Terdapat sekitar 21 jenis mineral di mineral ikutan timah misal magnetit, rutile, anatase. Keberadaan mineral pada di bijih timah cukup vital dan strategis
Produksi global logam tanah jarang dikuasai oleh Cina sebesar 90% dan 60% konsumsi terhadap dunia. Indonesia memiliki 8.000 ton potensi di darat dan dilaut bisa sampai 577.000 ton namun belum punya teknologi pengolahannya. Kesulitan pengolahan logam tanah jarang adalah pemisahan mineralnya yang sangat kecil. Karena itu diharapkan ada kerja sama dengan lembaga penelitian untuk pengolahan mineral ikutan timah. Teknologi saat ini belum bisa menangkap mineral ikutan timah yang halus. Dalam hal industri logam, Pemerintah melalui Kementerian Perindustrian menyatakan dukungannya untuk peningkatan nilai tambah sesuai visi 2010 2014. Indonesia menerapkan klasifikasi baku industri berdasarkan International Standard Industrial Classificationm dimana intinya industri berhak mendapatkan insentif untuk peningkatan nilai tambah ini.
http://pdis.bppt.go.id/ptm/index.php/kegiatandankerjasama/berita/225fgdpotensiminerallithiummineral ikutantimahsertadukungankementerianperindustrianterhadapindustrilogamdiindonesia diakses pada 10 November 2016 pukul 19.34
Menurutnya, selama ini di Indonesia masih harus mengimpor Rutile (campuran kimia) untuk bahan cat dan pewarna kain. Sebab, Indonesia baru mampu menghasilkan campuran kimia Anatase. "Dengan teknik penggilingan, saya akan mengubah Anatase menjadi Rutile," papar koordinator lab penelitian di Lembaga Penelitian dan Pengabdian Masyarakat (LPPM) ITS ini.(tom
http://www.fisikanet.lipi.go.id/utama.cgi?artikel&1076853551&77 diakses pada 10 Novomber 2016 pukul 19.38
Saat ini penduduk local Kalimantan Tengah menambang endapan intan alluvial mempergunakan peralatan dan metode yang masih sederhana. Intan yang terdapat dalam endapan alluvial biasanya terdapat bersama sejumlah mineral seperti korundum, rutile, brookite, quartz, emas, platinum dan pirit.
the United States. Penggunaan titanium adalah sebagai bahan pesawat terbang dan keperluan luar angkasa, alloy titanium, medis, batu permata buatan, perhiasan, dan kendaraan militer. TiO2 digunakan untuk pigmen warna putih dalam plastik, cat, tinta, keramik, kosmetik, kulit, dan sebagainya.
https://nooradinugroho.wordpress.com/2008/10/15/golongan-bahan-galian/ diakses pada 10 November 2016 pukul 19.52
Rutile is a mineral composed primarily of titanium dioxide, though natural rutile may contain about ten percent iron and small amounts of niobium and tantalum.
Generally of deep red color, rutile is also found in hues of reddish brown, pale yellow, pale blue, violet, and grass-green.
Rutile is usually found in high-temperature and high-pressure metamorphic rocks and in igneous rocks. Sometimes, it is also found in altered igneous rocks, and in certain gneisses and schists. . It is also associated with quartz, hematite and feldspar. It is also common in beach sand deposits, along with the other titanium mineral, ilmenite.
The most use of rutile is in the manufacture of refractory ceramic, as a pigment in paints, paper, foods, and for the production of titanium metal. Rutile is widely used as a welding electrode covering.
The second-largest rulite producer in the world is South Africa with an annual production of 1.3 million metric tonnes.
Sierra Leone ranks third in the annual production of rutile. Other important countries producing rutile are: Ukraine, India, Sri Lanka, Madagascar, Brazil, and Mozambique.
Rutile is also widely both to preserve fruits and vegetables and to remove pollution.
Major Producers of Rutile in world-2010
Country Production in Thousand Metric Tonnes
Australia 280
South Africa 130
Sierra Leone 67
Ukraine 57
India 20
Sri Lanka 12
Madagascar 6
Brazil 3
Mozambique 2
* SOURCE: USGS:Mineral Commodity Summary 2011 Last updated On : December 20, 2012
http://pkpp.ristek.go.id/_assets/upload/docs/77_doc_3.pdf diakses pada 10 November 2016 pukul 20.40
Hasil penelitian menunjukkan variasi (jenis) mineral berat dan kelimpahan yang berbeda antara satu lokasi penelitian dengan lokasi yang lainnya. Daerah lembah Sungai Mempawah memiliki asosiasi mineral berat berupa zirkon, magnetit, rutil, hematit, pirit, goethit, topas, kasiterit, epidot, aegirin, axinit, alanit dan staurolit. Daerah Monterado memiliki asosiasi mineral berat zirkon, rutil, ilmenit, topas, kalkopirit, goethit, epidot, aegirin, staurolit, pirit, hematit, axinit, sfen, hornblenda, kasiterit dan magnetit. Daerah Mempawah dan Monterado memiliki asosiasi mineral zirkon dalam jumlah cukup besar dimungkinkan karena memiliki batuan sumber berupa batolit Singkawang. Daerah Pantai Pasir Panjang memiliki asosiasi mineral berat rutil, topas, epidot, monasit, alanit, hornblenda dan zirkon. Mineral-mineral berat tersebut dijumpai dalam jumlah yang sangat sedikit, hal ini dimungkinkan karena dipengaruhi oleh aktivitas gelombang air laut. Daerah tenggara kota Sambas memiliki asosiasi mineral berat berupa rutil, topas, magnetit, zirkon, aegirin, monasit, kasiterit, epidot, staurolit, hematit, pirit, alanit, molibdenit dan kalkopirit. Daerah Sungai Bengkayang memiliki asosiasi mineral berat hematit, rutil, kasiterit, ilmenit, magnetit, axinit, zirkon, goethite, topas, epidot, pirit, hornblenda, staurolit dan aegirin. Daerah Bengkayang dijumpai kandungan mineral kasiterit dalam jumlah yang cukup besar, hal tersebut dimungkinkan karena adanya batuan sumber lain yang menjadi provenance dari endapan pasir kuarsa berupa batuan granitik tipe S. Sedangkan di daerah selatan kota Singkawang tidak dijumpai kandungan mineral berat. Perbedaan kandungan asosiasi mineral berat antar lokasi penelitian dipengaruhi oleh batuan sumber dan lingkungan pengendapan.
