Mineralogical and chemical evolution of tantalum–(niobium–tin) mineralisation in pegmatites and granites. Part 2: Worldwide examples (excluding Africa) and an overview of global metallogenetic patterns

Columbite-group minerals (CGM) account for the majority of the production of tantalum, an important metal for high-technology applications. Along with other Ta–Nb oxides such as tapiolite, wodginite, ixiolite and pyrochlore supergroup minerals, CGM are recovered from rare-metal granites and granitic rare-element pegmatites. In this paper mineralogical and geochemical data with a focus on CGM, tapiolite, wodginite and ixiolite are presented for...