J-^ 
 
IC 
 
 9061 
 
 Bureau of Mines Information Circular/1986 
 
 Titanium l\/linerals Availability 
 Market Economy Countries 
 
 A Minerals Availability Appraisal 
 
 By R. J. Fantel, D. A. Buckingham, and D. E. Sullivan 
 
 ;*/ UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 
 
{4^ZdJi^' IWvw^'fi^ 
 
 ^ 
 
 Information Circular 9061 
 
 Titanium IVIinerals Availability- 
 Market Economy Countries 
 
 A Minerals Availability Appraisal 
 
 By R. J. Fantel, D. A. Buckingham, and D. E. Sullivan 
 
 UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 
 Donald Paul Model, Secretary 
 
 BUREAU OF MINES 
 Robert C. Morton, Director 
 
As the Nation's principal conservation agency, the Department of the Interior has 
 responsibility for most of our nationally owned public lands and natural resources. This 
 includes fostering the wisest use of our land and water resources, protecting our fish 
 and wildlife, preserving the environment and cultural values of our national parks and 
 historical places, and providing for the enjoyment of life through outdoor recreation. 
 The Department assesses our energy and mineral resources and works to assure that 
 their development is in the best interests of all our people. The Department also has 
 a major responsibility for American Indian reservation communities and for people who 
 live in island territories under U.S. administration. 
 
 .(\^^■^^ 
 
 a:^^ ,ofc\ 
 
 Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data 
 
 Fantel, R. J. (Richard J.) 
 
 Titanium minerals availability— market economy countries. 
 
 (Bureau of Mines information circular; 9061) 
 
 Bibliography: p. 28 
 
 Supt. of Docs, no.: I 28.27; 
 
 1. Titanium industry. 2. Titanium mines and mining. I. Buckingham, D. A. 
 (David A.) II. Sullivan, Daniel E. III. United States. Bureau of 
 Mines. IV. Title. V. Series: Information circular (United States. Bureau of Mines); 
 9061. 
 
 TN295.U4 [HD9539.T72] 622 s [338.274623] 85-600114 
 
 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing OfTice 
 Washington, DC 20402 
 
PREFACE 
 
 The Bureau of Mines Minerals Availability Program is assessing the worldwide 
 availability of nonfuel minerals. The Bureau collects, compiles, and evaluates information 
 on active and developing mines, explored deposits, and mineral processing plants 
 worldwide. The program's objectives are to classify domestic and foreign resources, to 
 identify by cost evaluation resources that are reserves, and to prepare analyses of mineral 
 availabilities. 
 
 This report is part of a continuing series of reports analyzing the availability of 
 minerals from domestic and foreign sources and those factors affecting availability. 
 Analyses of other minerals are in progress. Questions about the Minerals Availability 
 Program should be addressed to Chief, Division of Minerals Availability, Bureau of 
 Mines, 2401 E Street, NW., Washington, DC 20241. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 Page 
 
 Preface i" 
 
 Abstract 1 
 
 Introduction 2 
 
 Acknowledgments 2 
 
 Evaluation methodology 2 
 
 Data analysis 2 
 
 Deposit selection criteria 3 
 
 The world titanium industry 4 
 
 Production 5 
 
 Exports, imports, and consumption 8 
 
 Pigment plant production 8 
 
 Stockpiles and recycling 11 
 
 Byproducts 11 
 
 Mining and beneficiation methods 12 
 
 Mining 12 
 
 Beneficiation 12 
 
 Upgraded ilmenite-synthetic rutile 13 
 
 Geology and resources 14 
 
 Titanium deposit costs 16 
 
 Costing methodology 16 
 
 Operating costs 16 
 
 Capital costs 17 
 
 Typical beach sand mining costs — Australian 
 
 deposits 17 
 
 Page 
 
 Titanium concentrate availability 19 
 
 Economic evaluation methodology 19 
 
 Total availabiUty 20 
 
 Rutile 20 
 
 Ilmenite 22 
 
 Leucoxene 23 
 
 Synthetic rutile 23 
 
 Titanium slag 24 
 
 Anatase 24 
 
 Miscellaneous titanium operations 24 
 
 Annual availability 24 
 
 Rutile 24 
 
 Ilmenite 25 
 
 Leucoxene 25 
 
 Synthetic rutile 25 
 
 Titanium slag 25 
 
 Anatase 26 
 
 Mixed concentrate 26 
 
 Availability of byproduct zircon 26 
 
 Conclusions 27 
 
 References 28 
 
 Appendix A. — World titanium deposit geology and 
 
 resources 31 
 
 Appendix B. — Titanium dioxide pigment 47 
 
 Appendix C. — Titanium sponge and metal production 48 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 1. Flowchart of MAP evaluation procedure 3 
 
 2. Mineral resource classification categories 4 
 
 3. Flow of titanium mineral products 4 
 
 4. Total production of titanium concentrates by mineral types, 1981 5 
 
 5. Exports of titanium minerals from AustraUa in early 1980's 8 
 
 6. Exports of ore and ilmenite concentrate from Norway in early 1980's 8 
 
 7. U.S. imports of titanium concentrates, 1981 8 
 
 8. Generalized flowsheet of a mineral sand wet mill 12 
 
 9. Generahzed flowsheet of a mineral sand dry mill 13 
 
 10. World titanium resources, by region and type 15 
 
 11. Capital costs for a dredge, Austraha 17 
 
 12. Capital costs for wet and dry mill concentrators, Australia 17 
 
 13. Annual operating costs for dry mining operations, Australia 18 
 
 14. Annual operating costs for dredge and wet and dry mill concentrators, Australia 18 
 
 15. General costs associated with beach sand mining operations, Austraha 19 
 
 16. Total recoverable rutile concentrate 21 
 
 17. Total recoverable ilmenite concentrate 22 
 
 18. Annual availability curves for producing rutile mines, at various total costs of production 24 
 
 19. Annual availability curves for nonproducing rutile mines, at various total costs of production 25 
 
 A-1. Location of titanium mines and titanium-bearing deposits of North America 31 
 
 A-2. Location of titanium mines and titanium-bearing deposits of Brazil 36 
 
 A-3. Location of Finland's Otanmaki Mine 37 
 
 A-4. Location of Norway's Tellnes Mine 38 
 
 A-5. Location of Italy's Piampaludo rutile deposit 38 
 
 A-6. Location of India and Sri Lanka heavy-mineral sand deposits 40 
 
 A-7. Location of Sierra Leone mineral sand deposit 42 
 
 A-8. Location of Republic of South Africa's Richards Bay mineral sand deposit 42 
 
 A-9. Location of Australia's east coast mineral sand deposits 43 
 
 A- 10. Location of Australia's west coast mineral sand deposits 45 
 
CONTENTS— Continued 
 
 TABLES 
 
 Page 
 
 1. World production of titanium concentrates 5 
 
 2. Ownership and status of titanium mines and deposits in market economy countries 6 
 
 3. U.S. total consumption of titanium concentrates and related imports for consumption in 1981 8 
 
 4. U.S. imports for consumption of titanium concentrates, by country, 1981 9 
 
 5. Titanium pigment plant input source and type and output capacity 9 
 
 6. Summary of identified titanium resources in market economy countries, January 1984 14 
 
 7. Estimated average operating costs for selected titanium mines and deposits 16 
 
 8. Estimated capital costs to develop nonproducing surface titanium deposits in Australia 17 
 
 9. Market prices of titanium concentrates and related minerals for January 1984 19 
 
 10. Total estimated recoverable rutile concentrates, as of January 1984 20 
 
 11. Total estimated recoverable ilmenite concentrates, as of January 1984 22 
 
 12. Total estimated recoverable leucoxene concentrates, as of January 1984 23 
 
 13. Total estimated recoverable synthetic rutile concentrates, as of January 1984 23 
 
 14. Total estimated recoverable titanium slag, as of January 1984 24 
 
 15. Total potentially recoverable zircon concentrates, as of January 1984 26 
 
 16. Average revenue distribution for selected mines producing zircon 26 
 
 3-1. Typical capital and operating costs of titanium dioxide pigment plants by region 47 
 
 UNIT OF MEASURE ABBREVIATIONS USED IN THIS REPORT 
 
 °c 
 
 degree Celsius 
 
 mt/h 
 
 metric ton per hour 
 
 d/yr 
 
 day per year 
 
 mt/yr 
 
 metric ton per year 
 
 g/mt 
 
 gram per metric ton 
 
 pet 
 
 percent 
 
 ha 
 
 hectare 
 
 US<z/kW»h 
 
 U.S. cent per kilowatt hour 
 
 h/yr 
 
 hour per year 
 
 US0/L 
 
 U.S. cent per liter 
 
 kg/m^ 
 
 kilogram per cubic meter 
 
 US^/mt 
 
 U.S. cent per metric ton 
 
 km 
 
 kilometer 
 
 US$/lb 
 
 U.S. dollar per pound 
 
 km^ 
 
 square kilometer 
 
 US$/mt 
 
 U.S. dollar per metric ton 
 
 m 
 
 meter 
 
 US$/yr 
 
 U.S. dollar per year 
 
 nun 
 
 minute 
 
 wtpct 
 
 weight percent 
 
 mm 
 
 millimeter 
 
 yr 
 
 year 
 
 mt 
 
 metric ton 
 
 
 
TITANIUM MINERALS AVAILABILITY— MARKET ECONOMY COUNTRIES 
 A Minerals Availability Appraisal 
 
 By R. J. Fantel,^ D. A. Buckingham,^ and D. E. Sullivan' 
 
 ABSTRACT 
 
 The Bureau of Mines investigated the resource availability of titanium minerals from 
 63 mines and deposits in 12 market economy countries. These mines and deposits contain, 
 at the demonstrated resource level, an estimated 438 million metric tons (mt) of titanium 
 dioxide (TiOa) in the minerals rutile, ilmenite, leucoxene, and anatase. An additional 314 
 million mt of Ti02 is available from inferred resources. 
 
 If all titanium minerals and other recovered heavy minerals are sold at total costs at 
 least equal to the January 1984 market prices, approximately 200 million mt of contained 
 Ti02 could be recovered in total. In terms of mineral concentrates, this equals 
 approximately 11 million mt of rutile concentrate, 187 miUion mt of ilmenite concentrate, 3 
 million mt of leucoxene concentrate, 13 million mt of synthetic rutile concentrate (in 
 addition to the ilmenite), and 89 million mt of titanium slag. 
 
 The study indicates that world resources of low-cost rutile are declining. In order to 
 maintain future supply for high-grade titanium resources, alternate sources will need to 
 be developed, which may include higher cost rutile mines, Brazilian anatase deposits, 
 increased production from slag operations, or more synthetic rutile capacity from ilmenite 
 resources, which are abundant. 
 
 'Physical scientist. 
 
 ^ologist. 
 
 'Industry economist. 
 
 Minerals Availability Field Office, Bureau of Mines, Denver, CO. 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 For many years titanium, in the form of titanium 
 dioxide (Ti02), has primarily been used as a source for 
 pigments. Its whiteness, high refractive index, and light- 
 scattering ability make it an excellent whitening agent for 
 paints, paper, rubber, plastics, and other miscellaneous 
 items. More recently, though, titanium metal has become 
 important in the defense and aerospace industries owing to 
 its high strength-to-weight ratio and its resistance to 
 corrosion. Small quantities of Ti02, in the form of rutile, are 
 also used for welding rod coating. Ceramic capacitors for 
 electronics use small quantities of titanium. 
 
