, AMGC has also established a regional Analytical Fingerprint laboratory at its facility. This lab will provide analytical data needed for the mineral fingerprinting used to verify the origin of conflict minerals, such as cassiterite, coltan and wolframite.

“AMGC will provide AB Minerals with analytical fingerprinting of all ore, which will provide the highest level of verification that the origins of the tantalite-bearing minerals we are processing are conflict free. This will afford greater assurance for international companies accepting ore from Africa for finished products.”

Balestra highlights that this is the first step in the company’s vision to establish multiple plants in strategic locations throughout Africa, adding that AB Minerals has received strong interest from several other countries that are looking to establish a smelter to improve the value-addition of their minerals.