Abstract: Tantalum and niobium are industrially irreplaceable metals， the common characteristics with tantalum-niobium ores are low-grade， disseminated fine， brittle and of complex mineral composition， which makes the mineral processing of tantalum-niobium ore more complicated. In order to promote the mineral processing technology of tantalum-niobium ores， the separation methods of tantalum-niobium ore were reviewed. It was pointed out that the gravity separation should be used in the roughing separation of tantalum-niobium ores， and the processes of magnetic separation， flotation and electric separation should be adopted in the cleaning separation. The electric separation is mainly used for impurity removal and comprehensive recovery of concentrate， and the flotation process can effectively recycle the fine mud of tantalum and niobium. The chemical mineral processing is an effective process for the treatment of low-grade complex tantalum-niobium ores. Generally speaking， the combined flowsheet is often used in the separation of tantalum-niobium ores.

Key words: Tantalum-niobium ores, Gravity concentration, Magnetic separation, Flotation, Electric separation, Chemical extraction, Combined flowsheet