 Titanium is the ninth most abundant element in the 
 Earth's crust and occurs in many mineral species. Only a few 
 of these minerals contain enough titanium to be of 
 commercial importance. They are ilmenite (FeTiOs), rutile 
 (Ti02), and leucoxene (an upgraded alteration product of 
 ilmenite). Ilmenite, theoretically 53 pet Ti02 and 47 pet 
 FeO, can be found in numerous mineral occurrences. Its 
 titanium content may often be greater than the theoretical 
 amount, owing to oxidation, which removes iron and 
 calcium and frequently occurs in sand deposits, producing 
 titanium contents of as much as 65 to 70 pet Ti02. This form 
 is known as altered ilmenite (or leucoxene, arizonite, or 
 
 pseudoritite). Rutile is also found in numerous mineral 
 occurrences; it is theroretieally 100 pet Ti02, although it 
 seldom contains more than 95 pet. Other titanium minerals 
 occasionally found in economic concentrations are brookite, 
 perovskite, anatase, and sphene. 
 
 The purpose of this study is to evaluate the worldwide 
 resources of titanium minerals and to assess the related 
 costs of production to recover these minerals. This study is 
 of strategic importance to the United States, which, 
 although one of the largest producers of Ti02 pigments as 
 well as titanium metal, imports significant quantities of the 
 raw materials for their manufacture. The study presents 
 separate analyses of key producing countries of titanium 
 minerals and discusses the potential substitution of other 
 titanium minerals for rutile in the production of high-grade 
 Ti02. An analysis of the availability of byproduct zircon 
 resources also is presented. 
 
 Data for foreign mines and deposits in the evaluation 
 were provided by Kaiser Engineers, Inc., under contract 
 J02 15037. Data for domestic mines and deposits were 
 developed for this study by personnel of the Bureau's Field 
 Operations Centers in Pittsburgh, PA, Denver, CO, and 
 Spokane, WA. 
 
 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 
 
 The authors vdsh to thank Langtry E. Lynd, titanium 
 commodity speciaHst, Bureau of Mines, Division of Nonfer- 
 rous Metals, and Eric R. Force, resource specialist, U.S. 
 
 Geological Survey, for their assistance in preparing this 
 report. 
 
 EVALUATION METHODOLOGY 
 
 DATA ANALYSIS 
 
 The data collected for this report are stored, retrieved, 
 and analyzed in a computerized component of the Bureau's 
 Minerals Availabihty Program (MAP). The flow of the 
 Minerals Availability evaluation process from deposit 
 identification to analysis of availability information is 
 illustrated in figure 1. 
 
 The analysis methodology is as follows: 
 
 1. The quantity and grade of titanium resources were 
 evaluated in relation to physical and technological conditions 
 that affect production from each deposit as of the study date, 
 January 1984. 
 
 2. Appropriate mining and processing methods were 
 described for producing operations and proposed for 
 nonproducing deposits. Related capital and operating costs 
 were estimated, including a transportation cost to deliver 
 the titanium concentrate to a pigment plant or the 
 marketplace. For purposes of consistency, it was assumed 
 that all titanium concentrates were transported to a local 
 port or marketplace for export unless they were being used 
 for internal domestic consumption. If they were to be 
 internally consumed, the concentrates were considered to be 
 transported to nearby pigment plants. For certain potential 
 byproduct sources of ilmenite, the concentrate was assumed 
 to be stockpiled rather than sold. 
 
 3. An economic analysis of each operation determined 
 the average total production cost over its entire producing 
 life, including a predetermined discounted-cash-flow rate of 
 return (DCFROR) on invested capital, and the associated 
 total demonstrated tonnage of titanium concentrates that 
 could potentially be recovered. A 15-pct DCFROR was used 
 for this study. 
 
 4. Upon completion of the individual property analyses, 
 all properties included in the study were simultaneously 
 analyzed, and the data were aggregated and transferred 
 onto titanium availability curves. Separate curves were 
 generated for each titanium mineral (i.e., rutile and 
 ilmenite) unless too few deposits prohibited a curve. If a 
 deposit produced more than one titanium mineral, it was 
 included on more than one curve. These curves are 
 aggregations of total potential titanium concentrates that 
 could be produced over the life of each operation, ordered 
 from the lowest total cost deposits to the highest. The 
 curves illustrate the comparative costs associated with any 
 given level of potential total output and provide an estimate 
 of what the average long-run titanium concentrate price (in 
 January 1984 dollars) would have to be in order for a given 
 tonnage to be potentially available. The long-run price, 
 which each operation would require to cover its average 
 total cost of titanium concentrate production, would provide 
 revenues sufficient to cover the average total cost of 
 
Cumulative 
 production 
 
 IDENTIFIED RESOURCES 
 
 UNDISCOVERED RESOURCES 
 
 
 
 Demonstrated 
 
 Inferred 
 
 Probability range 
 
 
 
 Measured 
 
 Indicated 
 
 Hypothetical Speculative 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ECONOMIC 
 
 
 Inferred 
 
 reserve 
 
 _ base _ 
 
 1 
 
 + - 
 
 MARGINALLY 
 ECONOMIC 
 
 base — 
 
 SUBECONOMIC 
 
 1 
 
 
 Other 
 occurrences 
 
 Includes nonconventional and low-grade materials 
 
 Figure 1 .—Flowchart of MAP evaluation procedure. 
 
 production, including a return on investment high enough to 
 attract new capital. 
 
 DEPOSIT SELECTION CRITERIA 
 
 Selection of deposits was limited to known deposits that 
 have significant demonstrated reserves or resources. As 
 related to this study, reserves are (titanium) mineralizations 
 that can be mined, processed, and marketed at a profit 
 under prevailing economic and technologic conditions. 
 Resources are (titanium) concentrations in such form and 
 amount that economic extraction is currently or potentially 
 feasible but not proven {!).* 
 
 tor the deposits analyzed, tonnage estimates were 
 made at the demonstrated resource level, based on the 
 mineral resource-reserve classification system (fig. 2) 
 developed jointly by the Bureau and the U.S. Geological 
 Survey (1). The demonstrated resource category includes 
 measured plus indicated tonnages. Generally, reserve and 
 resource tonnage and grade calculations were computed 
 from specific measurements, samples, or production data, 
 and fi*om estimations made on geologic evidence. 
 
 Resources analyzed had to be recoverable using current 
 mining and milling technology. In addition, the U.S. 
 deposits had to conform to certain basic guidelines that have 
 been established by Bureau and Geological Survey titanium 
 commodity specialists in a recently published report (2). In 
 general, the guidelines are as follows: 
 
 1. Titanium minerals must be coarser grained than 0.02 
 mm, since finer grains cannot presently be separated. 
 
 2. If a deposit contains ilmenite-magnetite intergrown 
 grains, the grains must be separable unless they contain 25 
 
 ^Italicized numbers in parentheses refer to items in the list of references 
 preceding the appendixes at the end of this report. 
 
 pet or more Ti02, in which case, they can be smelted into 
 high-TiOz slag. 
 
 3. Unconsolidated deposits must contain at least 1.0 pet 
 ilmenite (approximately 0.5 pet Ti02) or 0.1 pet rutile 
 (approximately 0.09 pet Ti02) or combinations of the two. 
 Hard-rock deposits have to have at least 10 pet ilmenite or 
 perovskite (5.3 pet Ti02), or 1.0 pet rutile (0.95 pet TiOg). 
 When titanium can be produced as a byproduct from other 
 minerals for which the economies are demonstrated, the 
 above cutoffs can be disregarded. 
 
 4. Deposits must contain more than 100,000 mt of 
 contained TiOg. 
 
 These criteria are minimal ones used to admit a deposit 
 to the resource class. Requirements in the present report 
 are more stringent, and thus many deposits listed in 
 reference 2 are omitted here. 
 
 Foreign deposits included in the analysis had to meet 
 one of the following criteria: 
 
 1. Producing properties accounting for at least 85 pet of 
 the titanium production from each country that has in recent 
 years produced significant quantities of titanium concen- 
 trates. 
 
 2. Developing and explored deposits where the demon- 
 strated titanium reserve-resource quantity was at least 
 150,000 mt of contained TiOa. 
 
 3. Past-producing deposits where the remaining de- 
 monstrated titanium reserve-resource quantity was at least 
 150,000 mt of contained Ti02. 
 
 For this study, a total of 63 mines and deposits were 
 evaluated (17 domestic and 46 foreign), which meet at least 
 the lower limits of the selection requirements set forth 
 above. All deposits evaluated are from market economy 
 countries. Additional resources either from centrally plan- 
 ned economy countries or at the inferred or hypothetical 
 resource levels are discussed in the text but are not included 
 in the economic evaluations. 
 
Identification 
 and 
 
 
 
 
 
 1 Mineral 1 
 1 Industries • 
 1 Location 1 
 1 System 1 
 1 (MILS) 1 
 1 data , 
 
 MAP 
 
 computer 
 
 data 
 
 base 
 
 selection 
 of deposits 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 c 
 
 Tonnage 
 
 and 
 
 grade 
 
 ietermination 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Engineering 
 
 and 
 
 cost 
 
 evaluation 
 
 
 
 
 t 
 
 
 
 
 Deposit 
 
 report 
 
 preparation 
 
 
 
 
 MAP 
 
 permanent 
 
 deposit 
 
 files 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Taxes, 
 royalties, 
 
 cost 
 
 indexes, 
 
 prices, etc. 
 
 Data 
 selection 
 
 and 
 validation 
 
 Variable 
 
 and 
 
 parameter 
 
 adjustments 
 
 Economic 
 analysis 
 
 Data 
 
 Availability 
 curves 
 
 Analytical 
 reports 
 
 Sensitivity 
 analysis 
 
 y 
 
 Data 
 
 
 Availability 
 curves 
 
 ; 
 
 J 
 
 ■=z 
 
 Analytical 
 reports 
 
 == 
 
 
 Figure 2.— Mineral resource classification categories (1). 
 
 THE WORLD TITANIUM INDUSTRY 
 
 Titanium metal is a strategic and critical metal. Ti02 
 pigment is the predominant white pigment used in paints, 
 paper, plastics, rubber, etc. Titanium metal is widely used 
 in high-performance aircraft and other applications where 
 corrosion resistance is necessary. Only about 5 pet of 
 titanium minerals is used to make titanium metal, and 
 nearly all of the remainder is used in pigment {3). Figure 3 
 shows the flow of titanium minerals to the pigment plant and 
 metal stage. 
 
 The majority of the world's rutile, typically 91 to 95 pet 
 Ti02, is produced in Australia, Sierra Leone, and the 
 Republic of South Africa. It can be used in titanium metal 
 plants, directly to coat welding rods, or in chloride process 
 pigment plants. 
 
 Ilmenite and leucoxene are much more abundant than 
 rutile. Ilmenite may contain as much as 50 to 70 pet Ti02, 
 and leucoxene as much as 87 pet Ti02 (and even 91 pet from 
 some Australian operations). They are generally used in 
 sulfate process pigment plants although when upgraded to 
 synthetic rutile they can be used in the chloride plants. The 
 chloride plants can accept high-iron feeds (such as ilmenite), 
 but since this method consumes chlorine, it is rarely 
 practiced. 
 
 Ilmenite is also used to produce a titanium slag, which is 
 a higher grade titanium concentrate. The slag from Sorel, 
 
 
 Rutile 
 
 
 
 ^ 
 
 Welding rod 
 coating 
 
 
 \^-^ 
 
 
 
 \^^^^\^ 
 
 
 
 Richards Bay 
 slag 
 
 \>^\/ 
 
 Titanium 
 metal 
 
 
 
 ^^^^Ox 
 
 S. 
 
 
 Sorel 
 slag 
 
 \^^)k' 
 
 Chloride 
 process 
 pigment 
 
 
 
 "!>jC^ 
 
 <. 
 
 
 Ilmenite 
 
 and 
 
 leucoxene 
 
 ^"^^ / 7^ 
 
 Sulfate 
 process 
 pigment 
 
 
 
 / 
 
 / ' 
 
 
 ^ 
 
 Synthetic 
 rutile 
 
 / 
 
 
 
 
 
 Figure 3.— Flow of titanium mineral products. 
 
