COLTAN IN VENEZUELA: LOCATION AND CHARACTERISTICS - GEOGRAPHY - 2025

The coltan in Venezuela is a recent discovery and legal exploitation is no more than about year and a half since it began production in mining areas to the south of the Orinoco River.

Tantalum is extracted from coltan, which is the main mineral currently required on a large scale to produce the essential electronic equipment of modern life, such as smart mobile devices, laptops, medical equipment, among others.

Generally the material is mixed with niobium. Both elements are used for completely different industries: niobium is necessary to form strong alloys of steel. But it is tantalum that makes coltan so important, giving it the name of blue gold.

Brazil, Canada and Australia are the leading countries in the production of tantalum and niobium. But in terms of production only of tantalum, Rwanda is the largest producer followed by the Republic of Congo.

The extraction of coltan has aroused great global controversy because in Africa it has caused conflicts in the political-economic sphere and incessant internal wars for control of both the extraction and distribution of the mineral.

Between Rwanda, Uganda, Burundi and the Congo, the smuggling of coltan (and other minerals and precious stones) is one of the main means of financing for weapons and resources used by local guerrillas.

Reservation location

Coltan is found in a very wide area called the Orinoco Mining Arc. It covers an area of ​​more than 110,000 square kilometers, equivalent to 12% of the Venezuelan territory.

It covers regions south of the Orinoco River, passing through three states in the southeast of the country to the border in claim with Guyana. The area is also close to the Orinoco oil belt, to the south.

The states involved are Amazonas, Bolívar and Delta Amacuro, which are known for vast territories of beautiful landscapes of humid jungle and tepuis, protected forest reserves with indigenous tribal populations and natural monuments, a hydroelectric dam and famous national parks.

When did it start to explode?

There has been unofficial knowledge of the existence of this material in the territory of Venezuela since the mid-1960s. As of 2008, studies began to evaluate and have a more accurate estimate of the coltan reserves.

Between 2009 and 2010 the government confirms the existence of significant deposits of coltan, with an average potential of 15,500 tons valued at more than 100 billion dollars.

In 2016, the official process of exploitation and production of coltan began in the Los Pijiguaos area, in the Bolivar state. Parguaza is one of the mixed companies currently dedicated to this industry, formed in conjunction with the Venezuelan state and the Faoz Corporation.

In September 2017, the first ton of blue gold was successfully extracted at the Los Pijiguaos mine.

There are also other concessions for the extraction of the mineral with the Congolese Afridiam company, the China CAMC Engineering Co., the Canadian Gold Reserve and the mixed Oro Azul.

This historic extraction is the first to be officially done by the State, since the mineral was illegally extracted for quite some time and sold in contraband to border nations.

Current characteristics of the exploitation of coltan in Venezuela

1- Concessions and estimated income

Among the concessions already mentioned above, it is estimated that in a period of 13 years the production will yield a profit of more than 350 million dollars only with the extraction of coltan. These surrendered mining areas are valued at more than 135 billion.

Gold, diamonds, iron, copper and bauxite are also expected to be subtracted from the new mining arc. It is estimated that there are 7000 tons of gold valued at 200 billion dollars.

Additionally, the extraction process will release other types of elements from the earth such as cerium, lanthanum, neodymium and thorium.

2- Security and infrastructure

The nationalization of the exploitation of coltan required the mobilization of army troops to guarantee the safety of the mining plants, as well as to stop the activities of the many illegal industries that operate in the region.

The government plans to create civil infrastructure in the areas near the mines to meet the needs of local populations and communities.

Hospitals, schools, agricultural and industrial development, transportation routes, urbanization and modernization are on the negotiating table.

3- The environment and communities

News of the opening of new mining areas south of the Orinoco sparked many environmental and cultural alerts.

The concern of the national and international protectionist associations was not long in being noticed.

The area included in the mining arc contains a total of 7 natural monuments, 7 national parks, 465 towns, thousands of indigenous people and their traditional areas and water reservoirs.

Experts in environmental care affirm that the extraction process will necessarily require the deforestation of vast areas of territory and highly damaging mining methods.

As a consequence, many populations will have to be relocated to new urban areas.

It is also said that this would endanger the habitat of many important rainforest species, and affect the natural irrigation systems that feed large rivers and consequently reservoirs.

At least 5% of southern Venezuela's forests have already been deforested by illegal logging. Formal exploitation is feared to open up a larger area of ​​cleared forest.

On the other hand, it is feared that Venezuela will suffer conflicts similar to those that have plagued some African countries for the exploitation of minerals and precious stones.

Despite criticism and social demonstrations to prevent mining access, the government assures that the extraction is being carried out respecting the ecological standards of the area and the traditional indigenous communities of the area.

Even government sectors claim to be very interrelated with local communities and have a very good mutual understanding of needs.

However, the local population and the international community have little confidence in the fulfillment and respect of these elements.

References

1. Jeanfreddy Gutiérrez (2016). Thirst for coltan, gold threatens Venezuelan forests, indigenous lands. Mongabay. Recovered from mongabay.com
2. Latin America Herald Tribune. Venezuela Confirms Coltan Deposits, $ 100 Billion in Gold Reserves. Recovered from laht.com
3. Melissa Shaw (2017). What is Coltan? 5 Facts You Should Know. Tantalum Investing News. Recovered from investingnews.com
4. Telesur (2017). Venezuela Explores Initial Stages of Coltan Mining. Recovered from telesurtv.net
5. Marisus Blanco (2017). SPECIAL: Coltán, a rare mineral in the world, is found in the Bolívar state. Venezuelan Television. Recovered from vtv.gob.ve
6. Julett Pineda Sleinan (2016). Venezuelan "blue gold" in the hands of the Congo and China spends $ 100 billion in reserves. Cocuyo effect. Recovered fromfectococuyo.com