. "Coltan (short for columbite\u2013tantalite and known industrially as tantalite) is a dull black metallic ore from which the elements niobium and tantalum are extracted. The niobium-dominant mineral in coltan is columbite (after niobium's original American name, columbium), and the tantalum-dominant mineral is tantalite.Tantalum from coltan is used to manufacture tantalum capacitors, used in electronic products."@en . . . .