http://etd.repository.ugm.ac.id/index.php?
mod=penelitian_detail&sub=PenelitianDetail&act=view&typ=html&buku_id=676 82 skripsi SI Teknik Geologi
Occurrence in nature
Titanium is present in the Earth’s crust at a level of about 0.6% and is therefore
the fourth most abundant structural metal after aluminum, iron and magnesium. Titanium
is always bonded to other elements in nature. It is present in most igneous rocks and in
sediments derived from them (as well as in living things and natural bodies of water). Of
the 801 types of igneous rocks analyzed by the United States Geological Survey
(USGS), 784 contained titanium. Its proportion in soils is approximately 0.5 to 1.5%. It is
widely distributed and occurs primarily in the minerals anatase, brookite, ilmenite,
perovskite, rutile and titanite (sphene). The most important mineral sources are ilmenite
(FeTiO3) and rutile (TiO2).
Significant titanium-bearing ilmenite deposits exist in Western Australia, Canada,
China, India, Mozambique, New Zealand, Norway, Ukraine and South Africa, while rutile
deposits are found in South Africa, India and Sierra Leone.
Major ilmenite deposit regions: eastern coast and western coast of Australia;
Richards Bay in South Africa; eastern coast of America; Kerala in India; eastern coast
and southern coast of Brazil.
Major rutile deposit regions: eastern coast and western coast of Australia;
southwest coast of Serra Leone; Richards Bay in South Africa, Canada, China and
India’s minerals belong to titanium rock minerals, a primary mineral, featuring a lower
grade of titanium concentrates, abundant reserves and concentrated producing areas.
mainly occur in Australia and the US. South Africa is abundant in both rock minerals and
placer minerals.
Rutile and ilmenite are extracted from sands that may contain only a few percent
by weight of these minerals. After the valuable minerals are separated, the remaining
sands are returned to the deposit and the land recultivated. In the United States,
titanium-rich sands are mined in Florida and Virginia.
World titanium reserves
Titanium is obtained from various ores that occur naturally on the Earth. Ilmenite
(FeTiO3) and rutile (TiO2) are the most important sources of titanium.
According to USGS, Ilmenite accounts for about 92% of the world’s consumption
of titanium minerals. World resources of anatase, ilmenite and rutile total more than 2
billion tonnes. Identified reserves total 750 million tonnes (ilmenite plus rutile).
From the table below, China, with 20 million tonnes--accounting for 29% of the
world total-- is now the country that is most abundant in terms of ilmenite reserves.
Meanwhile, Australia, with 24 million tones rutile reserves—accounting for 50% of the
The total world reserves of ilmenite are around 700 million tonnes while rutile
reserves are far less, numbering about 48 million tonnes.
Titanium resources in China
According to USGS, China has the world’s largest titanium reserves, with a total
of 200 million tonnes identified to date, which make up 28.9% of the world total. Ilmenite
is the principal source of titanium in China with rutile making up very little of the total.
Around 108 mine fields across 21 provinces, autonomous regions and
municipalities have found titanium resources, with Panxi in Sichuan, Chengdu in Hebe,
along with others in Yunnan, Hainan, Guangxi and Guangdong the most prominent.
Sichuan province is the foremost of these mining areas.
Primary titanium ore and titanium placer deposits are of great importance to
China. Panxi and Chengde have most of the nation’s total primary reserves.
Titanium placer deposits are also distributed in Hainan, Yunnan, Guangdong and
World titanium concentrates production
According to USGS, in 2013, the leading producers of titanium concentrates
included South Africa (1.22 million tonnes), Australia (1.39 million tonnes), the US (300
thousand tonnes), China (950 thousand tonnes), Canada (770 thousand tonnes) and
India (366 thousand tonnes).
Even though the United States mines and processes titanium and titanium
dioxide, it still imports significant amounts of both. Metallic titanium is imported from
Russia (36%), Japan (36%), Kazakhstan (25%) and other nations (3%). TiO2 pigment
for paint is imported from Canada (33%), Germany (12%), France (8%), Spain (6%) and
other nations (36%).
http://metalpedia.asianmetal.com/metal/titanium/resources&production.shtml diakses pada 11 November 2016 pukul 2.59
Market and Products
Sierra Rutile's products
Rutile – Pigment feedstock
Sierra Rutile’s primary product is rutile, a raw form of titanium dioxide (TiO2). Rutile is
one of a number (TiO2) feedstock used in the production of white pigment, itself used in
Other feedstocks for the pigment industry include ilmenite, synthetic rutile, leucoxene and titanium slag. Different feedstocks are processed by either the chloride or the sulphate process.