Quebec, Canada, has in the past graded approximately 70 
 pet TiOa, although it is presently (as of 1984) 80 pet. The 
 Sorel slag (as it is called in the industry) feeds sulfate 
 pigment plants. Richards Bay slag (Republic of South 
 Africa) grades 85 to 87 pet Ti02 and feeds both sulfate and 
 chloride pigment plants (3, p. 11). 
 
 PRODUCTION 
 
 Table 1 lists, by country, the production of titanium 
 concentrates for the years 1961, 1971, 1981, and 1983 
 (estimated). The table shows that for all the titanium 
 concentrates an increase has occurred in production over the 
 past two decades. The values for 1983 are listed to illustrate 
 that in recent years, owing to world economic conditions, 
 production of titanium concentrates has declined slightly in 
 most countries. 
 
 Austraha is the largest producer of ilmenite and 
 leucoxene. As shown on the table and in figure 4, Australia 
 produced 37 pet of the ilmenite and leucoxene mined during 
 1981. Norway produced over 18 pet, and the United States 
 and the U.S.S.R. produced almost 14 and 12 pet, 
 respectively. During the 20-yr period shown in table 1, when 
 world production of ilmenite doubled, production from 
 Australia increased eightfold. 
 
 Australia accounted for approximately 64 pet of the 
 1981 world production of rutile. Sierra Leone and the 
 Republic of South Africa each produced about 14 pet. 
 
 Titaniferous slag was produced primarily in two 
 countries during 1981; Canada produced just over two- 
 thirds and the Republic of South Africa produced the 
 remainder. In the Sichuan Province of China, very small 
 amounts of slag are also produced (on the order of 1,000 
 mt/yr). 
 
 Seven major companies and the State of Western 
 Australia mined and produced titanium mineral concen- 
 trates from 10 mines in Australia during 1981. The 
 companies are Associated Minerals Consolidated Ltd., 
 Rutile & Zircon Mines (Newcastle) Ltd. (RZ Mines), 
 Mineral Deposits Ltd., Cable Sands Pty. Ltd. (owned by 
 Kathleen Investments), Allied Eneabba Pty Ltd. [59 pet 
 owned by E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co., Inc. (Du Pont)], 
 Westralian Sands Ltd., and Consolidated Rutile Ltd. In 
 addition, four mines in Austraha were being developed by 
 three companies. Mineral Deposits Ltd., Murphyores 
 Holding Ltd. , and Associated Minerals Consolidated Ltd. 
 
 Four mines produced titanium mineral concentrates in 
 the United States during 1981. They were owned by three 
 companies — Associated Minerals (USA) Ltd. Inc., Du Pont, 
 and NL Industries, Inc. Companies that have produced 
 
 titanium concentrates in the recent past include ASARCO 
 Incorporated'^ and American Cyanamid Co. 
 
 ^he Asarco operation closed in 1981. This analysis considers the mine to 
 be shut down; substantial redevelopment would be required for the mine to 
 again produce. 
 
 Table 1.— World production of titanium concentrates (4-6) 
 
 (Thousand nnetric tons) 
 Concentrate type and country 1961 1971 1981 1983^ 
 
 Ilmenite and leucoxene: 
 Australia: 
 
 Ilmenite 169 829 1,321 875 
 
 Leucoxene 19 18 
 
 Brazil NA 10 15 15 
 
 China* NA NA 136 140 
 
 Finland 19 140 161 160 
 
 India 174 66 162 150 
 
 Japan 3 
 
 Madagascar 4 
 
 Malaysia' 109 156 172 190 
 
 Nonway 311 641 658 544 
 
 Portugal (=) 1 (') (') 
 
 Senegal 17 
 
 South Africa, Republic of . . 90 
 
 Spain 30 .24 
 
 Sri Lanka (formerly Ceylon) 3 93 80 82 
 
 United Arab Republic 34 
 
 USSR* NA NA 426 435 
 
 United States^ 709 620 492 W_ 
 
 Total 1,670 2,582 3,644 2,609 
 
 Rutile: ~~ 
 
 Australia 103 367 230 172 
 
 Brazil e) e) {') (.') 
 
 India 1 3 6 7 
 
 Senegal (') 
 
 Sierra Leone 12 51 72 
 
 South Africa, Republic of . . 3 50 56 
 
 Sri Lanka (formerly Ceylon) 3 14 8 
 
 United Arab Republic *1 
 
 U.S.S.R.^ NA NA 10 10 
 
 United States 8 W W 
 
 Total 
 
 Titaniferous slag: 
 
 Canada" 
 
 Japan" 
 
 South Africa, Republic of' 
 
 Total 422 779 1,129 993 
 
 ^Estimated. 
 
 NA Not available. 
 
 W Withheld to avoid disclosing company proprietary data. 
 
 'Exports. 
 
 ^Less than 500 mt. 
 
 ^Includes a mixed product containing ilmenite, leucoxene, and rutile. 
 
 "Contains 70 to 74 pet TiOg (Sorel slag nov\^ 80 pet). 
 
 'Contains 85 to 87 pet TiOz 
 
 NOTE:— Data may not add to totals shown because of independent 
 rounding. 
 
 117 
 
 385 
 
 362 
 
 326 
 
 420 
 2 
 
 
 774 
 5 
 
 
 759 
 
 
 
 370 
 
 612 
 
 
 
 381 
 
 ilmenite and leucoxene Rutile Titaniferous slag 
 
 3,644,000 mt 362,000 mt 1 ,1 29,000 mt 
 
 Figure 4.— Total production of titanium concentrates by mineral types, 1981. 
 
Other countries with operations included in this study 
 
 Canada, one producer, QIT-Fer et Titane Inc. (QIT), 
 which is owned by Standard Oil Co. of Ohio (SOHIO); 
 
 Brazil, one producer, owned by Titanio do Brasil 
 (TIBRAS), as well as a developing deposit owned by Cia. 
 Vale do Rio Doce (CVRD); both are govemmentally owned 
 companies; 
 
 Finland, one producer, Rautaruukki Oy, which is 
 Government owned; 
 
 Norway, one producer, Titania A/S, owned by NL 
 Industries; 
 
 India, three producers and one developing deposit, all 
 owned by the Government of India; 
 
 Sri Lanka, one producer, which is Government owned; 
 
 Sierra Leone, one producer, owned by Sierra Rutile 
 Ltd. (which is wholly owned by Nord Resources Corp. of 
 Ohio); 
 
 Republic of South Africa, one producer, which is owned 
 by a consortium with majority interest held by QIT of 
 Montreal, Canada, and Union Corp. and Industrial Develop- 
 ment Corp. (IDC), both of Johannesburg, Republic of South 
 Africa. 
 
 Synthetic rutile was produced in Australia, India, 
 Japan, the United States, and Taiwan. Each of these 
 countries has at least one synthetic rutile plant, the largest 
 being the Kerr-McGee Chemical Corp. plant in Mobile, AL. 
 The mines and deposits in this analysis, including their 
 ownership and status, are listed in table 2. 
 
 Table 2.— Ownership and status of titanium mines and deposits in market economy countries 
 
 Status' 
 
 Deposit 
 type^ 
 
 Mining method 
 
 Milling method 
 
 Ownership 
 
 NORTH AMERICA 
 United States: 
 Arkansas: Magnet Cove 
 California: lone 
 
 Colorado: Powderhom . . 
 Rorida: 
 Green Cove Springs . . 
 
 Highland Operation . . . 
 
 Trail Ridge Operation , 
 Georgia: 
 Brunswick-Altamaha . , 
 
 Cumt}erland Island . . . 
 New Jersey: Manchester 
 New York: Maclntyre 
 
 Development. 
 North Carolina: NL 
 
 Industries. 
 Oklahoma: Otter Creek 
 
 Valley. 
 Tennessee: 
 
 PP 
 {*) 
 
 EXP 
 
 PRD 
 
 PRD 
 
 PRD 
 
 EXP 
 
 EXP 
 
 PP 
 
 PRD 
 
 EXP 
 
 EXP 
 
 Silica Mine (") P 
 
 Oak Grove EXP P 
 
 Virginia: 
 
 B. F. Camden Anomaly . PP HR 
 
 Piney River EXP HR 
 
 Wyoming: Iron Mountain . . EXP HR 
 
 Canada: 
 
 AllardLake PRD HR 
 
 Pin-Rouge Lake EXP HR 
 
 SOUTH AMERICA 
 Brazil: 
 
 Bananeira EXP HR 
 
 Camaratuba PRD P 
 
 Campo Alegre de Lourdes . EXP HR 
 
 Catalao EXP HR 
 
 Tapira DEV HR 
 
 EUROPE 
 
 Rnland: Otanmaki PRD HR 
 
 Italy: Piampaludo EXP HR 
 
 Nonway: Tellnes PRD HR 
 
 See footnotes at end of table 
 
 Open pit 
 Dredging 
 
 Open pit 
 
 Dredging 
 
 ..do 
 
 ..do 
 
 ..do 
 
 ..do 
 
 ..do 
 
 Open pit 
 
 Magnetic-electrostatic Numerous private owners . . 
 
 Magnetic North American Refractories 
 
 Co. 
 Buttes Gas and Oil Co 
 
 Magnetic-electrostatic 
 
 ..do 
 
 ..do 
 
 . .do 
 
 ..do 
 
 ..do... 
 ..do.... 
 Rotation 
 
 Associated Minerals (USA) 
 
 Ltd. Inc. 
 E.I. du Pont de Nemours & 
 
 Co., Inc. 
 . .do 
 
 Union Camp Corp., Jones 
 
 family. 
 U.S. National Park Service 
 ASARCO Incorporated . . . . 
 NL Industries, Inc 
 
 ..do 
 
 Placer mining 
 
 Open pit 
 
 Dredging 
 
 Magnetic-electrostatic 
 Magnetic 
 
 .do. 
 
 Numerous private owners 
 
 Magnetic-electrostatic Tennessee Silica Sand Co. 
 ..do Ethyl Corp 
 
 Open pit 
 
 Open pit-sublevel 
 
 caving. 
 Open pit 
 
 do Private ownership 
 
 S. U. Wilkcens, Jr. 
 
 .do.,.. 
 .do.... 
 
 Rotation 
 Gravity-magnetic' .... 
 
 Magnetic-electrostatic* 
 . .do 
 
 Rocky Mountain Energy Co., 
 The Anaconda Company. 
 
 QIT-Fer et Titane, Inc. 
 
 (SOHIO). 
 Laurentlan Titanium Mines 
 
 Ltd. 
 
 . .do Flotation Mineracao Itaqui 
 
 Strip level Magnetic-electrostatic* Titanio do Brasil 
 
 Open pit do* Cia. Bahiana de Pesquisa 
 
 Strip level 
 
 do. 
 
 Metais de Goias S. A., Goias 
 
 Fertilizantes S.A. 
 Cia. Vale do Rio Doce 
 
 Sublevel stoping . . do Rautaruukki Oy (Government) 
 
 Strip hillside do 
 
 Open pit Gravity flotation 
 
 Mineraria Italiana S.p.A. 
 
 Milan. 
 NL Industries Inc 
 
 R, I, L, Z, 
 
 RE 
 M, Z 
 
 M, Z 
 
 M, R. Z, RE 
 
 M, Z 
 
 ,Fe 
 
 R, L. Z, O, 
 
 RE 
 
 R, Z, RE 
 
 S, Fe 
 
 S, Fe 
 S, Fe 
 
 A 
 
 R, I, Z 
 S, Fe 
 
 A 
 
 A 
 
 I, Fe, O 
 R. I, G 
 I, Fe, O 
 
Table 2.— Ownership and status of titanium mines and deposits In market economy countries— Continued 
 
 Status' Dep°sit 
 type^ 
 
 Mining method 
 
 Miliing method 
 
 Ownership 
 
 Products^ 
 
 ASIA 
 India: 
 Chavara (IREL) . 
 
 Chavara (KMML) 
 
 Manavalakurichi . 
 
