A group of scientists from the Indian Institute of Technology, Ropar has identified rare metal called tantalum. This metal plays a crucial role in the production of electronic components. This scarce metal is found in the sand of the Sutlej River in Punjab.

A research team led by Dr. Resmi Sebastian, an assistant professor in the Civil Engineering Department of the institute, unexpectedly discovered tantalum, a rare metal crucial for electronic component manufacturing. According to Dr. Sebastian's, the discovery occurred while the team was working on a project, and tantalum was identified in samples collected from the Sutlej basin.

She said, “One of my research students found the presence of tantalum while conducting experiments on the characterization of the Sutlej river sand.”

Dr. Sebastian explained that the experiments primarily focused on investigating the dynamic properties of soil and rocks concerning their implications in the event of an earthquake. She emphasized that mineral analysis was not the original objective of the experiments being conducted. Dr. Sebastian suggested that given the discovery of tantalum traces, there might be economic potential for the state in exploring the feasibility of mining such rare metals.

Punjab Mining and Geology Department Director Abhijeet Kaplish said, “The discovery of tantalum in Sutlej is not only significant for Punjab but for India, given its value in terms of its use in electronics and semi-conductors. We are curious to know the quantum of the metal in the river. Detailed studies are likely to shed more light on that.”

Following experiments conducted by Dr. Sebastian's team in July 2021, the research paper, confirming the presence of tantalum, was published in January of the following year. These findings have been included in a proposal prepared by IIT-Ropar for the Punjab government, addressing socio-environmental sustainability in river sand mining.

The proposal emphasizes the presence of tantalum while making reference to the identification of rare metals and other elements in the Sutlej at various locations in Punjab, "which is of interest to the government and associated industries."

Dr. Reet Kamal Tiwari and team have proposed the collection of Sutlej River samples from at least 125 locations to identify rare components. "Collecting samples from 125 sites is a tentative number. More than 300 sites which have been mapped by the Punjab government can be explored," said Dr. Tiwari. Tantalum, a hard and lustrous transition metal known for its high corrosion resistance, was recognized in the annual report of the Union Ministry of Mines for 2020-21 as "one of the 12 critical and strategic minerals."

Dr. Sebastian has suggested that the presence of tantalum in the Sutlej remains uncertain at this point. However, he posits that the potential source could be attributed to the shifting of tectonic plates in the Himalayan region, a locale deemed likely to harbor this uncommon metal.

“Tantalum may be making it to the rivers due to the movement of the Indian plate towards the Eurasian plate. This movement causes seismic activity in the Himalayan region,” she said.

Dr Tiwari said, “Without investigations, we cannot comment on that [the source]. It cannot come from industry, because we found that there is no such industry upstream of Ropar. It may be coming from China, who knows, because 80 percent of the catchment area of Sutlej is in China, in Tibet. Without investigation, we cannot comment on its source.”

Image source: Times of India