IN THE EARLY 1900S

摘要

The IOM3 Conference in London on January 23rd 2003 provided an opportunity to talk to a number of individuals who were involved in, or where knowledgeable concerning, the mining of tantalum-bearing minerals. Antony Michell told a very interesting story to the conference attendees during the final question and answer session concerning the finding of manganotantalite in northwest Australia by two of his great uncles, both being mining engineers along with his grandfather in the early 1900s. He showed to the audience two examples of the manganotantalite that came from these early adventures in northwest Australia. Further conversation during that evening resulted in my being able to photograph the two specimens. Additional details were supplied by letter dated February 5th 2003, and contained the following information.