Tantalum-based products such as capacitors or superalloys have important applications in modern industrial manufacturing. However, the global tantalum market is small and does not attract major mining companies. Since 2010, Africas Great Lakes region, mainly the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Rwanda and Burundi (Figure 1), has established itself as the worlds largest tantalum mine producer. The regions tantalum ore is exclusively produced through artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM).While ASM activities in the region are often publicly portrayed as risky and illegal, little is known about their economic viability and their contribution to local sustainable economic development. These factors, in turn, influence the potential of the region to act as a long-term supplier of tantalum at a global scale. This study aims to illuminate these questions, building on on-the-ground observations made by the German Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources in the context of technical cooperation projects implemented in Rwanda and the DRC since 2009. CITATION:Schtte, P, Nher, U and Liebetrau, M, 2019. Tantalum mining in Africas Great Lakes region: a case study for sustainable economic development?, in Proceedings 9th International Conference on Sustainable Development in the Minerals Industry, pp 2325 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).