Overview
Columbite is an ore of niobium, found alongside tin in the granite belts of the Jos Plateau. Once a by-product of tin working, it became valuable in its own right in the mid-twentieth century when niobium found industrial uses in high-strength steel and heat-resistant alloys.
Where it's found
Columbite occurs in the same younger granite complexes and alluvial workings as tin, across Plateau State and adjoining parts of Bauchi, Kaduna and Nasarawa states, on the plateau land of the Berom and neighbouring peoples.
History of exploitation
Miners on the tin field initially discarded columbite. Demand rose in the middle decades of the twentieth century as niobium alloys came into use, and Nigeria became one of the world's significant sources during that period, with recovery organised around the existing tin workings of the colonial mining field. Production fell away later in the century as other sources came on stream, and the ore is now largely recovered by small-scale miners.
Economic role
Columbite was a notable export earner for the northern mining field during its mid-century peak, and it was one of several minerals that gave the plateau an industrial economy distinct from the agricultural north around it. No current figures are given here.
Environmental and social impact
Because columbite is recovered from the same pits and stream gravels as tin, its impacts are those of the plateau mining field: derelict pits, mine ponds, silted streams and lost farmland. Some plateau ores also contain naturally radioactive minerals such as monazite, which has been raised as a handling concern in artisanal working.