Venezuela’s Coltan and the Quiet Fragility of Tantalum and Niobium

Macdonald Amoah, Payne Institute Director Morgan Bazilian, Fellow Jahara Matisek, Research Associate Isabel Guajardo Retamales, and Deputy Director Greg Clough write about how Venezuela shows how optionality in tantalum and niobium—not scale—could reduce US exposure to highly concentrated, geopolitically fragile supply chains.  January 13, 2026.