 Orissa-Chatrapur 
 
 Sri Lanka: Pulmoddai 
 
 AFRICA 
 Sierra Leone: Mogbwemo 
 South Africa, Republic of: 
 
 Bay. 
 
 OCEANIA 
 Australia: 
 New South Wales: 
 Bridge Hill Ridge 
 
 Evans Head 
 
 Munmorah 
 
 Stockton Bight . . . 
 Tomago Sand Pits 
 
 Yuraygir National Park 
 
 Queensland: 
 Agnes Waters 
 Cooloola 
 
 Curtis Island 
 Fraser Island 
 
 Gladstone Mainland . . . 
 Moreton Island (MDL) . . 
 Moreton Island 
 
 (Murphyores) 
 
 North Stradbroke (AMC) 
 
 North Stradbroke (CRL) 
 Western Australia: 
 Allied Eneabba 
 
 Cable Sands 
 Capel 
 
 Cataby 
 
 Cooljarloo . 
 Eneabba . . 
 
 Gingin 
 
 Jurien Bay . 
 North Capel 
 
 Scott River 
 
 Yoganup Extended, 
 Boyanup, Tutunup. 
 New Zealand: Barrytown 
 
 PRD P 
 
 PRD P 
 
 PRD P 
 
 DEV P 
 
 PRD P 
 
 PRD P 
 PRD P 
 
 PRD P 
 EXP P 
 PP P 
 
 EXP 
 PRD 
 
 EXP 
 PP 
 
 EXP 
 PP 
 
 EXP P 
 
 EXP P 
 
 EXP P 
 
 PRD P 
 
 PRD P 
 
 PRD P 
 
 EXP P 
 
 EXP HR 
 
 PRD P 
 
 PRD P 
 
 EXP P 
 
 EXP P 
 
 PRD P 
 
 EXP P 
 
 PP P 
 
 PRD P 
 
 EXP 
 PRD 
 
 Strip level 
 Dredging . 
 Strip level 
 Dredging . 
 
 .do. 
 
 Magnetic-electrostatic 
 
 Indian Rare Earths, Ltd. 
 
 R, 1, L, Z, 
 
 
 
 RE 
 
 ..do 
 
 Kerala Minerals & Metals Ltd. 
 
 R, 1, L, Z, 
 
 
 (Government). 
 
 RE 
 
 ..do6 
 
 Indian Rare Earths, Ltd. 
 
 1, R, SR, Z, 
 
 
 (Government). 
 
 RE 
 
 ..do 
 
 ..do 
 
 1, R, Z, RE, 
 SR 
 
 ..do 
 
 Ceylon Mineral Sands Corp. 
 (Government). 
 
 1, R, Z, RE 
 
 ..do 
 
 Sierra Rutile Ltd. 
 
 R 
 
 ..do= 
 
 QIT, Union Corp., Industrial 
 
 S, R, Fe, Z 
 
 Dredging 
 
 ..do 
 
 ..do 
 
 Magnetic-electrostatic 
 
 ..do 
 
 ..do 
 
 ..do 
 
 ..do 
 
 Strip level 
 
 Ground sluicing 
 
 Open pit 
 Dredging 
 ..do 
 
 Development Corp. 
 
 Mineral Deposits Ltd 
 
 State of New South Wales . 
 Associated Minerals 
 
 Consolidated Ltd. 
 
 Mineral Deposits Ltd 
 
 Rutile & Zircon Mines 
 
 (Newcastle) Ltd. 
 State of New South Wales 
 
 and Federal Government. 
 
 Mineral Deposits Ltd. . . . 
 State of Queensland and 
 
 Federal Government. 
 Murphyores Holdings Ltd. 
 Murphyores Holdings Ltd., 
 
 Dillingham Minerals. 
 Murphyores Holdings Ltd. 
 Mineral Deposits Ltd. . . . 
 Murphyores Holdings Ltd. 
 
 Associated Minerals 
 Consolidated Ltd. 
 Consolidated Rutile Ltd. 
 
 Allied Eneabba Pty. Ltd. 
 
 Magnetic^ 
 
 Magnetic-electrostatic 
 
 do« 
 
 ..do 
 
 Strip level 
 
 ..do 
 
 ..do 
 
 ..do 
 
 ..do 
 
 Dredging 
 Open pit 
 
 Dredging 
 
 Magnetic- 
 electrostatic^ 
 
 Associated Minerals 
 
 Consolidated Ltd. 
 Ferrovanadium Corp. N.L. 
 Kathleen Investments . . 
 Associated Minerals 
 
 Consolidated Ltd. 
 Metals Exploration Ltd., 
 
 Alliance Minerals NL. 
 Western Mining Corp. 
 
 Holdings Ltd. 
 Associated Minerals 
 
 Consolidated Ltd. 
 Westralian Sands Ltd., 
 
 Lennard Oil NL. 
 Western Mining Corp. 
 
 Holdings Ltd. 
 State of Western Australia 
 
 ..do 
 
 Westralian Sands Ltd 
 
 Fletcher-Challenge Ltd. . . 
 
 R, I, Z 
 R, I, Z 
 R, I, Z. RE 
 
 R, I, Z 
 R, I, Z, RE 
 
 I, R, Fe, Z 
 R, I, Z, RE 
 
 I, R, Fe, Z 
 R, I, Z 
 R, I, Z 
 
 R, I, Z, RE 
 
 R, I, Z, RE 
 
 R, 1, L, Z, 
 
 RE 
 I, R, L, Z 
 
 S, Fe 
 
 I, R, Z, RE 
 
 I, R, L, SR, 
 
 RE 
 R, I, Z, RE 
 
 R, I, L, Z, 
 
 RE 
 SR, I, R, L, 
 
 RE 
 R, I, L, Z 
 
 I, R, L, Z, 
 
 RE 
 I, R, L, Z, 
 
 RE 
 I, R, L, Z 
 I, R, L, Z, 
 
 RE 
 I, R, SR, Z, 
 
 RE 
 
 'DEV = developing deposit; EXP = explored prospect; PP = past producer; PRD = producer. 
 
 ^HR = hard-rock deposit; P = placer (or sand) deposit. 
 
 ^he first product listed was assumed to be the primary product for this study. A = anatase concentrate; Fe = iron, magnetite, or pig iron; G = garnet; I = 
 ilmenite concentrate; L = leucoxene concentrate; M = mixed ilmenite-leucoxene concentrate; P = perovskite concentrate; R = rutile concentrate; RE = rare 
 earth oxide concentrate (monazite); S = titanium slag; SR = synthetic rutile concentrate; Z = zircon concentrate; O = other miscellaneous (sulfides, precious 
 metals, vanadium, pyrite, etc.). 
 
 "These deposits are producers of silica sand, but not heavy minerals. Assumed as EXP for this study. 
 
 ^After beneficiation, the ilmenite concentrate is smelted in an electric furnace. 
 
 ^After beneficiation, some or all of the ilmenite concentrate is further upgraded in a synthetic rutile plant. 
 
EXPORTS, IMPORTS, AND CONSUMPTION 
 
 Exporters of titanium concentrates have been, in recent 
 years, primarily Australia, Canada, India, Malaysia, Nor- 
 way, Sierra Leone, and the Republic of South Africa. The 
 exports discussed in the following paragraph represent 
 world exports as they existed in the late 1970's and early 
 1980's. 
 
 More than 23 pet of Australian exports of ilmenite and 
 leucoxene were shipped to the United States; about 18 pet 
 went to the United Kingdom; almost 15 pet went to the 
 U.S.S.R.; and almost 8 pet went to Japan. The remainder 
 went to unknown destinations. Almost 47 pet of Australian 
 exports of rutile were shipped to the United States, more 
 than 15 pet to the United Kingdom, more than 10 pet to the 
 Netherlands, and over 6 pet to Japan (iig. 5) (7). The 
 remainder went to unknown destinations. Canada exported 
 titanium slag to Belgium, England, France, Federal 
 Republic of Germany, Holland, Italy, Japan, and the United 
 States (8). Sierra Leone exported its rutile mainly to the 
 United States, with some to Europe (9). Europe receives 59 
 pet of the Republic of South Africa's slag exports, North 
 America receives 23 pet, and Japan receives 18 pet (10). 
 Norway exported almost 45 pet of its ore and ilmenite 
 concentrate to the Federal Republic of Germany, over 12 pet 
 to the U.S.S.R., and almost 11 pet to Poland (fig. 6) (11). 
 Malaysia exports nearly all of its ilmenite concentrate to 
 Japan. India exports to Japan, the Federal Republic of 
 Germany, and China. 
 
 The United States consumed 776,700 mt of ilmenite 
 concentrate during 1981; 214,300 mt or over 27 pet of this 
 was imported (table 3, fig. 7). Most of these imports, over 89 
 pet, came from Australia, and about 10 pet came from the 
 Republic of South Afi-ica (table 4). 
 
 Table 3.— U.S. total consumption of titanium concentrates and 
 related imports for consumption in 1981 (6) 
 
 Total ''^P°^^ '°^ 
 
 Concentrate rr,r>tv, consumption 
 
 Japan 
 
 /unitedV / /^ \ 
 KingdomX // \ 
 
 Japan 
 
 v^^ether>>v 7 
 
 /unitedro7 y\ 
 
 /Wngdom\ / X \ 
 
 _3^^ Other 
 k United \ 35 / 
 \ States \ / 
 
 1 OtheT/united I 
 \ 20 / states / 
 
 Ilmenite and 
 leucoxene 
 
 Rutile 
 
 Figure 5.— Exports of titanium minerals from Australia in 
 early 1980's. Numbers within pies refer to percent of total 
 exports. 
 
 
 
 
 
 lO^mt 
 
 10= mt 
 
 pet' 
 
 Ilmenite 
 
 Titanium slag 
 Rutile; 
 Natural ... 
 
 Synthetic . . 
 
 
 
 
 776.7 
 229.3 
 
 258.9 
 
 214.3 
 243.9 
 
 146.1 1 
 37.5 
 
 27.6 
 106 4 
 
 
 
 70.9 
 
 'Percentage of total consumption. 
 South Africa 
 
 ^ 
 
 South Africa 
 
 Figure 6.— Exports of ore and Ilmenite concentrate from 
 Norway in early 1980's. Numbers within pie refer to percent of 
 total exports. 
 
 Rutile, synthetic 
 37,514 mt 
 
 Figure 7.— U.S. imports of titanium concentrates, 1981. 
 Numbers within pies refer to percent of total Imports. 
 
 The United States consumed 229,300 mt of titanium 
 slag during 1981, all of which was imported. During 1981, 
 slag imports for consumption were more than 6 pet greater 
 than consumption, indicating that some were stockpiled. 
 The United States consumed 258,900 mt of rutile and 
 synthetic rutile during 1981; about 71 pet of this was 
 imported, 146,100 mt of rutile and 37,500 mt of synthetic 
 rutile. About 55 pet of rutile imports were from Australia, 
 over 29 pet from the Republic of South Africa, and 16 pet 
 from Sierra Leone. Synthetic rutile imports were mostly 
 from Australia, 96 pet, vdth about 3 pet from Japan and 1 pet 
 from India and other. 
 
 PIGMENT PLANT PRODUCTION 
 
 Pigment manufacture utilized about 91 pet of 1981 U.S. 
 consumption of titanium concentrates (6). Pigment is 
 produced from ilmenite or slag in sulfate process plants and 
 from rutile (both natural and synthetic), slag, and occa- 
 sionally high-grade ilmenite and leucoxene in chloride 
 process plants. The product from pigment production ranges 
 from about 87 to 100 pet Ti02. The decision as to which plant 
 
Table 4.— U.S. imports for consumption of titanium 
 concentrates, by country, 198V (6) 
 
 Concentrate and country Imports, mt 
 
 llmenite: 
 
 Australia 191,256 
 
 Norway 1 ,502 
 
 South Africa, Republic of 21 ,538 
 
 Total 214,296 
 
 Titanium slag: 
 
 Canada 223,295 
 
 South Africa, Republic of 20,580 
 
 Other 3 
 
 Total 243,878 
 
 Rutile, natural: 
 
 Australia 80,147 
 
 Malaysia 10 
 
 Sierra Leone 22,894 
 
 South Africa, Republic of 43,007 
 
 Other 23 
 
 Total 146,079 
 
 Rutile, synthetic: 
 
 Australia 36,023 
 
 India 399 
 
 Japan 1,089 
 
 Other 3 
 
 Total 37,514 
 
 'Adjusted by the Bureau of Mines. 
 
