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| TABLE� 2�� | |||||||||||||
| �SALIENT TANTALUM STATISTICS | |||||||||||||
| 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | |||||||||
| United States: | |||||||||||||
| Government stockpile releases, Ta content1 | metric tons | -2 | r | 336 | r | 127 | r | 273 | r | 226 | |||
| Exports: | |||||||||||||
| Tantalum ores and concentrates, Ta content2, 3 | do. | 107 | r | 152 | r | 223 | r | 174 | r | 247 | p | ||
| Tantalum metal, gross weight | do. | 265 | 187 | 504 | 567 | 590 | |||||||
| Tantalum and tantalum alloy powder, gross weight | do. | 188 | 280 | 257 | 242 | 112 | |||||||
| Imports for consumption: | |||||||||||||
| M | do. | 732 | r | 483 | r | 451 | r | 382 | r | 322 | |||
| Tantalum metal and tantalum-bearing alloys4, gross weight | do. | 551 | r | 474 | r | 1,090 | r | 1,240 | r | 835 | |||
| Tin slag | do. | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | |||||||
| Consumption, Ta content: | |||||||||||||
| R | do. | W | W | W | W | W | |||||||
| A | do. | 721 | r | 674 | r | 679 | r | 915 | r | 435 | |||
| Prices, tantalite5 (Ta2O5 content) | dollars per kilogram | 74 | r | 66 | r | 66 | r | 77 | r | 72 | |||
| V | dollars per metric ton | 32 | r | 34 | r | 35 | r | 31 | r | 33 | |||
| World, production of niobium-tantalum concentrates, Ta content | metric tons | 1,340 | r | 1,280 | 1,480 | r | 1,400 | r | 1,390 | ||||
| �pPreliminary. rRevised. NA Not available. W Withheld to avoid disclosing company proprietary data. | |||||||||||||
| 1Negative numbers indicate an increase in inventory. Release is the decrease in uncommitted inventory relative to the previous calendar year. | |||||||||||||
| 2Includes natural and synthetic tantalum ore and concentrates. | |||||||||||||
| 3To estimate tantalum content, it was assumed that natural tantalum ore and concentrate is 37% Ta2O5; niobium ore and concentrates and synthetic ore | |||||||||||||
| are 32% Ta2O5; and Ta2O5 is 81.9% tantalum. | |||||||||||||
| 4Includes waste and scrap. | |||||||||||||
| 5Time-weighted average price per Ta2O5 content as reported in trade journals. Includes Metal Bulletin, Platts Metals week, and Ryan's Notes and | |||||||||||||
| Ryan's Notes in 2006; Platts Metals Week and Ryan's Notes in 2002-2005. | |||||||||||||
| 6Mass-weighted average value of imported materials. | |||||||||||||
| 7Includes wrought, unwrought and waste and scrap tantalum metal. | |||||||||||||
Source: United States Geological Survey Mineral Resources Program