Rare and Precious Metal Smelting Workers

How to become a Tantalum and Niobium Metallurgy Operator

Official Chinese title (2022 occupational classification): 钽铌冶炼工

Also called: Tantalum and Niobium Separation Operator, Tantalum and Niobium Compounds Operator, Niobium Carbon Reduction Operator, Tantalum and Niobium Refining Operator, Tantalum and Niobium Mill Products Operator, Tantalum Sodium Reduction Operator, Tantalum Carbon Reduction Operator, Ferroniobium Smelting Operator, Lithium Niobate Crystal Operator, Tantalum, Niobium and Lanthanum Reduction Operator, Tantalum and Niobium Pressing Operator

Smelts, purifies and processes tantalum and niobium bearing materials to make tantalum and niobium products.

Main tasks

Grinding concentrate fine, decomposing it with acid and separating tantalum, niobium and impurities by organic solvent extraction
Extracting tantalum and niobium compounds by crystallisation, filtering, neutralisation and calcining
Reducing potassium fluorotantalate with sodium metal, then washing and vacuum heat treating it to make tantalum powder
Making niobium and tantalum bars by carburising, pressing and carbon reduction, then hydriding them into powder
Refining, purifying and densifying in sintering furnaces and electron beam furnaces
Extruding, rolling and drawing into rod, tube, plate and wire
Roasting, pelletising and reducing to produce ferroniobium
Making lithium tantalate and lithium niobate single crystals with crystal growth furnaces, slicing machines and polishers
Maintaining equipment, clearing faults and keeping production records

Pay · AI and this job

Median pay in China: CN¥68,000 a year (2025).
Middle half: CN¥51,700 to CN¥90,000. One in ten earn less than CN¥42,200 and one in ten more than CN¥114,500.
This is the figure for the mid group Metal Smelting and Rolling Workers, not for this job alone.
National figure: wage prices of enterprise employees from the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security (MOHRSS) enterprise pay survey. The public sector and the self-employed are not covered.
Guangzhou only: median CN¥81,955 a year (2025), middle half CN¥54,000 to CN¥99,488.
This is the figure for the mid group Metal Smelting and Rolling Workers, not for this job alone.
Generative AI can do relatively little of this work, by the ILO's global estimate.

Who does this work

The census group Metal Smelting and Rolling Workers holds 0.3% of everyone employed in China; 16.8% of its workers are women (2020 Census).
30.9% are under 35, 60.2% are 35 to 54 and 8.8% are 55 or older. The middle age band is 40 to 44.
Census figures for the whole mid group (2020 long-form sample), not for this job alone.

Questions people ask

How much does a Tantalum and Niobium Metallurgy Operator earn in China?

Across China, the median pay of enterprise employees is CN¥68,000 a year (Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security (MOHRSS), 2025). The public sector and the self-employed are not covered. It is the figure for the mid group Metal Smelting and Rolling Workers. In Guangzhou alone it is CN¥81,955 a year (2025).

Will AI change the work of a Tantalum and Niobium Metallurgy Operator?

Generative AI can do relatively little of this work, by the ILO's global estimate.

Sources

Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security (MOHRSS): 2025 enterprise pay survey information: wage prices of enterprise employees by occupation mid group, and digital occupations (P10 to P90 annual CNY) (2025 (published 2026-07-08)), retrieved 5 October 2026
Guangzhou Human Resources and Social Security Bureau: Guangzhou 2025 labour market wage prices (P10 to P90 annual CNY by occupation) (2025 (enterprise pay survey)), retrieved 4 October 2026
National Bureau of Statistics of China: China Population Census Yearbook 2020, long-form tables 4-6 and 4-7 (employed by occupation mid group, sex, age) (2020 Census long form (10% sample)), retrieved 4 October 2026
International Labour Organization, Generative AI and Jobs: A Refined Global Index of Occupational Exposure (ILO Working Paper 140, Gmyrek et al.) (ILO Working Paper 140, May 2025, Annex Table A1), CC BY 4.0, retrieved 4 October 2026

Sources: Occupational Classification of the People's Republic of China (2022 edition, public consultation draft), Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, State Administration for Market Regulation and National Bureau of Statistics; Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, 2025 enterprise pay survey information; Guangzhou Human Resources and Social Security Bureau, 2025 labour market wage prices; National Bureau of Statistics of China (www.stats.gov.cn), 2020 Population Census yearbook; Ministry of Education, vocational education major profiles (2022 revision) and undergraduate major catalogue (2025); Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, national vocational qualifications catalogue (2021); O*NET interest scores (CC BY 4.0); ILO global generative AI exposure index (CC BY 4.0). Figures processed by Peernovo. English text, translations and the matching of occupations to ISCO-08, majors, degree fields and qualifications by Peernovo.

Descriptions and tasks are Peernovo's own words, written from the facts in the Occupational Classification of the People's Republic of China (2022 edition). Job titles and work types are the classification's own.

Updated 5 October 2026