Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A black, red-brown, or colorless mineral, essentially (Fe, Mn)(Nb, Ta)2O6, the principal ore of niobium.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun The native niobate (columbate) of iron, a mineral of black color and high specific gravity, crystallizing in the orthorhombic system.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun (Min.) A mineral of a black color, submetallic luster, and high specific specific gravity. It is a niobate (or columbate) of iron and manganese, containing tantalate of iron; -- first found in New England.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun mineralogy A black
mineral that is a mixediron andmanganese niobate andtantalate , and is the mainore ofniobium andtantalum .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun a black mineral that is an ore of niobium and tantalum
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
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Examples
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There's a crucial element in the manufacture of cell phones, laptops and the like called columbite-tantalite (or coltan).
Latest Articles 2009
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Tantalum is recovered from ore minerals such as columbite and tantalite.
Tantalum 2008
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On Boing Boing Gadgets, this wrenching video in which Eve Ensler explains that Congolese militias use rape to enforce discipline among a slave workforce that mines columbite-tantalite ore, a common raw material for many devices.
Boing Boing 2009
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Dogo Nahawa sits amid rolling hills, surrounded by former tin and columbite mines.
Massacres Shake Uneasy Nigeria Will Connors 2010
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Among these riches is coltan - columbite tantalite - a mineral highly prized for its use in a number of consumer electronic products, among other things.
Iara Lee: Blood Gadgetry -- Why I am Going to the Congo 2010
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Dogo Nahawa sits amid rolling hills, surrounded by former tin and columbite mines.
Massacres Shake Uneasy Nigeria Will Connors 2010
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Among these riches is coltan - columbite tantalite - a mineral highly prized for its use in a number of consumer electronic products, among other things.
Iara Lee: Blood Gadgetry -- Why I am Going to the Congo 2010
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Dogo Nahawa sits amid rolling hills, surrounded by former tin and columbite mines.
Massacres Shake Uneasy Nigeria Will Connors 2010
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Dogo Nahawa sits amid rolling hills, surrounded by former tin and columbite mines.
Massacres Shake Uneasy Nigeria Will Connors 2010
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Overall, Congo has over half the world's cobalt, one-third of its diamonds, and three-fourths of its vital columbite-tantalite or "coltan," essential for computer chips, circuit boards, mobile phones, laptops, and other electronic devices.
Printing: Reviewing F. William Engdahl's "Full Spectrum Dominance:" Part II 2009
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