TiO2 pigment is preferred due to its attractive characteristics of high brightness and
Rutile is the premium (TiO2) feedstock:
The chloride pigment process is favoured for its more efficient, cleaner and lower cost process. Only a limited number of feedstocks can be used in the chloride process
The highest quality pigments grades can only be produced using the chloride process
All other chloride process feedstocks need upgrading before they can be used in the chlorination process
Sierra Rutile is a well-established and significant supplier to the global rutile market:
Rutile – Titanium metal and welding applications
In addition to pigment, an increasing volume of rutile is consumed in the titanium metal and welding industries. Both these applications require a feedstock with the highest content of TiO2 possible, of which rutile, with TiO2, grades of over 95%, is the highest.
Rutile’s product is both high-grade and very low in impurities. Demand for both titanium metal and high-end welding flux is increasing considerably due to the manufacturing demands of modern aircraft, ships and defence industries.
Rutile demand by end use:
By-products – Ilmenite and zircon
Sierra Rutile also produces by-product ilmenite and zircon from its primary rutile production. Ilmenite is used as a lower-grade feedstock in pigment manufacture while zircon is used in the global ceramics industry.
http://www.sierra-rutile.com/market-and-products.aspx diakses pada 11 November 2016 pukul 3.09
The Deposit
World Class Deposit
Sierra Rutile owns the world’s only large, high-grade, producing primary rutile mine:
Largest primary rutile mine in the world
JORC-compliant mineral resource of excess of 895 million tonnes
Measured and indicated resource of 757 million tonnes Mineral Resources as at September 2014.
Classification Tonnes
Millions Grade (%) Contained Tonnes (kt)
Rutile Illmenite Zircon Rutile Illmenite
Indicated 692.3 0.92 0.15 0.05 6,377.4 667.3
Measured & Indicated 757.9 0.93 0.15 0.05 7,044.0 762.8
Inferred3 137.7 0.98 0.02 0.06 1,353.3 0.6
Total Measured,
Indicated and Inferred 895.6 0.94 0.13 0.05 8,397.3 763.4
Expansion Potential
Significant opportunity to expand resource
558.9 sq. km of land licensed for mining
317.6 sq. km of reconnaissance permits
Less than 20% of the mining leases have been drilled
New exploration campaign is underway with a focus on identifying near-term mineable resources
http://www.sierra-rutile.com/the-deposit.aspx diakses pada 11 November 2016 pukul 3.11
Existing Operations
Sierra Rutile operates a well-established mining operation in southwest Sierra Leone, which currently consists of:
A dredge capable of extracting 1,000 tonnes of ore per hour
A floating concentrator plant capable of processing 850 tonnes of ore per hour
A dry mining fleet capable of excavating 500 tonnes of ore per hour
A dry mining concentrator plant capable of processing 500 tonnes of ore per hour
A land-based mineral separation plant, capable of producing over 200,000 tonnes per annum of rutile
A 23MW power plant
A port and shipping fleet
Final product storage facilities
Extensive road and power network
Engineering facilities
High-quality on-site accommodations
In addition to its extensive physical assets, Sierra Rutile also has a highly skilled and experienced workforce.
Greater than 95% of the workforce is Sierra Leonean
Many employees have been with the company for decades
Significant recruitment from the premier universities of Sierra Leone, due to SRL’s status as a leading national employer
Mining Process – Flow Chart
Lanti Dredge Mining Process
The Lanti Dredge is a 0.68 m3 electric bucket line dredge capable of mining 1,000 tonnes of ore per hour equating to approximately 7.2 million tonnes of ore annually.
Lanti Dredge and Concentrator Plant
The Lanti Dredge is linked to a wet concentrator plant by a 610 mm diameter pipeline. Scrubbing and screening of the ore takes place on the dredge and de-sliming is
completed in the concentrator plant. This process produces a sand fraction (-1mm + 63μm) which then goes through a 3-stage upgrading process to produce a mineral concentrate containing about 70% heavy minerals.
Lanti Dry Mining
The Lanti Dry Mining operation uses conventional earth moving equipment to mine 500 tonnes of ore per hour equating to approximately 3.6 million tonnes of ore annually.
The heavy mineral concentrator for the Lanti Dry Mining project underwent its final performance testing and was commissioned successfully in April 2013, having achieved an average feed rate of 522 tonnes per hour (“tph”) over a 168-hour period, exceeding the design specification of 500 tph. Production from this newly
commissioned plant has also contributed to increased production, culminating in record annual production of 120,349 tonnes of rutile in 2013.
Dry Plant
Before material enters the dry plant, it is processed by the FPP which, involves: surface cleaning of dirty or stained grains in attrition scrubbers, further gravity concentration on spirals, and removal of iron sulphides in a sulphide flotation circuit.
Once in the dry plant, high tension rolls separate rutile and ilmenite (conductors) from zircon and quartz (non-conductors). Induced roll magnets then separate rutile from ilmenite. The non-magnetics are cleaned on electrostatic plate separators, producing a finished rutile product containing 95 to 96% TiO2. Sierra Rutile’s ilmenite typically
contains around 60% TiO2.
The dry process concludes with the screening circuit, which separates the finer industrial grade rutile (IGR) from the standard grade rutile (SGR).
Refurbishment
During 2011 and 2012, significant refurbishment of the existing facilities has been undertaken with the objective to increase both the throughput and efficiency of existing operations. These refurbishments include:
Complete upgrade of the Wet Plant, including: - new rougher, mid and scavenger spirals
- new de-sliming cyclones
Upgrades to the Lanti Dredge bucket ladder
Addition of auto-samplers
Replacement of product barges
Expansion of critical spare parts inventory
In April 2013, a planned three-week shutdown to overhaul certain critical components of the existing Lanti Dredge was undertaken. In some cases, this was the first time that a number of these components had been overhauled since the dredge was commissioned in 1979 and it is expected that these overhauls will extend the residual operating life of the dredge. This work was completed on time and with no lost-time injuries. Since the shut-down, there has been a significant increase in the mining rate of the dredge. These enhancements and substantial improvements in process recoveries have
contributed to increased production, culminating in record annual production of 120,349 tonnes of rutile in 2013.