 NOTE: — Data may not add to totals shown because of independent rounding. 
 
 to build relates to the availability of either sulfuric acid or 
 chlorine in addition to the availability of the raw material 
 feed. If pollution is not a factor and sulfur is easily 
 obtainable, the sulfate plant is often selected. Cost and 
 availability of the titanium concentrate may also influence 
 the plant process selection. Primarily because of environ- 
 mental considerations (particularly sulfate emissions), no 
 new sulfate plants have been built in the United States since 
 the early 1970's; some plants have closed during this time. 
 
 Table 5 shows that as of the late 1970's' there were four 
 sulfate process pigment plants in the United States with a 
 combined capacity of 249,700 mt/yr. Since that time, the NL 
 Industries plant, with a capacity of 100,000 mt/yr, has 
 closed; also, there have been various expansions of 
 capacities and changes in ownership for other plants (see 
 table 5 footnotes). The table also shows that there were nine 
 domestic chloride process plants producing Ti02 pigment, 
 vrith a combined capacity of 670,200 mt/yr. There were 39 
 sulfate and 7 chloride plants in foreign countries. 
 
 The United States had only 14 pet of the annual world 
 capacity from sulfate pigment plants and 77 pet from 
 chloride pigment plants. 
 
 The Federal Republic of Germany and Japan are also 
 significant sulfate pigment producers, and the United 
 Kingdom is one of the few countries outside the United 
 States with significant chloride pigment production. 
 
 '^he reports used to develop the table are dated 1981 for the U.S. plants 
 and 1978 for the foreign plants. 
 
 Table 5.- 
 
 Titanium pigment plant Input source and type and output capacity (6, 12) 
 
 
 
 
 Raw material 
 
 Pigment capacity, mt/yr 
 
 Company and location of plant 
 
 Source Type 
 
 Sulfate 
 
 Chloride 
 
 MARKET ECONOMY COUNTRIES 
 
 Imported 
 . .do . . . . 
 
 Rutile 
 
 Slag, ilmenite 
 
 Rutile . . 
 Mixture 
 ..do... 
 ..do... 
 
 NORTH AMERICA 
 United States: 
 American Cyanamid Co.:' 
 
 Savannah, GA 
 
 Do 
 
 E. I. du Pont de Nemours & Co. Inc.: 
 
 Antioch, CA do ... . 
 
 DeLisle, Ml do . . . . 
 
 Edge Moor, DE Domestic 
 
 New Johnsonville, TN do 
 
 Gulf & Western Natural Resources Group 
 Chemicals Div. (formerly New Jersey Zinc 
 Co.):^ 
 
 Ashtabula, OH^ Imported Rutile and synthetic rutile 
 
 Gloucester City, NJ^ do Slag 
 
 Kerr-McGee Chemical Corp.: Hamilton, Ml" ... Mixed Synthetic rutile, rutile, and high-grade 
 
 ilmenite 
 
 NL Industries, Inc.: Sayreviile, NJ^ Domestic Ilmenite 
 
 SCM Corp., Glidden Pigments Group, 
 Chemical-Metallurgical : 
 
 Ashtabula, OH Imported Rutile 
 
 Baltimore, MD Mixed Ilmenite, slag 
 
 Do Imported Rutile 
 
 Total, United States 
 
 Canada: 
 Canadian Titanium Pigments, Ltd.: Varennes, 
 
 Quebec. 
 Tioxide of Canada Ltd.: Tracy, Quebec 
 
 Domestic . 
 ..do 
 
 Total, Canada 
 
 Mexico: Pigmentos y Productos Quimicos S.A.: 
 Tampico. 
 
 SOUTH AMERICA 
 Brazil: 
 Titanio do Brasil S.A.: Camacari.^ 
 
 
 49,900 
 
 40,800 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 31,800 
 136,100 
 100,500 
 206,800 
 
 
 39,900 
 
 27,200 
 
 
 
 100,000 
 
 50,800 
 
 
 
 
 59,900 
 
 
 
 38,100 
 
 
 
 38,100 
 
 249,700 
 
 670,200 
 
 28,000 
 
 
 
 30,000 
 
 
 
 58,000 
 
 
 
 See footnotes at end of table. 
 
10 
 
 Table 5.— Titanium pigment plant input source and type and output capacity (6, ?2)— Continued 
 
 Company and location of plant 
 
 Raw material 
 
 Type 
 
 Pigment capacity, mt/yr 
 
 MARKET ECONOMY COUNTRIES— Continued 
 
 EUROPE 
 Belgium: 
 
 Bayer 3A: Anvers 
 
 Kronos Titan (NL): Langerbrugge 
 
 Total, Belgium 
 
 Imported 
 ..do .... 
 
 Finland: Vourikemia Oy: Pori Mixed Ilmenlte 
 
 France: 
 Thann et Mulhouse: 
 
 Le Havre 
 
 Thann 
 
 Tloxide SA: Calais 
 
 Total, France 
 
 Imporled 
 ..do .... 
 ..do .... 
 
 Ilmenite 
 ..do... 
 
 Germany, Federal Republic of: 
 Bayer SA: 
 
 Uerdingen 
 
 Unknown' 
 
 Kronos Titan :^ 
 
 Leverkusen 
 
 Nordenham 
 
 Unknown 
 
 Pigment-Chemie GmbH: Homberg 
 
 Total, Federal Republic of Germany 
 
 Italy: Montedison S.p.A.: 
 
 Scarlino' 
 
 Spinetta-Marengo'" 
 
 .do . ... 
 Imported 
 
 ..do.. 
 Rutile 
 
 Ilmenite, slag 
 
 Ilmenite 
 
 Rutile 
 
 .do Slag, ilmenite . 
 
 ,do do 
 
 Total, Italy 
 
 Netherlands: Tiofine: Rozenburg Imported 
 
 Norway: Kronos Titan A/S: Fredrikstad Domestic 
 
 Spain: 
 
 Dow Unquinesa, Axpe-Bilbao: Erandio Mixed 
 
 Titanio S.A.: Huelva do . 
 
 Slag 
 
 Total, Spain 
 
 United Kingdom: 
 
 Laporte Titanium:" 
 
 Stallingborough 
 
 Lines, Lincolnshire 
 
 Tioxide: 
 
 Billingham do — 
 
 Greatham do 
 
 Grimsby do 
 
 Total, United Kingdom 
 
 Yugoslavia: 
 Cinkarna: Celje, Slovenia Republic Unknown 
 
 Imported Synthetic rutile and rutile . 
 
 . .do Slag, ilmenite 
 
 ..do... 
 Rutile . . 
 Ilmenite 
 
 ASIA 
 idia: Travancore Titanium Products: 
 
 Trivandrum 
 
 Kerala Minerals & Metals Ltd 
 
 Domestic . 
 ..do 
 
 Japan: 
 Fuji Titanium Industry Co., Ltd: 
 
 Hiratsuka, Kanagawa Prefecture 
 
 Kobe, Hyogo Prefecture 
 
 Furukawa Mining Co. Ltd.: Osaka 
 
 Ishihara Sangyo Kaisha, Ltd.: 
 
 Yokkaichi, Mie Prefecture 
 
 Unknown'^ 
 
 Sakai Chemical Industry Co. Ltd.: Onahama. 
 
 Tiekoku Kako Co. Ltd.: Okayama 
 
 Titan Kogyo KK: Ube, Yamaguchi Prefecture. 
 Tohoku Chemical Co. Ltd.: Akita, Akita 
 
 Prefecture. 
 
 Imported 
 ..do .... 
 ..do .... 
 
 Ilmenite 
 
 Rutile and synthetic rutile 
 
 ..do 
 
 Domestic Synthetic rutile . 
 
 Total. Japan 
 
 25,000 
 40,000 
 
 
 
 
 65,000 
 
 
 
 80,000 
 
 
 
 80,000 
 20,000 
 60,000 
 
 
 
 
 
 160,000 
 
 
 
 70,000 
 
 
 70,000 
 
 66,000 
 
 
 
 50.000 
 
 
 20,000 
 
 
 
 
 
 36,000 
 
 
 
 256,000 
 
 56.000 
 
 54,000 
 43.000 
 
 
 
 
 
 97.000 
 
 
 
 35,000 
 25,000 
 
 
 
 
 27,000 
 40,000 
 
 
 
 
 67,000 
 
 
 
 
 65,000 
 
 27,000 
 
 
 
 90,000 
 
 40.000 
 
 
 
 
 30.000 
 
 
 
 182,000 
 
 70.000 
 
 20,000 
 
 
 
 24,000 
 
 
 
 28.000 
 
 14,000 
 8,000 
 24,000 
 
 90,000 
 
 30.000 
 27,000 
 13.000 
 12,000 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 20,000 
 
 
 
 
 
 208,000 
 
 20,000 
 
 See footnotes at end of table. 
 
11 
 
 Table 5.— Titanium pigment plant input source and type and output capacity {6, 72>— Continued 
 
 Company and location of plant 
 
 Raw material 
 
 Type 
 
 Pigment capacity, mtyr 
 
 MARKET ECONOMY COUNTRIES— Continued 
 
 ASIA— Continued 
 Korea, Republic of: Hankook Titanium Ind. Co. 
 Ltd.: Seoul. 
 
 Taiwan: China Metal Chemical: Taipei 
 AFRICA 
 
 Imported 
 ..do .... 
 
 South Africa, Republic of: South African Titan 
 Products: Umboglntwinl. 
 
 OCEANIA 
 Australia: 
 
 Laporte Titanium:^ Bunbury 
 
 Australian Titan Products: Burnle 
 
 do 
 
 Domestic 
 ..do .... 
 
 Ilmenite 
 ..do.... 
 
 Total, Australia 
 
 30,000 
 27,000 
 
 CENTRALLY PLANNED ECONOMY COUNTRIES 
 
 Czechoslovakia: 
 
 Prerovske Chemlcke Zadovy Prerov Unknown Unknown 
 
 Spotek: Ostrava Imported Ilmenite . 
 
 Total, Czechoslovakia 
 
 Poland: Z.P.N. : Police 
 U.S.S.R.: State-owned 
 Grand t( 
 
 do 
 
 .do. 
 
 30,000 
 12,000 
 
 
 
 
 42,000 
 
 
 
 30,000 
 Unknown 
 
 
 
 Unknown 
 
 ^Recently added a combined 9,100-mt/yr capacity to its plants. 
 
 ^Purchased by SCM Corp. In 1 983. Chloride capacity now rated at nearly 32,000 mt/yr, with plans to expand to 38,000 mt/yr. 
 
 ^Shutdown In 1983. 
 
 "Plans are to expand the chloride plant capacity to 58,000 mt/yr in 1984, then to 65,000 mt/yr In 1986. 
 
 ^As of the study date, January 1981, this was a producing operation. It has since shut down (in September 1982). 
 
 ^As of study date, capacity reported to be 50,000 mt/yr. 
 
 'As of study date, reported to be shut down. 
 
 ^Plans are to more than double the chloride plant capacity and reduce the sulfate plant capacity. 
 
 ^As of study date, this plant was owned by Tioxide. 
 
 '•This plant is presently closed. 
 
 "Laporte sold its TIO2 interests to SCM Corp. In September 1984, and plans are to increase capacity to 105,000 mt/yr. 
 
 '^Plans are to expand to 36,000 mt/yr. 
 
