noun
- plural of columbite; black metallic minerals consisting of iron manganese niobate and tantalate, used as sources of niobium and tantalum
Usage: mineralogy
Examples
- The mine produced high-quality columbites for industrial use.
- Columbites are important ore minerals for extracting niobium.
- The geologist identified several columbites in the rock samples.
- These columbites contain significant amounts of tantalum.
- Processing columbites requires specialized metallurgical techniques.