Expansion Projects
From its existing strong operational base, Sierra Rutile has looked at several ways to expand its operations. Through this process, the Company is now focused on expansion through the fast-tracked development of a new project, the Gangama Dry Mining project.
Gangama Dry Mining
As opposed to dredge mining, which targets ore that is submerged in water; dry mining involves the excavation of ore in a dry environment. The Gangama Dry Mining project involves the excavation of SRL’s Gangama deposit using a fleet of conventional earth moving equipment, which will deliver mineralized ore to a concentrator unit located on the Gangama mine site. The mineral concentrate will then be processed in SRL’s existing mineral separation plant along with feed from the Lanti Dredge Mine and the Lanti Dry Mining project.
Dry mining the Gangama deposit will provide access to a high-grade resource in a shorter development time and reduced capital cost than dredge mining would have done.
>To date the Gangama Dry Mine construction remains on-schedule and on-budget:
>US$ 21 million of project construction spending completed to-date
>Significant project milestones achieved in Q4 2015, including:
>Completion of contractor camp construction
>Completion of concentrator plant fabrication
>Terrace bulk earthworks
>Project procurement remains on schedule, and civil construction is progressing well, with steel erecting also commencing in Q4 2015.
Sembehun Dry Mine
>Project overview
–Scoping study completed in May 2015 for an 1,000 tph open pit, dry mining operation
–Provides longer-term production growth for Sierra Rutile
–Potential to contribute on average 74,000 tonnes of rutile annually
–Further lowers Sierra Rutile’s operating costs
–PFS underway and provides for a long-life resource
>Well-advanced project with low-risk execution
–Earth moving vehicle capital expenditure based on recent third-party quotes for Gangama Dry Mine. Concentrator capital expenditure quotes based on the turnkey contract for Gangama Dry Mine
–Infrastructure development and resource work completed for the previous Sembehun Dredge Mine Pre-Feasibility Study
–Concentrate to be processed through the existing mineral separation plant with no capacity upgrade required
–Incorporates construction and operating experience from Lanti Dry Mine and Gangama Dry Mine
http://www.sierra-rutile.com/expansion-projects.aspx diakses pada 11 November 2016 pukul 3.14
Rutile
Rutile is titanium dioxide which is naturally occurring in Australia, USA, India and South Africa. Synthetic rutile can be produced from naturally occurring ilmenite which is a complex oxide with iron. Rutile is used in the manufacture of titanium dioxide pigment.
activity. Australia supplies about 40 per cent of the world's ilmenite and about 25 per cent of its rutile.
Just seven producers around the world control 93 per cent of world production.
Rutile in 1999 was worth A$750 per tonne (zircon around $560 per tonne), ilmenite around $120 per tonne.
World production of titanium dioxide was 4.4 million tonnes (up 8 per cent on 1997)
Murray Basin
Ilmenite is found in the Murray Basin and the Wimmera (covers 600 000 sq km in Victoria, New South Wales and South Australia ranging from Broken Hill to Horsham from Renmark to Bendigo. The deposits are high grade, easily mined and processed. Potential production could be 300 000 to 400 000 tonnes per year.
The Wemen deposit between Swan Hill and Mildura under consideration by Western Metals (Aberfoyle and RZM) with a scale of production of 23 000 tonnes per year of rutile and 10 000 tonnes of zircon. It contains 19.2 million tonnes assaying at 4.4 per cent titanium mineral of which 28 per cent is high-grade rutile, 12 per cent is zircon and 44 per cent ilmenite.
The Ginko deposit has between 50 and 100 million tonnes assaying 4 per cent titanium minerals.
Kulwin contains 430 000 tonnes of rutile and 260 000 tonnes of zircon.
Company Heavy minerals (million tonnes)
Murray Basin Titanium 15
Basin Minerals 24
Bemax Resources 28
Iluka Resources 11
Southern Titanium 6
The bulk of the minerals is zircon and rutile rather than its cheaper cousin, ilmenite.
Crayfish as 1200 m of mineralisation with a thickness of 10m to 20m with 2 to 3 per cent of minerals.
Snapper has a width of 200m to 300 m with one drill hole grading 15 per cent of heavy minerals.
Five mines could be operating by 2002 close to Mildura. By 2010, the region could become the world's largest single source of titanium minerals with closure of the BHP Beenup mine in Western Australia and the Sierra Leone mine due to civil war.
Bemax
Bemax (75% ownership in partnership with Probo Mining) are developing a region 130 km north of Mildura in the Murray Basin at Ginkgo in New South Wales. The deposit contains 184 million tonnes at 3.2 per cent; with a high ratio of rutile to ilmenite it is worth around A$250 per tonne compared with $160 per tonne for ilmenite as in WA. The product will be trucked to Broken Hill for concentration. and railed to Port Pirie for export.
Southern Titanium
July 2001: Southern Titanium NL is calling for for tenders for the
construction of processing facilities at its Mindarie mineral sands project in the Murray Basin region of South Australia.