 STOCKPILES AND RECYCLING 
 
 Rutile is the only titanium mineral concentrate held in 
 the National Defense Stockpile. As of January 1983, the 
 quantity of rutile in the stoclq)ile amounted to 35,000 mt, 37 
 pet of the stockpile goal established in 1980 (3). The sponge 
 metal form of titanium is also stockpiled. The amount in the 
 stockpile as of January 1983 was 29,000 mt, or only 17 pet of 
 the stated goal. Although some limited recycling of titanium 
 metal occurs, there is none at the concentrate or pigment 
 stages. 
 
 BYPRODUCTS 
 
 Titanium deposits often contain other minerals, which 
 may be recovered with the titanium and improve the 
 economics of the operation. These minerals include zircon, 
 monazite, garnet, sillimanite, and kyanite. 
 
 From an economic standpoint, zircon is typically the 
 most important nontitaniimi byproduct. It is widely used in 
 refractories, pigment glazes, foundiy sand, and alloys. It is 
 also used in explosives, lamp filaments, special magnets, and 
 miscellaneous specialty items. The availability of zircon 
 concentrates from the titanium mines and deposits in this 
 study is discussed in a later section, "AvailabiUty of 
 Byproduct Zircon." 
 
 The mineral monazite is recovered for its thorium and 
 rare-earth content. Monazite is a cerium phosphate, but 
 thorium is often substituted for cerium along with lanth- 
 anum and other rare earths. It is separated with the zircon 
 in the beneficiation processes. Monazite is widely used as a 
 source of color-producing elements on television tubes. 
 
 Garnet is sometimes recovered, depending on the 
 market. It is used exclusively as an abrasive. The market for 
 garnet is not widespread since it is cheaply available 
 throughout the world. 
 
 Sillimanite and kyanite are aluminum silicates that are 
 interchangeable for most uses. The predominant use is as a 
 ceramic refractory ingredient. Because they are abundant 
 and other minerals can be used in their place, in some 
 operations they are rejected in tailings. 
 
 Pig iron is produced in titanium slag operations. It is an 
 integral part of these operations and an important source of 
 revenue. For this study, all operations that produced a 
 titanium slag product also sold a pig iron byproduct. 
 
 Titanium minerals are themselves potential byproducts 
 of porphyry copper operations, kyanite mines, massive 
 sulfide ores, silica sand pits, some types of bauxites, and 
 numerous other operations. Titanium minerals currently are 
 produced as byproducts of placer tin mining in Southeast 
 Asia. 
 
12 
 
 MINING AND BENEFICIATION METHODS 
 
 MINING 
 
 Titanium ore can be mined by both surface and 
 underground methods, although surface mining, principally 
 for sand deposits, is most commonly used. Of the 63 deposits 
 in this study, all but 2 used or were proposed to use 1 of 3 
 surface mining methods: dredging, strip level, or open pit. 
 
 Dredging is the typical surface mining method for 
 placer beach sand deposits. This method is used for deposits 
 in Australia (east coast), Sierra Leone, the Republic of 
 South Africa, and the United States. Types of dredges most 
 often used are cutterhead suction dredges and, in some 
 cases, bucket-ladder dredges. Floating on water, dredges 
 advance forward through the ore. If the dredged ore is soft 
 and at depths of 20 m or less, the suction-cutter type is used. 
 This dredge is often equipped with hydraulic jets to loosen 
 and agitate the sand banks prior to drawing the ore toward 
 the suction pipeline. The suction pipeline moves a slurry of 
 sand, organic matter, and other waste to oversize screens 
 and detrashing trommels. After organic matter and oversize 
 (greater than 5 mm) and other waste is removed, the ore is 
 deslimed if necessary, using hydrocyclones and/or hydrosiz- 
 ing. Preliminary concentration may take place on the dredge 
 or on barges alongside, using gravity separation devices. A 
 typical "wet mill" with gravity circuits may have gravity 
 separation devices carrying out rougher, cleaner, and 
 recleaner duties, with banks of spirals upgrading recleaner 
 concentrate. High-grade deposit operations may employ 
 scavenging gravity concentrators to recover more of the 
 middlings. The tailings are stacked behind the dredge. 
 
 Factors such as ore body location (usually several 
 kilometers inland), size and shape, and lithology, or lack of 
 an adequate water supply may make the use of dredges for 
 some placer deposits impractical. In those instances, other 
 surface mining methods, including draglines and/or front- 
 end loaders (FEL's) and trucks, are used. Ore is either 
 stockpiled for blending or placed in a slurrying sump before 
 going to rough concentration. These methods are typical of 
 mines in Western Australia and Sri Lanka. 
 
 Open pit or underground methods are used on all 
 hard-rock titanium deposits. Finland's Otanmaki Mine, 
 using a sublevel stoping method, is the only underground 
 mine producing titanium in this study. The Piney River, 
 VA, deposit was proposed to combine an open pit using 
 FEL's and trucks, and underground sublevel caving using 
 load-haul-dump to recover the remaining ore tonnage. Open 
 pit methods that require little or no blasting and use FEL's 
 and trucks for ore and waste haulage are proposed for 
 -deposits in Brazil and the United States. Hard-rock deposits 
 in Canada, Italy, Norway, and the United States will 
 require extensive blasting. Diesel or electric shovels and 
 trucks or FEL's and tmcks are proposed for ore and waste 
 haulage. 
 
 The only exception to the above mine descriptions are 
 the Indian coastal beach sand deposits, where natural 
 concentrate beach sand is skimmed by hand using shovels 
 and buckets, baskets, or handcarts to transport the ore to 
 stockpiles. The ore is then taken by conveyor, hand-pushed 
 mine car, or canoe directly to a "dry mill." 
 
 BENEFICIATION 
 
 Titanium ores mined from placer beach sand deposits 
 are processed through preliminary concentration in "wet 
 
 mills," with final concentration taking place in "dry mills" 
 (figs. 8-9). In wet mills, ore is separated, using wet-gravity 
 methods, into a heavy-mineral fraction containing the 
 titanium raw materials and a lighter mineral fraction (tails). 
 Ore from a dredge or slurry sump is pumped at 25 to 30 pet 
 
 Bulk wet heavy-mineral 
 concentrate (from wet mill) 
 
 Note: If concentrate 
 has magnetite,' 
 take it out wet 
 before dry mill 
 
 Dryer (may be 
 
 operated at 
 
 temperature high 
 
 enough to burn 
 
 off organics) 
 
 Bucket elevator 
 
 Multicompartment 
 bins 
 
 High-tension 
 electrical separators 
 
 Several stages of 
 
 roughers, scavengers, 
 
 and cleaners 
 
 Nonconductors- 
 zircon, residual 
 silica, traces 
 of ilmenite 
 and rutile 
 
 Conductors 
 
 Repulp in 
 water 
 
 Dry induced-roll, 
 
 high-intensity 
 
 magnetic separators 
 
 Several stages 
 of roughers 
 and cleaners 
 
 4 stages 
 
 of spiral 
 
 concentration 
 
 Silica sand- 
 fine and often 
 high quality 
 
 Ilmenite 
 concentrate 
 (magnetic) 
 
 Nonmagnetic 
 rutile and 
 monazite 
 
 Dryer 
 
 Secondary 
 
 polishing with 
 
 high-tension 
 
 electrical 
 
 separators 
 
 Final 
 zircon 
 
 Very 
 
 high-intensity 
 
 crossbelt 
 
 magnetic 
 
 separator 
 
 Rutile 
 
 ~1 
 
 Monazite 
 
 Conductors \- 
 
 Figure 8.— Generalized flowsheet of a mineral sand wet mill. 
 
13 
 
 Trash— mostly 
 roots and 
 vegetation 
 
 Excess water 
 and -^ — 
 organic slime 
 
 Slurry line 
 from dredge 
 
 1 , 
 
 Trash screen[ 
 
 Plate 
 thickener or 
 overflowing 
 
 sump 
 
 Transfer 
 pump 
 
 Rougher 
 
 spiral feed 
 
 sump 
 
 Wash water 
 
 Wash 
 water 
 
 Rougher 
 spirals 
 
 Rougher 
 tailings 
 
 "3 
 
 Rougher 
 middling 
 
 Rougher 
 concentrate 
 
 Scavenger 
 
 spirals 
 (optional) 
 
 J. 
 
 Scavenger 
 concentrate 
 
 Final tailings— return 
 to dredge pond 
 
 Cleaner 
 feed sump 
 and pump 
 
 Wash 
 water 7^ 
 
 Cleaner 
 spirals 
 
 L J 
 
 Cleaner 
 tailings 
 
 Wash, 
 water 
 
 Cleaner 
 concentrate 
 
 Gravity-feed 
 
 recleaner 
 
 spirals 
 
 I 
 
 Recleaner 
 tailings 
 
 Final 
 concentrate 
 
 Screw 
 
 or rake 
 
 dewatering 
 
 devil 
 
 To dry mill 
 Figure 9.— Generalized flowsheet of a mineral sand dry mill. 
 
 solids to the wet mill where it is fed into one or more stages 
 of gravity concentrators, producing a preliminary heavy- 
 mineral concentrate. Wet mills can be land based or floating, 
 depending on the condition required at the deposit. Rough, 
 heavy-mineral concentrate from the wet mill is transported, 
 usually by truck or barge, to the dry mill for further 
 separation and concentration. The specific flowsheet of a dry 
 mill depends considerably on the type of ore and heavy- 
 mineral assemblage to be recovered. Dry mills use various 
 stages of high-tension electrical separation, induced-roll 
 magnetic separation, and additional gravity separation 
 methods to produce specific titanium raw material (ilmenite. 
 
 rutile) and other heavy-mineral concentrates (zircon, mona- 
 zite). A general flowsheet would consist primarily of 
 high-tension electrical separators to separate conductors 
 (ilmenite, rutile, monazite) from nonconductors (zircon). The 
 conductors are further separated using both dry, induced- 
 roll, high-intensity magnetic separators and very high- 
 intensity crossbelt magnetic separators, into the ilmenite, 
 rutile, and monazite concentrates. The nonconductors use 
 various stages of spiral concentration and high-tension 
 electrical separators to separate the zircon concentrate from 
 the residual silica sand. Variations to typical wet and dry 
 mill procedures are used throughout the world based on the 
 composition and type of mineral sand. 
 
 Three nonproducing hard-rock deposits — one each in 
 Brazil, Canada, and the United States — have proposed 
 operations that would use gravity and/or magnetic and 
 high-intensity electrical separation methods to recover 
 titanium concentrate. Operations such as the Maclntyre 
 Development in New York, the Tellnes ilmenite mine in 
 Norway, the Otanmaki Mine in Finland, and the Piampaludo 
 deposit in Italy use or would use flotation methods to 
 recover titanium raw materials. At Tellnes, the coarser part 
 of the ilmenite is being recovered by gravity separation. Ore 
 is processed through various stages of crushing, grinding, 
 and wet or dry magnetic separation, to remove any tramp 
 iron, magnetite, and garnet; it is then deslimed, thickened, 
 scrubbed, and conditioned prior to flotation. Most operations 
 have one or two flotation circuits; large operations use more 
 circuits to remove various minerals such as pyrite, 
 pyroxene, and remaining garnet, and apatite. Operations 
 such as Tellnes and a proposed Brazilian operation (Catalao) 
 leach the flotation concentrate to remove apatite. In other 
 operations, the flotation concentrate is processed through 
 high-intensity magnetic separators to separate the titanium 
 raw materials of ilmenite-anatase or ilmenite-rutile. 
 
 All the recovered titanium concentrates from either wet 
 or dry mill or flotation processes are for pigment production 
 using either the chloride process or the sulfate process. In 
 addition, ilmenite can be used in the production of titanium 
 slag or synthetic rutile. 
 
