JSC Solikamsk Magnesium Works (Solikamsk, Russia)
P. G. Detkov, Member of Board of Directors, Candidate of Technical Sciences, p.detkov@yandex.ru
D. V. Drobot, Independent Expert, Doctor of Chemical Sciences, dvdrobot@mail.ru
In 1801, the English chemist Charles Hatchett announced the discovery of a new chemical element, which he named columbium. The element was identified in a dark, heavy mineral from the collection of the British Museum, catalogued as “a very heavy black stone” from Massachusetts, USA. This mineral was later named columbite. In 1802, the Swedish chemist and mineralogist Anders Gustaf Ekeberg reported the discovery of another new metal, which he named tantalum. The metal was identified in two different minerals. One, containing tantalum, iron, and manganese, was named tantalite, while the other, containing yttrium, was called yttrotantalite. In 1809, the English scientist William Hyde Wollaston published his study of columbium and tantalum. After examining columbite and tantalite, he concluded that the two minerals contained the same metal and stated that columbium and tantalum were identical elements, without expressing a preference for either name. In 1844, the German chemist and mineralogist Heinrich Rose published a detailed investigation of columbite and tantalite minerals. Based on his results, he concluded that tantalite from Bodenmais, Bavaria, contained two oxides: tantalum oxide and the oxide of a previously unknown metal, which he named niobium. In 1846, Rose announced the discovery of another element, pelopium, but subsequent studies demonstrated that niobium and pelopium were the same metal. Rose therefore retained the name niobium. In 1866, the Swiss chemist Jean Charles Galissard de Marignac reported an effective method for separating niobium and tantalum. The method was based on the difference in solubility between potassium fluorotantalate and potassium oxofluoroniobate in aqueous solutions. Over time, it became evident that Hatchett’s columbium and Rose’s niobium were the same element. In 1949, at the 15th General Assembly of the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) in Amsterdam, the issue of the element’s dual nomenclature was officially resolved, and the name niobium was adopted.
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