Annual production from the Mindarie project was upgraded to 38,800 tonnes of ceramic grade zircon, 6,400 tonnes of premium rutile, 7,400 tonnes of standard rutile, 7,100 tonnes of leucoxene and 86,000 tonnes of ilmenite. Expected mineral recoveries from a continuously operating circuit are projected to be zircon 65 per cent, rutile 52 per cent and ilmenite 78 per cent. Mindarie currently has total reserves of 44 million tonnes, grading 3.86 per cent heavy minerals (HM) containing 1.7 million tonnes of HM. The project's total resource is currently 262.4 million tonnes grading 2.33 per cent HM, containing 6.1 million tonnes of HM.
The Perth-based company aims to become a reliable supplier of ceramic grade zircon to the world ceramic industry and to supply premium rutile to world titanium markets. As a secondary activity, Southern Titanium will supply modest tonnages of standard rutile, leucoxene and ilmenite to world markets. Revenue from zircon production and sale and high titanium
revenue. The remaining portion of the revenue stream will relate to ilmenite production and sale.
Austpac
In August 2001, AUSTPAC Resources NL and Ticor Ltd announced an investigation into the establishment of a synthetic rutile facility to upgrade ilmenite from the Murray Basin. The study is being conducted under the 50-50 Austpac-Ticor joint venture, executed in July 2000, for the worldwide application of Austpac's ERMS and EARS technologies. The estimated cost of the facility was not disclosed. Ticor said Wemen is the first deposit to produce heavy minerals in the Murray Basin and there are several
companies undertaking feasibility studies on other defined resources. The facility would use the ERMS and EARS processes to upgrade the ilmenite to a preferred feedstock for the chloride-route TiO(2) pigment producers. Ticor said Austpac has already confirmed through pilot plant work at Newcastle that its processes are suited to the upgrading of Murray Basin amenities which, generally, are not amenable to traditional Becher synthetic rutile technology. Murray Basin ilmenite concentrates also contain elevated levels of chromite, an impurity that is an impediment to marketing of the ilmenite. An ERMS/EARS facility could have the flexibility to remove
chromite and so produce saleable ilmenite, as well as high grade synthetic rutile for export. The study will examine potential plant locations within the broader Murray Basin region, raw material supply options (including
ilmenite, coal or other energy sources, and water), infrastructure and government incentives.
Technology
Auspac (EARS process), the ilmenite is roasted to convert the titanium component into the insoluble rutile form and the iron component is conditioned for leaching. The product is then rapidly leached at
atmospheric pressure in hydrochloric acid to remove the iron, leaving rutile crystals in the former ilmenite grain. This "synthetic" rutile (typically 96% to 98% TiO2)is then washed, filtered and heated (calcined) for sale. The iron chloride leach liquors are processed to regenerate the acid, with iron oxide pellets that can be sold (eg. steel or cement industries).
The process
produces a very high grade product in a continuous in the world,
produces a saleable iron co-product (rather than the waste iron oxide muds produced by other synthetic rutile processes),
regenerates all of the acid used in leaching, to produce strong acid (typically 25% w/w HCl while other processes produce 18% w/w HCl).
Synthetic rutile producers
Manufacturers of synthetic rutile are :
Iluka Resources (formerly Westralian Sands Limited) at Capel near Bunbury with capacity of 300 000 tpa from May 1997. The company
confirmed in August 1999, that it would bring forward to early October, the closure of the former RGC's mine and synthetic rutile plant at Capel, WA (relying on the nearby former Westralian Sands mine); the company is also expected to announce soon that it will begin dry-mining its Pharoah's Flat deposit near Eneabba, WA.
Pig iron
In October 1997, Iluka Resources (formerly Westralian Sands) announced a A$18.5m investment in a pilot pig iron plant which at stage 2
(commissioning in year 2000), would generate 100 000 tpa of pig iron worth US$150 per tonne (with sales of A$17 million and an EBIT of A$2.8 million). The process involves compressing iron oxide into briquettes for smelting into pig iron. As the iron oxide is very fine, it cannot be processed in a blast furnace. Westralian Sands has developed a patented process to
agglomerate the iron oxide with lime and carbon to a briquette that can be handled in a blast furnace. While a high cost energy-intensive operation, Westralian Sands avoids environmentally sensitive disposal of iron oxide (see rutile).
The company also operates a lime plant at Dongara in Western Australia.
Iluka Resources (formerly Renison Goldfields Corporation (RGC)) at Capel (near Bunbury) and Geraldton (Narngulu) where it produces natural rutile (in October 1998, RGC closed its rutile processing plant at Enneabba in favour of its Narngalu operation, also cutting output by 25 per cent having recorded a A$3.2million operating loss.
Total production capacity of synthetic rutile is about 200 000 tonnes. The Eneaba operations comprise a dredge mine and a dry mine, and two wet concentrators with output railed to Narngulu. Total company
employment is 400.
Merger
In July 1998, it was announced that the titanium mineral business of RGC would merge with Westralian Sands (62:38 respectively) to trade as Iluka Resources. The rationalisation process would save $100 million per year off operating costs. The new merger will produce 1.3 million tonnes of ilmenite, 375 000 tonnes of zircon, and 475 000 tonnes of synthetic rutile. The new business will supply 32 per cent of world's titanium dioxide market and 37 per cent of the zircon production and only slightly smaller than Richards's Bay. The largest shareholder will be Hanson Trust of Britain with 24 per cent (which was the largest shareholder in RGC). In Jan 1999, the merger reported production of 249,390 tonnes of synthetic rutile and 499,077 tonnes of ilmenite (including that used in production of synthetic rutile).
TheTiwest Joint Venture (formerly Cooljarloo Joint Venture) was
established in 1990 as a joint venture of Minproc and Kerr McGee. Tiwest operates with a primary processing plant at Chandala producing crude titanium dioxide (synthetic rutile) from ilmenite from their mine at Cooljarloo (near Eneabba) 180 km north of Perth.
