Editing Coltan (section)

== Price increases and changes in demand ==
The production and sale of coltan and [[niobium]] from African mines dropped significantly after the dramatic price spike in 2000 from the [[Dot-com bubble|dot-com]] frenzy, from $400 to the current price level of around $100. Figures from the [[United States Geological Survey]] partially confirm this.<ref>U.S. Geological Survey, [http://minerals.usgs.gov/minerals/pubs/commodity/niobium/231302.pdf Mineral Commodity Summaries, January 2002], Tantalum p. 166-7
</ref><ref>
U.S. Geological Survey, [http://minerals.usgs.gov/minerals/pubs/commodity/niobium/tantamcs05.pdf Mineral Commodity Summaries, January 2005], Tantalum p. 166-7
</ref> <!-- so what is source for the other part, please? Needs more explanation and/or references --> The Tantalum-Niobium International Study Centre in [[Belgium]], the country that colonized the DRC, has encouraged international buyers to avoid Congolese coltan on ethical grounds: "take care in obtaining&nbsp;... raw materials from lawful sources. Harm, or the threat of harm, to local people, wildlife or the environment is unacceptable."<ref>
{{Cite web
  | last = Tantalum-Niobium International Study Center
  | title = Tantalum
  | url = http://www.tanb.org/tantalum1.html
  | access-date =2008-01-27
}}
</ref>

In addition to environmental harm caused by erosion, pollution and deforestation, agriculture and as a result food security suffered in the DRC as a result of mining. A follow-up UN report in 2003 noted a sharp increase in 1999 and 2000 in the global price of tantalum, which naturally increased coltan production. Some of the increased production came from eastern DC where there are "rebel groups and unscrupulous business people" forcing farmers and their families to leave land where the rebels wanted to mine, "forcing them to work in artisanal mines...widespread destruction of agriculture and devastating social effects occurred, which in a number of instances were akin to slavery."<!-- (Anup Shah 2010): think this might be attribution where my source cites a source. Not sure, leaving it here commented out for now -->

A shift also took place from traditional sources such as Australia to new suppliers such as Egypt,<ref>{{Citation
  | last = Gippsland Limited
  | title = Abu Dabbab Tantalum
  | url = http://www.gippslandltd.com/Projects/AbuDabbab.aspx
  | access-date = 2011-04-02
  | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20111017145438/http://www.gippslandltd.com/Projects/AbuDabbab.aspx
  | archive-date = 2011-10-17
  | url-status = dead
  }}</ref> perhaps because of the bankruptcy of the world's biggest supplier, Australia's [[Sons of Gwalia]] may have caused or contributed to this change. The operations previously owned by Gwalia in [[Wodgina mine|Wodgina]] and [[Greenbushes]] continue to operate in some capacity.