A video went viral on social media showing two men handling a metallic-looking rock in the Democratic Republic of Congo. When connecting the two ends of a wire to the rock, a light comes on, indicating that the rock is electrically charged. The nature of the material and the origin of the cargo generated doubts on the internet.
The impressive record generated comparisons of the material with the fictional metal of the Marvel universe, vibranium. Although there is no confirmation of what the composition of the registered mineral is, the highest probability is that it is the so-called Coltan. This ore is named after the two minerals that compose it: columbite and tantalite.
Columbite and tantalite are the sources of two important elements for the manufacture of electronics: respectively, niobium and tantalum. The Democratic Republic of Congo is the country with the most reserves of these minerals in the world.
What is Coltan?
A source of fundamental elements in the electronics industry, Coltan supplies niobium, whose applications include advanced metallic alloys, used in the space industry and in biomedicine, for example. Tantalum can also make up similar alloys, but its main application is in the manufacture of capacitors for computers, cell phones and other electronics.
The Democratic Republic of Congo has a complex socioeconomic context resulting from the exploitation of mineral reserves in the country and, in them — especially in Coltan —, child labor is used and in conditions of semi-slavery.
The constant wars in the country are also a consequence of mining, as rebel forces organize themselves to dominate the extraction of Coltan since its discovery, around the 2000s.
Brazil also has columbite and tantalite reserves. Thanks to them, our country is the largest exporter of niobium in the world and the second largest in the case of tantalum.
Is it Coltan in the video?
The material appearing in the video has not been confirmed, but given the context of Coltan exploitation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and its commercial application, Coltan is the most likely candidate.
