Ann: LiDAR Survey further enhances Equador Niobium Project, page-39

Someone mentioned separating Niobium and Tantalum,
It is actually very easy with many methods able to achieve this.

Their weights are very different for starters as:

Niobium weighs 8 570kg a M3
Tantalum weighs 16 650kg a M3

So gravity separation is often used,
At least as part of the process.

There are also other methods,
Such as this example:

Separation and isolation of tantalum and niobium from tantalite using solvent extraction and ion exchange:

Highlights

• •
  Tantalum and niobium were successfully separated from each other in tantalite.
• •
  Solvent extraction succeeded in removing tantalum from the tantalite matrix.
• •
  Ion exchange separated niobium from the rest of the metal impurities.
• •
  Quantitative recoveries were obtained for both tantalum and niobium.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/scien...ere successfully,rest of the metal impurities.

It's all pretty easy,
And has been done many many times before,
And is just common knowledge to those in the know,
Who have been doing it for many Years !!!!