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| TABLE� 2�� | |||||||||||||
| �SALIENT TANTALUM STATISTICS | |||||||||||||
| 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | e | ||||||||
| United States: | |||||||||||||
| Government stockpile releases, Ta content1 | metric tons | 336 | 127 | 210 | r | 289 | r | -- | |||||
| Exports: | |||||||||||||
| Tantalum ores and concentrates, Ta content2, 3 | do. | 152 | 223 | 174 | 247 | 146 | |||||||
| Tantalum metal, gross weight | do. | 187 | 504 | 567 | 590 | 207 | |||||||
| Tantalum and tantalum alloy powder, gross weight | do. | 280 | 257 | 242 | 112 | 158 | |||||||
| Imports for consumption: | |||||||||||||
| Mineral ore and concentrates, Ta content3� | do. | 483 | 451 | 382 | 322 | 294 | |||||||
| Tantalum metal and tantalum-bearing alloys4, gross weight | do. | 474 | 1,090 | 1,240 | 835 | 861 | |||||||
| Tin slag | do. | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | |||||||
| Consumption, Ta content: | |||||||||||||
| Raw materials | do. | W | W | W | W | W | |||||||
| Apparent | do. | 674 | 679 | 852 | r | 498 | r | 644 | |||||
| Prices, tantalite5 (Ta2O5 content) | dollars per kilogram | 66 | 66 | 77 | 72 | 80 | |||||||
| Value:6, 7 tantalum ore and concentrate, (gross weight)� | dollars per metric ton | 34 | 35 | 31 | 33 | 43 | |||||||
| World, production of niobium-tantalum concentrates, Ta contentr | metric tons | 1,390 | 1,520 | 1,470 | 964 | 815 | |||||||
| do. Ditto. eEstimated. rRevised. NA Not available. W Withheld to avoid disclosing company proprietary data. | |||||||||||||
| 1Release is the decrease in uncommitted inventory relative to the previous calendar year.�� | |||||||||||||
| 2 Includes natural and synthetic tantalum ore and concentrates. | |||||||||||||
| 3To estimate Ta content, it was assumed that natural niobium and synthetic niobium-tantalum ore and concentrates ore are 32% Ta2O5; tantalum ore and | |||||||||||||
| concentrate is 37% 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.�� | |||||||||||||
| 6Mass-weighted average value of imported materials. | |||||||||||||
| 7Includes wrought, unwrought, and waste and scrap tantalum metal. | |||||||||||||
Source: United States Geological Survey Mineral Resources Program