The operation uses the thermal Becher process to convert 330 000 tonnes ilmenite to 190 000 tonnes of synthetic rutile (94 per cent titanium dioxide). The iron oxide waste by-product is returned to the mine site. About one-half, 65 000 tonnes, of the synthetic rutile is used to produce pigment with technology based on the Kerr McGee 100 000 tonne USA plant.
Tiwest plant at Chandala.
The Kwinana plant processes about half of the rutile produced at Chandala to the pigment producing about 60 000 tonnes per year of titanium dioxide pigment. The balance of the synthetic rutile, and all the natural rutile is sold largely to their part owners (Kerr McGee) in the USA.
WA by at least 35% and increase capacity of its synthetic rutile plant at Chandala to match.
Ticor Ltd expects to raise about $140 mill from the sale of its non-core coal and sodium cyanide businesses, so that it can become a pure mineral sands producer and consolidate its position (currently number 3) in the Indian/Pacific region (September 1999).
Ticor is effectively the titanium arm of South Africanmetals giant Iscor. which owns 40 per cent of the Australian company Ticor. By 2005 Ticor plans to be the third largest titanium minerals producer after Rio Tinto and Iluka. In 2001, Ticor purchased a 40 per cent interest in IHM heavy
minerals project in KwaZulu Natal from Iscor planning 60 000 tonnes of heavy minerals with 150 000 tonnes of ilmenite and 550 000 tonnes of ilmenite at commissioning in 2001.By 2003 it plans to produce titanium dioxide slag.
Ilmenite
In 1995, Western Australia produced 1 million tonnes of ilmenite of which around one-half was converted (Becher process) to 0.45 million tonnes of synthetic rutile. About 125 000 tonnes of natural rutile was also produced. Only one-eighth of the titanium mineral produced is used in the state for the manufacture of titanium dioxide pigment, the majority is exported as raw materials for overseas pigment plants.
At present, the lower grades of ilmenite (52 to 57 per cent titanium dioxide) are exported without conversion to the rutile by West Australian titanium mineral producers to the sulfate-based and electric arc slagging plants.
Tiwest Joint Venture (130 000 tpa).
Note Cable Sands, operating at Jangardup near Bunbury sells its ilmenite to West Australian synthetic rutile producers.
Technology
The Becher process reduces the iron oxide contained in the ilmenite to metallic iron and then re-oxidises it to iron oxide and in the process,
separates out the titanium dioxide as synthetic rutile of about 91 to 93 per cent purity. The process involves a high temperature kiln to heat the
at least 40 per cent of the ilmenite) is returned to the mine site as waste and land-filled.
In October 1997, the then Westralian Sands announced a A$18.5m
investment in a pig iron plant which at stage 2 commissioned in year 2000, would generate 100 000 tpa of pig iron worth US$150 per tonne. (Sales of A$17 million with EBIT of A$2.8 million). The process involves compressing the iron oxide into briquettes for smelting into pig iron.
The resultant synthetic rutile is acid washed to remove other metal oxides and then dried for sale for conversion to the pigment..
Coal
Coal is used as a reductant in the production of ilmenite. Western Australia produces around 6 million tonnes per year of which 75 per cent is used by three power stations with the remainder was consumed by alumina, nickel, mineral sands and cement industries. The coal is supplied by Collie which is non-coking and has low ash and sulfur. Sub-bituminous, with a specific energy of only 20GJ/tonne, it ranks between the brown coal of Victoria and the black coals of Queensland and New South Wales. With a high moisture content and propensity for autoignition, it is has limited export potential. However its medium volatility is valuable when used in the production of synthetic rutile.
Electricity
About 320 kWatt hours of electricity is required to produce one tonne of synthetic rutile. At a nominal industry cost of A$0.06 per kWatt hour, it represents about 4 per cent of the value of the synthetic rutile produced.
Electricity in Australia has been identified as among the cheapest in the world.
Nevertheless, its cost in Western Australia is claimed to preclude a smelter to produce iron billet instead of the current practice of returning the iron oxide by-product of the Becher process as waste back to the minesite. The world's lower cost electricity producing areas are the hydroelectric power generating areas of Norway and the cheap coal-fired power plants of South Africa.
Iluka Resources said (August 1999) it would end dredge mining operations at Eneabba, WA by the end of 1999 when the Eneabba West orebody was mined-out, but would continue production from a single dry mine for one year, and open a second dry mine late year 2000 on the Brandy Flat/Depot Hill deposit; rutile and zircon production would be less compared to the mid 1990s, about 75 kt and 150-180 kt/year respectively. The company
Eneabba), and further rationalisation of its synthetic rutile production by focusing on the more productive plants North Capel and Narngulu.
Iluka Resources is embarking on a 3-pronged strategy – the company will spend $30 mill at Eneabba, WA to convert all operations to dry mining; spend $100 mill in the US to double production at its Virginia and Florida operations to; and spend $80 mill on developing a green fields mine in the newly-emerging Murray Basin province, to be operational by about 2005. At 220 000 tpa it would represent 27 per cent of world production of ilmenite at 800 000 tpa.(to be confirmed!!!!!)
Overseas
Some plants overseas convert the ilmenite directly with chlorine and dispose the resulting ferric chloride in deepfill sites.
In cheap electricity regions (such as Canada, South Africa or Norway) electric furnaces are used to produce a titanium dioxide rich slag and the iron, instead of being returned to the mine as as waste as in the Becher process, is sold as pig iron. The electric furnace route is very competitive and is seen as depressing synthetic rutile prices.
