Tantalum
A corrosion-proof metal used in compact, reliable capacitors and in chip barrier layers. DR Congo and Rwanda supply most mined tantalum.
Tantalum capacitors stabilize power on GPU boards and servers; tantalum/tantalum-nitride barrier layers sit under copper wiring in chips.
Over half of mined supply comes from DR Congo, with conflict-mineral sourcing risk.
Where it's produced
Share of 2025 world mine production (metric tons). Source: USGS MCS 2026.
Who calls it critical
Membership on each government list. “Strategic” marks a higher tier where the list has one; “group” means included as part of a group such as rare earths or PGMs.
Tantalum: key questions
- Where is tantalum mined or produced?
- According to USGS 2025 data, the largest producers are DR Congo (52%), Rwanda (16%) and Nigeria (16%) of world mine production. China accounts for about 3%.
- Is tantalum a critical mineral?
- Tantalum appears on 8 of the 10 official lists we track (United States, European Union, United Kingdom, Japan, South Korea, India, Australia, Canada).
- Is tantalum in short supply?
- Our supply status: Watch. Over half of mined supply comes from DR Congo, with conflict-mineral sourcing risk.
- Why does tantalum matter for AI infrastructure?
- Tantalum capacitors stabilize power on GPU boards and servers; tantalum/tantalum-nitride barrier layers sit under copper wiring in chips.
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