 UPGRADED ILMENITE-SYNTHETIC RUTILE 
 
 The abundance of ilmenite and scarcity of rutile has led 
 to the research and development of processes for upgrading 
 ilmenite to a low-iron, high-titanium (90 to 97 pet Ti02) 
 product called synthetic rutile. Most upgrading processes 
 fall into four major groups: direct oxidation often followed 
 by reduction and acid leaching, a pyrometallurgical method, 
 a carbonyl process, and direct acid leaching methods. 
 
 A commonly used ilmenite upgrading process is direct 
 oxidation-reduction followed by "rusting" and acid leaching. 
 This is often referred to as the "Western Titanium"" process. 
 The Australian and Indian synthetic rutile is produced in 
 this manner. After the oxidation of ilmenite, the iron oxide 
 content is reduced to metallic iron in a rotary kiln with the 
 addition of coal. The metallic iron is removed by agitating 
 the reduced ilmenite in aerated water (which is slightly 
 acidic) so that the iron oxide "rusts away" from the ilmenite. 
 The precipitated iron oxide is then separated from the 
 upgraded ilmenite, and the final product is leached in acid 
 {13). A 93-pct-Ti02 product is produced by this process. 
 
 Another significant synthetic rutile process is that 
 practiced by Kerr-McGee Chemical Corp. at its Mobile, AL, 
 
 'Developed by Western Titanium Ltd., Western Australia. 
 
14 
 
 facility. The Kerr-McGee process is a modification of the 
 benelite cyclic process. The basic steps include a reduction 
 roast of the ilmenite ore followed by a hydrochloric acid 
 pressure leach. In this process, a 95-pct-Ti02 product is 
 produced (U). 
 
 The Bureau has researched three different upgrading 
 methods — a pyrometallurgical process, a carbonyl process, 
 and a direct acid leaching process. In the pyrometallurgical 
 process, low-iron, high-titanium ilmenite concentrate is 
 blended with coke and lime, then smelted in electric arc 
 furnaces, producing a salable pig iron and a titanium slag. 
 The slag is treated with oxygen and titanium pyrophos- 
 phate, which converts titanium oxides to crystalline rutile 
 and produces a phosphate glass containing most of the 
 impurities. Following this step, the rutilized slag is leached 
 
 with dilute sulfuric acid and filtered to extract the synthetic 
 rutile product containing approximately 92 pet TiOg (15). 
 
 In the carbonyl process, an ilmenite concentrate is first 
 reduced, converting iron oxides to metallic iron, then 
 treated with carbon monoxide at high temperatures and 
 high pressures. This converts the metallic iron to iron 
 pentacarbonyl, which appears as liquid or vapor and is 
 removed by gravity flow and vapor transport. The synthetic 
 rutile product, having a rutile crystal structure, is suitable 
 for chlorination (16). 
 
 In 1970, the Bureau of Mines investigated the use of 
 direct acid leaching methods to convert ilmenite to rutile 
 substitutes. The best results appear to be processes that 
 employ hydrochloric and sulfuric acids (17). 
 
 GEOLOGY AND RESOURCES 
 
 Estimates of demonstrated titanium resources through- 
 out the world in the deposits studied are 438 million mt of 
 contained Ti02 (table 6, fig. 10). Although Austraha has the 
 largest share of demonstrated ore resources (42 pet of the 
 world total), these low-grade beach-sand-type deposits 
 account for only a small share (11 pet) of the total contained 
 Ti02 in the demonstrated resources. Nevertheless, Austra- 
 lia's mines and deposits account for a large share of current 
 world production of titanium concentrates (at 37 pet for 
 ilmenite and 64 pet for rutile). 
 
 Regionally, titanium resources are widespread, with 
 North America and Europe accounting for over 50 pet of the 
 
 contained Ti02 in the deposits included in this study. Table 6 
 also shows the large potential of anatase resources located in 
 Brazil. 
 
 From the 63 deposits studied, additional resources of at 
 least 314 million mt of contained Ti02 are estimated to exist 
 at the inferred level. The majority of this is located in 
 Australia and New Zealand (41 pet), Brazil (18 pet), India 
 (14 pet), and the Republic of South Africa (13 pet). The 
 remainder is found in the United States, Canada, Finland, 
 Italy, and Sierra Leone. These inferred resources repre- 
 sent an increase of over 70 pet from the demonstrated 
 amount. 
 
 Table 6.— Summary of identified titanium resources^ in market economy countries, January 1984 
 
 Ore-sand, 10^ mt 
 
 Contained TiOs, 10* mt 
 
 Demonstrated Inferred Demonstrated Inferred^ 
 
 Av Ti02 
 grade,^ 
 wt pet 
 
 Source," pet 
 
 NORTH AMERICA 
 United States: 
 
 Rutile 
 
 Ilmenite 
 
 Leucoxene 
 
 Canada: Ilmenite 
 
 Total or average, North Ameriea 
 
 SOUTH AMERICA 
 Brazil: 
 
 Anatase 
 
 Rutile 
 
 Ilmenite 
 
 Total or average. South America 
 
 EUROPE 
 
 Finland: Ilmenite 
 
 Italy: 
 
 Rutile 
 
 Ilmenite 
 
 Nonway: Ilmenite 
 
 Total or average, Europe 
 
 ASIA 
 India: 
 
 Rutile 
 
 Ilmenite 
 
 Leucoxene 
 
 Sri Lanka: 
 
 Rutile 
 
 Ilmenite 
 
 Total or average, Asia 
 
 See footnotes at end of table. 
 
 ,726 
 238 
 
 223 
 114 
 
 473 
 497 
 
 400 
 
 
 1.0 
 72.5 
 
 0.24 
 
 12 
 
 2.32 
 
 58 
 
 .15 
 
 
 
 30.50 
 
 100 
 
 1.17 
 5.69 
 
 42 
 
 100 
 
 
 
 1,963 
 
 337 
 
 114.8 
 
 17.7 
 
 5.85 
 
 83 
 
 t7 
 
 526 
 
 670 
 
 75.5 
 
 .1 
 
 17.8 
 
 37.0 
 
 .5 
 
 19.4 
 
 19.68 
 
 .11 
 
 12.58 
 
 100 
 
 91 
 
 
 
 100 
 
 9 
 
 526 
 
 670 
 
 93.4 
 
 56.9 
 
 17.75 
 
 98 
 
 2 
 
 20.7 
 
 17.5 
 
 4.37 
 
 100 
 
 
 
 8.5 
 
 7.2 
 
 1.79 
 
 100 
 
 
 
 89.4 
 
 
 
 18.00 
 
 100 
 
 
 
 4.3 
 
 2.4 
 
 0.88 
 
 
 
 100 
 
 30.2 
 
 41.6 
 
 6.20 
 
 
 
 100 
 
 .6 
 
 
 
 .27 
 
 
 
 100 
 
 100 
 100 
 
15 
 
 Table 6.— Summary of identified titanium resources^ in market economy countries, January 1984 — Continued 
 
 Ore-sand, 10^ mt Contained TiOs, 10^ mt Av TiOz Source," pet 
 
 grade,^ 
 
 Demonstrated Inferred Demonstrated Inferred^ vvt pet ^^'^ fock Placer 
 
 AFRICA 
 
 Sierra Leone: Rutlle 129 17 2.1 0.3 1.61 100 
 
 South Africa, Republic of: 
 
 Rutile 1 / 2.3 5.1 .33 100 
 
 llmenite | 685 1,538 ll5.6 35.1 2.28 100 
 
 Total or average, Africa 814 1,555 20.0 40.5 2.46 100 
 
 OCEANIA 
 
 Australia (east coast): 
 
 Rutile j J 7.2 4.7 0.24 100 
 
 llmenite / 3,007 1,461 112.0 4.4 .40 100 
 
 Australia (west coast): 
 
 Rutile 1 ( 2.8 2.8 .56 100 
 
 llmenite 546 813 22.7 70.9 4.16 18 82 
 
 Leucoxene J i 1 .9 1 .8 .37 100 
 
 New Zealand: 
 
 Rutile 
 
 llmenite 
 
 Total or average, Oceania 
 
 Grand tot al or average 8,462 6,634 437.9 314.4 5^17 71 29 
 
 'Representing only those mines and deposits included in this study. 
 
 ^Inferred contained TIO2 tonnage is not necessarily based on the listed demonstrated grade and therefore cannot be calculated from the average Ti02 grade. 
 ^Represents demonstrated level resource grade. The total average T1O2 grade for each region is a weighted average of all titanium minerals from that region. 
 "Based on the contained demonstrated level tonnage. 
 
 73 
 
 924 
 
 13:4 
 
 .9 
 42.5 
 
 .09 
 4.60 
 
 
 
 
 100 
 100 
 
 3,626 
 
 3,198 
 
 50.1 
 
 128.0 
 
 1.38 
 
 8 
 
 92 
 
 Figure 10.— World titanium resources, by region and type. 
 (Total = 438 million mt of contained TiOj.) Numbers within pies 
 refer to percent of total resources. 
 
 In 1973, the U.S. Geological Survey reported that 
 nearly 2 billion mt of contained titanium existed in the world 
 at the identified resource level (demonstrated plus inferred), 
 with approximately 1& pet in the United States, and there 
 may be an additional 1.5 billion mt of contained titanium in 
 hypothetical resources in the world (18). Both of these 
 values have recently been updated by the Geological 
 Survey's titanium specialist and are discussed in appendix A 
 (2). 
 
 The economic titanium minerals ilmenite, rutile, and 
 anatase, and the possibly economic mineral perovskite, 
 occur in a variety of different deposit types. These include 
 several types in hard rocks (igneous gabbro-anorthosite 
 assemblages, alkalic igneous rocks, unusual metamorphic 
 rocks), weathered and hydro thermally altered rocks, and 
 placer deposits. 
 
 Gabbro-anorthosite assemblages, typically of Precam- 
 brian age, commonly contain ilmenite (locally with rutile) 
 disseminated and/or as massive segregations. Intergrowths 
 with magnetite are a major problem. Major deposits are in 
 Norway, Canada, and the United States. 
 
 Alkalic igneous rocks (of any age) may contain rutile, 
 anatase, or perovskite, all commonly with chemical impuri- 
 ties. Alteration by weathering may produce a more 
 attractive ore, as in Brazil. 
 
 Metamorphic rocks of eclogite facies contain rutile and 
 are important resources in Italy and the U.S.S.R. Alumi- 
 nous metamorphic rocks and hydrothermally altered rocks 
 contain large low-grade resources of rutile. 
 
 The rock-hosted deposit types in the United States 
 have collectively been estimated to contain 67 million mt 
 Ti02 by the Geological Survey and Bureau titanium 
 speciaUsts (2). (Their estimates include low-grade resources 
 and a larger number of deposits than this study.) 
 
 Placer deposits of titanium minerals include shoreline- 
 complex sands of modern and former shorelines and fluvial 
 placers. Shoreline-complex sands, which contain the more 
 important resources, include beach deposits, aeolian (dune) 
 deposits, and other related sand deposits. Any titanium 
 mineral resistant to abrasion and weathering, such as rutile 
 and ilmenite (or formed by weathering such as altered 
 ilmenite), may be concentrated along with other resistant 
 heavy minerals such as zircon and monazite, in the manner 
 commonly observed on many beaches. These deposits may 
 be of any age, but most resources are present in Tertiary to 
 modern deposits with relict depositional topography. Impor- 
 tant deposits are in Australia, South Africa, and the United 
 States. Placer deposits in the United States have been 
 estimated {2) to contain 49 million mt of Ti02. 
 