Technology by Auspac
Ticor holds all three technologies for producing TiO2 planning to use the Auspac technology in India (slag technology in South Africa; Becher in Western Australia).
WMC with South African partner Southern Mining Corporation is evaluating Mozambique.
Outlook
Synthetic rutile prices have been declining as the swing from sulfate to chloride plants has been slower than predicted and through competition from South Africa's low cost chloride-grade rutile slag producers. This pressure is being reflected in declining prices for ilmenite and synthetic rutile.
At present overseas pigment plants add about $1.6 billion, or about three times the value currently added in Western Australia to the state's titanium minerals. It is worth noting also that while Australia produces around 26 per cent of world production of titanium minerals, it produces just 4 per cent of world production of titanium dioxide pigment!
Western Australia
Beenup
The Beenup mineral sands deposit (17 km north east of Augusta in the south west of Western Australia contains some 80 million tonnes of ilmenite. The ilmenite contains only about 50 per cent titanium dioxide, compared with up to about 62 per cent as mined elsewhere in the State.
The deposit was being developed by BHP Minerals as a joint venture with Tinfos Titan Iron of Norway. Some 600 000 tpa of ilmenite (and 20 000 tpa of zircon) will be exported (about one-half to the joint venture for smelting to chloride-grade rutile and the balance sold to sulfate plants).
The producers claimed the lower grades of ilmenite could not be
economically converted to synthetic rutile in the current world status of cheap slagged ilmenite (with zero nucleide content).
The nucleide issue is that the mineral sands contain monazite which
typically contains 6 per cent of the radioactive element thorium (and some uranium. In 1990, some 13 000 tonnes of monazite were produced but fell to zero due to competition from nucleide free sources such as China. There is interest in processing monazite by Rhone-Poulenc at Pinjarra.
Technical problems (inadequate settling that requires a tailings dam and highly abrasive orebody promoting premature equipment failure) held production to around 40 per cent of capacity. In March 1999, BHP announced it was closing the operations and would commence a soil remediation program. Analysts have speculated that it may eventually reopen. BHP is also selling its joint venture in Mozambique and its assets near Newcastle, NSW.
Titanium
Fact
Sheet
Mining and Processing
Uses
Suggestions for Further Reading
Introduction
Igneous and metamorphic rocks, and the sediments that are derived from them,
characteristically contain titanium minerals. Titanium occurs in rocks in the form of oxide and silicate minerals. Of greatest economic value are titanium-bearing oxide minerals such as ilmenite, rutile, anatase, brookite, perovskite and magnetite.
Rutile (titanium dioxide) and ilmenite (35% - 65% titanium dioxide) are the two primary sources of titanium products, with ilmenite the most abundant (Force, E.R, 1991). Ilmenite ore is sourced through the mining of magmatic and heavy mineral sand (also referred to as placer) deposits. Mining of mineral sands are Australia’s main source of titanium.
The principal components of heavy mineral sands are rutile (TiO2), ilmenite (FeTiO3), zircon (ZrSiO4) and monazite ([Ce,La,Th]PO4). Minor amounts of xenotime (YPO4), an yttrium-bearing phosphate hosting 54% to 65% rare earth oxides may also be present.
Rutile, ilmenite, leucoxene (an alteration product of ilmenite) are used predominantly in the production of TiO2 pigment. The titanium-bearing minerals rutile and leucoxene are
sometimes blended to produce HiTi (high-grade titanium with a TiO2 content of 70% to 95%) which is used as a feedstock to produce TiO2, make titanium metals for the aerospace industry and in the manufacture of welding rods. Less than 4% of total titanium mineral production, typically rutile, is used in making titanium sponge metal.
Occurrence
Mineral sands deposits occur along the coast of eastern Australia from central New South Wales to Cape York in Queensland. Large relic or old beach deposits are found as far inland as Ouyen in Victoria (Wemen, Bondi, Kulwin deposits) and south-western New South Wales (Gingko, Snapper deposits). In Western Australia, deposits are distributed from the southern tip of the state to Geraldton and are located at the present coastline or as relic deposits up to 35 km inland.
Heavy minerals originally occur as trace components of (generally less than 0.1%) igneous rocks such as granite, pegmatite and basalt. Highly metamorphosed rocks transformed by heat and pressure provide the best source of titanium heavy minerals. If these rocks are weathered and eroded, resistant components such as quartz and heavy minerals separate from the less resistant minerals.
back, some of the lighter sand is carried back into the sea, leaving the heavy minerals behind on the beach. This constant wave action leads to a concentration of the heavier minerals. These minerals are covered by the lighter sand material blown over the dunes at the back of the beach to form heavy mineral sand deposits at the front of the dunes.
Australian Resources and Deposits
Australia is rich in mineral sand resources but, because they are mainly located at or near the coast, their mining competes with other land uses such as agriculture, national parks, urban or tourist development and recreation. Allocation of land to other uses has rendered some mineral sands resources inaccessible to exploration or mining. Geoscience Australia estimates that around 16% of ilmenite, 14% of rutile and 14% of zircon EDR is unavailable for mining. Deposits in this category include Moreton Island, Bribie Island and Fraser Island, the Cooloola sand mass, the Byfield sand mass and the Shoalwater Bay area in Queensland as well as the Yuraygir, Bundjalung, Hat Head and Myall Lakes National Parks in New South Wales.
Throughout the late 1990s, a large number of coarse-grained strandlines have been identified in the Murray Basin, which occurs within New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia. Over 100 million tonnes of heavy mineral sand concentrates have been outlined. Large resources of fine-grained mineral sands deposits (referred to as WIM-type deposits) occur in the Horsham region of Victoria.
