A Review of Niobium-Tantalum Separation in Hydrometallurgy
Niobium and tantalum are chemically similar and are associated with each other in nature which makes it very difficult to separate. For many years, the separation of tantalum from niobium involved the fractional crystallization of potassium heptafluorotantalate away from potassium oxypentafluoroniobate monohydrate, this method has been supplanted by solvent extraction from fluoride-containing solutions by the use of solvent extractants such as Octanol, bis(2-ethylhexyl)phosphoric acid (DEHPA), Alamine 336, methyl isobutyl ketone (MIBK), tri-nbutyl phosphate (TBP) or cyclohexanone. A detailed review of the various processes involved in the breakdown treatment of niobium and tantalum primary sources, extraction and separation and newer processes of extraction as well as the various technique involved were discussed. Keyword: Niobium, Tantalum, Columbite, Tantalite, Solvent extractant and Solvent extraction.
Adaptable Technologies for Life – Cycle Processing of Tantalum Bearing Minerals
Nigeria is richly endowed in convertible natural resources of which solid minerals are a 
member of the endowments. However, the country is basically a mono-product economy 
based on its vast oil deposit accounting for over 84% of foreign earnings and 25% of GDP. 
The triple challenges of the volatile nature of global oil politics, achieving the objectives of 
the millennium development goals and the national economy empowerment and development 
strategies calls for diversification into hitherto neglected solid mineral deposits to open a 
window of opportunities. One of the widely reported mineral deposits in the country with 
strong international influence is tantalum-bearing mineral. The mineral had in the past few 
decades experienced a strong growth in demand averaging 10% per annum since 1992 with 
total world consumption estimated at over 38 thousand tonne in 2005. The total annual 
supply of the ore concentrate in 2001 was 720 tonnes when demand was 26 thousand tonnes. 
Thus, pushing the price of the concentrate to an all time high of $165 / kg in 2001. 
This paper outlines the characteristics of the Nigerian tantalum reserves. It also presents the 
evaluation of the competing technologies for complete cycle processing of tantalum bearing 
minerals for adoption in the Nigeria solid mineral industry.
Progress on detection and analysis method of environmental endocrine disruptors
In this paper,the advances on detection and analysis methods of environmental endocrine disruptors were reviewed,which included the categories,pretreatment technique in different matrices and detection method etc,and the future′s prospects on the study of detection and analysis method were talked about also.