This exotic metal is named after the Greek god Tantalus who was tormented for all eternity to stand in water and with hanging fruit all around yet was unable to quench either thirst or hunger as the object of his torment kept them just outside of reach. The element, too, is outside of the reach of most. Despite being incredibly dense no hardware store stocks tantalum hammers. It is among the most corrosion resistant metals known but there's practically nothing available taking advantage of this property. Why? Because it's so rare and expensive.

Today the world has an insatiable appetite for cell phones and other electronics where tantalum has been found to be an ideal metal for capacitors and other doodads. What little of it is mined every year happens to be worth a lot of money. Sadly, its principal mines happen to be smack-dab in the middle of the Congo and Rwanda where ownership of these mines is incessantly tussled over by AK-47 wielding thugs right alongside other commodities like diamonds and ivory.

And here we have the ultimate offering of this metal. Looking at us is a machined and precision cut tapered cylinder made of 99.95% pure Ta measuring 2cm per side. Sourced from Russia, this sample was designed to impress with both its heft and workmanship. Appreciate its cold, gray character of this semi-precious metal and maybe think something cool in your mind’s best Russian accent!

Comes in a very attractive crystal clear acrylic cube measuring 50mm on a side.

Ehhhhh…. update. While the cube pictured is indeed from Russia starting in 2024 we needed to switch suppliers and now we buy them from (oh, come on, you can guess which country). However, seeing as things are I wouldn’t be surprised if they’re still the same source because why reinvent the wheel?