Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Wodgina Tantalum Mine To Close-Impact on Capacitor Market May Be Substantial
Talison, the world's largest supplier of tantalum ore announced last night (Nov 25th 2008). they were closing the Wodgina tantalum mine in Australia. This mine supplied 50% of the world's supply of tantalum ore. The closing of the mine, to take place in December 2008, will have a major impact on the ability for capacitor manufacturers to make anodes. Expect dramatic price increases on tantalum capacitors and there to be short supply and allocation. There are no alternative resources that are viable to Wodgina, so the impact will be substantial. Tantalum capacitors are required for the production of notebook computers, game consoles, MP3 players, car electronics, defense electronics and medical implants. For volumetric efficiency, especially between 100 and 1000 microfarads in small case sizes, design enegineers have no viable choice but to use tantalum capacitors. Expect tantalum capacitor prices to skyrocket.
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4 comments:
Doubt there will be a shortage, as Nokia, Sony, Dell, Hewlett Packard, Motorola, Matsushita, Samsung, LG, etc., will all buy their Tantalum capacitors from companies who will actually buy their Tantalum ore from illegal sources like the Democratic Republic of Congo (although all of them will be happy to produce a piece of paper from their supplier that says they have not bought any from the DRC).
So what's a few thousand deaths, a few tens of thousands of 8-12 year old children doing slave labour, with guns pointed at them, as long as the electronics companies make money, and we all have our latest toys this Christmas or New Year?
You might be interested to see part of Talison's statement about this:
Talison’s actions are driven by two factors. Most importantly, the recent global financial crisis has seen a severe downturn in worldwide demand for consumer electronics, resulting in lower demand for tantalum. As a consequence, Talison’s customers have sufficient tantalum for the near future and have not needed to extend their current contracts.
The second factor is a long-term and increasing trend to reduce material costs in the electronics supply chain, which strongly encourages increased tantalum supply from Central Africa, and particularly from the Democratic
Republic of Congo (DRC).
Tantalum from Central Africa is available at relatively low prices because it is often mined illegally or without regard and commitment to health, safety, environment and labour conditions and frequently transported in contravention of international regulations. Revenue from tantalum mining activities in the DRC is reportedly used to fund militias involved in the ongoing
civil war in the north east of the Country, with little financial benefit flowing to the local people.
Chief Executive Peter Robinson said it was extremely disappointing to be suspending operations at Wodgina due to economic conditions and industry activities beyond the Company’s influence. “Historically, Talison has provided a large, reliable supply source which has underpinned the entire tantalum
industry. We have the capacity and the desire to continue in this role and we believe it is in the electronics industry’s interests for Talison to play a significant
part in its future” he said.
Cabot Position on Tantalum and Coltan and the Democratic Republic of Congo
Cabot is aware of the United Nations’ Security Council Document (S/2001/357) “Final Report of the Panel of Experts on the Illegal Exploitation of Natural Resources and Other Forms of Wealth of the Democratic Republic of the Congo”. The report includes a description of certain activities associated with the illegal or unlawful taking of minerals from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), including columbo-tantalite (coltan).
Since this report was issued in 2002, Cabot has rigorously communicated to its employees, customers and investors that it does not purchase or mine tantalum or coltan from the DRC. Cabot’s supply of ore comes exclusively from our own mine in Manitoba, Canada, a Talison Minerals owned mine in Wodgina, Australia and a Noventa owned mine in Mozambique.
Cabot is a leading world producer of tantalum and niobium products as well as other chemicals. We are committed to ensuring the safety, health and protection of people and the environment around the world. As responsible global citizens, we are continually striving to meet or exceed governmental and environmental standards worldwide.
Therefore, our position on the purchase, sale or mining of tantalum or coltan in the Democratic Republic of Congo is:
1.We do not and will not mine any material containing Tantalum, including coltan in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
2.We do not and will not knowingly purchase any material containing Tantalum, including coltan, which was mined in the Kahuzi-Biega National Park and the Okapi Wildlife Reserve in the Congo.
3.We reject any new offer of ore if there is any possibility that the source is the DRC. We have instructed the personnel in our organization responsible for acquiring raw materials not to acquire any material containing tantalum, including coltan, that they have reason to believe was mined in the Kahuzi-Biega National Park and the Okapi Wildlife Reserve in the Congo, and not to sell any such material. We employ several controls to ensure that we do not purchase ore from the DRC, including the requirement of a government issued certificate of origin to ensure the ore we purchase is not sourced from the DRC.
4.We do not acquire any material containing tantalum from the following countries:
Republic of Congo
Democratic Republic of Congo
Republic of Zambia
Republic of Burundi
Republic of Rwanda
5.Cabot will not knowingly purchase any tantalum supplies from any unlawful source where wildlife or the environment is threatened in any part of the world.
Cabot fully supports efforts by relevant authorities to enforce initiatives that protect the environment and endangered species and we deplore all unlawful and immoral activities surrounding the use and production of coltan mined in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
(August 2008)
Okay, so one company has posted its "We are clean!" statement here, which of course absolutely convinces us all that they have never purchased any material from the DRC, therefore they have not knowingly funded illegal mining of materials, the war in the Congo, child labor, or any other illegal activity. As another comment noted - all the companies in the chain used to make tantalum capacitors will stand up and say the same thing. If we believe that, nobody in the world buys DRC mined tantalum.
As a responsible citizen of the world, I would strongly prefer that the complete processing chain for Tantalum (yes, including AVX, Kyocera, Vishay, Kemet, etc.) voluntarily submit to repeated independant audits by industry bodies that can test their existing stockpiles of materials everywhere, and certify they are clean (or not).
Maybe then we will know the real truth... for lately, I have, for some odd reason, stopped believing all I read... things like "there is no financial crisis...", "credit situation is good...". Really?
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