Reuters reported that Australian miner Talison Tantalum was considering restarting its Wodgina mine formerly the world's top producer in mid 2011 on expectations of higher demand and rising prices.

The mine in northwest Australia in late 2008 suspended production of tantalum which is used in aerospace and computer manufacturing, due to a combination of oversupply and reduced demand in the global economic downturn.

Mr Bryan Ellis head of marketing at privately held Talison Tantalum said that my gut feeling is that bringing it in might now be pulled forward by 6 months.

He said that the initial target date had been 2012, although last September a Talison spokesman said the company planned to restart production in mid 2010.

Mr Ellis said he expected global demand for tantalum to recover next year to the 2007 level of 6 million pounds after falling to about 4 million lbs in 2008 and 2009 and then to continue climbing as demand from the electronics industry grows.

He said that European spot prices of tantalite TANT LON, which is used to make tantalum metal, currently trade near 9 year highs at about USD 49 per lb. However, that contract prices often differ from quoted spot prices and are still too low. We could not possibly reenter the market place with the numbers where they are today. We would lose a fortune on it. H expected spot prices in the long term to go above USD 100 per lb.

(Sourced from Reuters)