Australia in the World
Analysis by the United States Geological Survey indicates that, in 2015, Australia was a world leader in production of mineral sands and had the world's largest economic demonstrated resources of ilmenite (19%), rutile (41%) and zircon (65%). Australia produces up to 30% of the world's rutile, 35% of the world's zircon, and about 13% of the world's ilmenite. The other major producers are China, South Africa and Vietnam. Australia’s rutile, synthetic rutile, ilmenite and zircon are exported to numerous countries including, but not limited to, China, North and South America, Spain and Japan.
Mining and Processing
Mineral sands were first mined in Australia in the 1930s at Byron Bay, on the north coast of New South Wales. By the late 1940s, rutile and zircon mining started in Queensland and further south in New South Wales. Mining of ilmenite began in the mid-1950s near Bunbury in southwest Western Australia.
A barge-mounted primary concentrator that separates the heavy minerals from the sand tailings or waste is attached to the back of the dredge and, as the dredge mines slowly forward, the tailings are pumped from the concentrator to the back of the pond, progressively filling the mined area.
Some higher-grade deposits containing moderately indurated material or layers are mined using a variety of equipment such as self-loading scrapers, bucket-wheel excavators, bulldozers and front-end loaders.
Careful environmental rehabilitation of mined areas is carried out progressively as the dredge moves forward. Backfill tailings are shaped to approximate the original landform, then the original topsoil and any overburden is replaced and the area is revegetated, either with local flora or pasture grasses. Environmental monitoring continues as the vegetation matures and the area is eventually rehabilitated, as near as possible, to its previous land use, usually natural bushland or farmland. Public consultation takes place during the approval process prior to consent being given for mine establishment.
Processing
The mined heavy mineral concentrates are sent to 'dry' mills and the individual minerals are separated using their different magnetic and electrical properties at various elevated
temperatures. Separation equipment includes high-tension (electrical), high-intensity magnetic and electrostatic plate separators.
Ilmenite is upgraded to synthetic rutile (>90% TiO2) by removing contained iron at plants located at Capel, Geraldton and Muchea, all in Western Australia. The technology used is called the Becher process and was developed by a joint industry and Australian government initiative in the early 1960s.
In the Becher process, ilmenite concentrate containing 55%-65% TiO2 (the rest is mainly iron oxide) is fed to a rotary kiln to reduce the iron oxide to metallic iron. Ilmenite grains are converted to porous synthetic rutile grains with metallic iron and other impurity inclusions. The iron is precipitated as hydrated iron oxide from the synthetic rutile grains and a mild acid treatment is used to dissolve the impurities and any residual iron. The grains of synthetic rutile are washed, dried and transported to titanium dioxide pigment manufacturing plants either in Australia or overseas for further processing.
An important change to the Becher process at the Geraldton plant has been the development of the Synthetic Rutile Enhancement Process, or SREP, which uses various leaching methods to reduce the level of radioactivity in the synthetic rutile product to internationally acceptable levels.
The Enterprise and the Yarraman mines at North Stradbroke Island in Queensland process their mineral sands ore to produce ilmenite, rutile and zircon concentrates. Concentrates are transported by barge to a dry mill plant at Pinkenba near the mouth of the Brisbane River for export through the port of Brisbane (Queensland Government Department of Natural
Resources and Mines, 2014).
calcining a mixture of synthetic rutile, coke and chlorine to form gaseous titanium
tetrachloride (TiCl4). Ilmenite cannot be used as a raw material in the chlorination process because its titanium content is too low. The titanium tetrachloride is condensed to a liquid and most of the impurities separate as solids before it is reheated to a gas and mixed with hot oxygen to form very fine crystalline rutile (raw white pigment). The displaced chlorine gas is recycled to the start of the process. The properties of the raw pigment produced from both pigment processes are enhanced for different uses by coating the crystals with white hydrous oxides of silica, alumina, titania or zirconia (ZrO2).
Uses
Almost all rutile and ilmenite is processed into non-toxic white titanium dioxide pigment for use in the manufacture of paints, plastics, paper, ink, rubber, textiles, cosmetics, leather and ceramics. Titanium dioxide pigment has excellent brightness and high opacity for good hiding power (e.g. in paint for covering undercoats) and has replaced lead carbonate pigments. Rutile is also used to produce light, strong, corrosion-resistant titanium metal for use in aircraft, spacecraft, motor vehicles and desalination plants. Titanium metal is biocompatible with the human body and is thus used for surgical implants such as knee and hip
replacements. Rutile is used also in fibreglass, chemicals and as a coating on welding rods. Ilmenite is used as a fluxing agent in blast furnace feeds and as a sand-blasting abrasive.
Zircon, which accompanies ilmenite and rutile in mineral sands, is used in foundry sand moulds and zircon sand or powder is used for glazes on pottery and other ceramic surfaces as well as in the production of various refractory metals. Heat-resistant zirconia is used in a fused form to line ladles holding molten steel, in molten metal moulds and as small beads for abrasives. Zircon is the major source of zirconium, a corrosion-resistant metal that is used in nuclear reactors and chemical processing equipment. Research and development continues into the use of zirconium ceramics to improve diesel engines and in the metal extrusion industry where heat resistance and strength are required.
Monazite is a major source of certain rare earth elements and thorium. Rare earth elements are used in high-strength permanent magnets, catalysts, ceramics and colour television tubes. Thorium is used in incandescent gas mantles and as fuel for a few nuclear reactors.
http://www.australianminesatlas.gov.au/education/fact_sheets/titanium.html diakses 11 11 2016 pkl 3.55
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