16 
 
 TITANIUM DEPOSIT COSTS 
 
 COSTING METHODOLOGY 
 
 For each property included in this study, a cost 
 evaluation was made for both capital and operating costs, to 
 reflect, as nearly as possible, actual operations, or in the 
 case of nonproducing sites, expected operational technolo- 
 gies and capacities. Costs for the deposits in the United 
 States were developed by Bureau Field Operations Centers 
 in Pittsburgh, PA, and Denver, CO, based on actual 
 reported company data, scaling from similar known opera- 
 tions, or using the cost estimating system (CES) (19). Costs 
 from all foreign deposits were collected and developed by 
 Kaiser Engineers, Inc., under a contract with the Bureau. 
 Some of the foreign deposit costs are actual company-reported 
 data; others were estimated by Kaiser Engineers, 
 using the contractor's knowledge of the operation or deposit 
 plus experience in the industry. The costs for Australia were 
 modeled by the contractor based on actual Australian 
 heavy-mineral operation's costs. 
 
 All costs presented in this report are in terms of 
 January 1984 U.S. dollars. The cost estimates should be 
 accurate to vdthin ±25 pet, which reflects standard industry 
 prefeasibility estimates. 
 
 Capital expenditures were calculated for exploration, 
 acquisition, development, mine plant and equipment, 
 construction of the mill plant, and installation of the mill 
 equipment. Capital expenditures for mining and processing 
 facilities include the costs of mobile and stationary 
 equipment, engineering design, facilities and utilities, and 
 working capital. Facilities and utilities (infrastructure) 
 include the cost of access and haulage facilities, water 
 facilities, power supply, and personnel accommodations. 
 Working capital is a revolving cash fund required for such 
 operating expenses as labor, supplies, taxes, and insurance. 
 
 Mine and mill operating costs are a combination of 
 direct and indirect costs. Direct operating costs include 
 materials, utilities, direct and maintenance labor, and 
 payroll overhead. Indirect operating costs include technical 
 and clerical labor, administrative costs, facilities mainte- 
 nance and supplies, and research. Other costs in the analysis 
 are fixed charges that include local taxes and insurance. 
 
 When applicable, the mill operating cost includes the 
 cost of both the wet and dry mill. In addition, synthetic 
 rutile plant or titanium slag smelter operating and capital 
 costs are included where applicable. 
 
 OPERATING COSTS 
 
 Table 7 lists the average operating costs for selected 
 titanium operations (expressed as dollars per metric ton of 
 titanium concentrate). The costs for titanium operations in 
 other countries are not represented on the table because of 
 the Hmited numbers of deposits in those countries, to 
 protect confidentiality. For primary rutile operations, the 
 mine operating cost primarily represents the cost of 
 dredging and the wet mill (particularly for Australia). For 
 the producers in Australia, this cost is nearly $200/mt, while 
 in India and Sri Lanka it is only one-quarter of that. The 
 mine costs in India and Sri Lanka are considerably less than 
 in Australia because mining is very labor intensive (in India, 
 mining is done by hand-shoveling). The mine cost increases 
 to nearly $300/mt for the nonproducers (in Australia), 
 primarily ovdng to the lower ore grades. The mill costs for 
 
 Table 7.— Estimated average operating costs for selected 
 titanium mines and deposits^ 
 
 (January 1984 U.S. dollars per metric ton of product 
 on a weight-average basis) 
 
 Transportation 
 Mine Mill Other^ to plant or Total 
 market^ 
 Primary rutile (natural): 
 Australia: 
 
 Producers $195 $100 $49 $6 $350 
 
 Nonproducers 286 125 168 24 603 
 
 India and Sri Lanka: 
 
 Producers 48 91 1 73 18 330 
 
 Primary ilmenite: 
 Australia: 
 
 Producers 12 9 4 2 27 
 
 Nonproducers 41 19 21 17 98 
 
 United States, Finland, and 
 
 Norway: Producers 10 18 4 4 36 
 
 NAp Not applicable. 
 
 'The costs are expressed in terms of dollars per metric ton of titanium 
 concentrate, whichever is appropriate (i.e., the costs for primary rutile mines in 
 Australia would be in terms of dollars per metric ton of rutile concentrate). 
 
 ^Includes all property. State, Federal, and severance taxes, plus any royalty. 
 Nonproducers would require higher income in order to provide the stipulated 
 1 5-pct DCFROR, thus aggregate tax payments are generally higher than for 
 producing operations. 
 
 ^Cost represents the transportation cost to pigment plant or local port or 
 market. 
 
 the primary rutile operations represent primarily the dry 
 mill. For producers, this cost averages $90/mt to $100/mt in 
 both Australia and India and Sri Lanka, and only increases 
 to $125/mt for the nonproducers (in Australia). The costs 
 labeled "other" include all property. State, Federal, and 
 severance taxes, plus royalties, if any. Taxes are generally 
 greater for nonproducers in this study, because, in most 
 cases, the revenues required to cover the higher overall 
 costs (including profit) are greater. In other words, 
 nonproducers would require a higher taxable income 
 (leading to higher tax payments) in order to cover all 
 operating costs and provide for a 15-pct DCFROR on all 
 investments. The high cost Hsted under "other" for the 
 Indian and Sri Lankan rutile producers is due to the high 
 Federal corporate income tax rate in those countries. The 
 total operating costs shown on table 7 for primary rutile 
 producers range from a low of $330/mt in India and Sri 
 Lanka to a high of $350/mt for mines in Australia. These 
 compare closely vdth the average market price of rutile in 
 1984 of $350/mt. The Australian nonproducing rutile 
 deposits have an average total cost of just over $600/mt, 
 considerably higher than the 1984 market price. 
 
 The mine cost for primary ilmenite mines (producers) 
 averages $ll/mt in Austraha, the United States, Finland, 
 and Norway, and increases to about $40/mt for the 
 nonproducers in Australia (where the ore grade is lower). 
 The mill cost for the producers in the United States, 
 Finland, and Norway is twice that of Australia ($18/mt 
 versus $9/mt). This represents the higher cost of processing 
 hard-rock ore as opposed to the ore from beach sand 
 deposits. The total operating cost for primary ilmenite 
 producers in Austraha is nearly $10/mt less than for the 
 producers in the United States, Finland, and Norway. This 
 compares well with the $10/mt differential in market prices 
 for ilmenite in Australia (at $32/mt) versus the United 
 States (at $42/mt). The total operating cost for the primary 
 ilmenite nonproducers (in Australia) is almost four times 
 
17 
 
 that of the producers, owing primarily to the lower grades at 
 the nonproducing deposits. 
 
 A representative synthetic rutile operating cost is just 
 over $280/mt product, on the average, for both Australian 
 and Indian plants. Since nearly 2 mt of ilmenite concentrate, 
 at approximately $30/mt to $40/mt of product (depending on 
 market location), is necessary to produce 1 mt of synthetic 
 rutile, the cost to produce synthetic rutile is comparable to 
 that of producing natural rutile ($70 + $280 = $350/mt). 
 The 1984 market prices for rutile and synthetic rutile are 
 $350/mt and $340/mt, respectively. 
 
 CAPITAL COSTS 
 
 Table 8 shows average capital costs estimated for this 
 study to develop nonproducing surface deposits in Australia, 
 in terms of U.S. dollars. Only Australia was used because no 
 other regions of the world have enough nonproducing 
 deposits to be included separately without compromising the 
 confidentiality of individual deposit data. Costs represent 
 acquisition, exploration, development, and equipping a new 
 mine site, along with construction of any mine and mill 
 plants and buildings necessary (wet and dry mills). Mine 
 costs, mainly for the dredge and floating wet mill, are 
 greater than the mill costs, which mainly represent the dry 
 mill. 
 
 Table 8.— Estimated capital costs to develop nonproducing 
 surface titanium deposits in Australia 
 
 (Thousand January 1984 U.S. dollars) 
 
 Capacity, 10= mt/yr ore feed 
 
 3,400 
 
 15,800 
 
 Exploration, acquisition, and development 
 
 Mine 
 
 $4,300 
 8,600 
 6,300 
 
 19,200 
 
 $7,700 
 22 600 
 
 Mill 
 
 16,100 
 
 Total 
 
 46,400 
 
 TYPICAL BEACH SAND MINING 
 COSTS— AUSTRALIAN DEPOSITS 
 
 Nearly two-thirds of the mines and deposits included in 
 this study produce or are proposed to produce beach-sand- 
 type ores. In most of these operations, standard beach sand 
 mining technologies are applied, which typically include 
 dredging or dry surface mining plus wet and dry milling. 
 Australia is by far the leader in the field of beach sand 
 mining; therefore, costs for its operations are representative 
 of typical beach sand production costs, when financial 
 differences from one region of the world to another are not 
 taken into account. 
 
 The costs presented in this section were estimated 
 based on known Australian operations. Costs were original- 
 ly estimated in 1981 Australian dollars, updated to 1984 
 Australian dollars, then converted to 1984 U.S. dollars using 
 the appropriate exchange rate. In most cases, the costs 
 were estimated for 500-, 1,000-, 1,500-, and 2,000-mt/h 
 dredges and wet mills, and 15-, 30-, 45-, and 60-mt/h dry 
 mills. In nearly all cases, these operations were assumed to 
 run three shifts per day, 300 d/yr (or 7,200 h/yr). 
 
 Figures 11 and 12 show capital costs for the dredge, wet 
 mill, and dry mill. The dredge cost represents the cost to 
 buy and construct the dredge including the floatline. This 
 capital cost ranges from just over $500,000 for dredges with 
 a 500-mt/h capacity up to $2.6 million for dredges with a 
 
 
 1 1 1 
 Annual cost is based on 7,200 h/yr 
 
 
 2.5 
 
 y 
 
 ^ 
 
 2.0 
 
 Dredge/ 
 
 
 1.5 
 
 / 
 
 - 
 
 1.0 
 
 L 1 1 1 
 
 
 20 
 
 18 
 
 500 1,000 1,500 2,000 2,500 
 
 CAPACITY mt/h 
 Figure 11.— Capital costs for a dredge, Australia. 
 
 WET CONCENTRATOR CAPACITY, mt/h 
 500 1,000 1,500 2,000 2,500 3,000 
 
 16 - 
 
 ^ 12 
 
 10 - 
 
 T I r n 
 
 Annual cost is based 
 on 7,200 h/yr 
 
 Dry mill 
 concentrator 
 
 10 
 
 20 
 
 30 
 
 40 
 
 50 60 
 
 DRY MILL CAPACITY, mt/h 
 Figure 12.— Capital costs for wet and dry mill concentrators, 
 
18 
 
 2,500-mt/h capacity. The data indicate a slight economy of 
 scale for the higher capacity dredges. The costs for the 
 floating wet mill represent the costs to construct and equip 
 the floating wet concentrator, typically with cones. The 
 capital costs range from $6.2 million for a 500-mt/h mill to 
 just over $18 million for a 2,000-mt/h mill. A slight economy 
 of scale seems to occur for the higher capacity mills. Costs 
 for the dry mill, in addition to the magnetite and 
 electrostatic circuits, include costs to equip and construct 
 the feed preparation section, service buildings, and product 
 bins (for truck loading) or feed conveyors (for rail loading). 
 The costs range from just over $4 million for a 15-mt/h mill 
 to $13.5 million for a 60-mt/h mill. 
 
 Figure 13 shows the annual operating costs for dry 
 mining (contractor operated). These curves depict the costs 
 for three operations: bulldozer and sluicing, scraper with 
 dozer (for hauls of 0.75 km or less), or front-end loader 
 (FEL) and truck haulage (for hauls up to 2.5 km). Bucket 
 wheel excavators and a conveyor (for large amounts of 
 tonnage and long hauls) would be a fourth option, but there 
 were insufficient data points to construct a curve. Bulldozer- 
 sluicing costs range from approximately $750,000/yr for a 
 600-mt/h operation to nearly $2 million per year for an 
 1,800-mt/h operation. Scraper-dozer costs range from $1.8 
 million per year for a 600-mt/h operation to $4.7 million per 
 year for an 1,800-mt/h operation. Costs for FEL-truck 
 operations range from over $3 million per year for a 
 600-mt/h operation to nearly $6.7 million per year for the 
 1,800-mt/h operation. The curves exhibit some economy of 
 scale, especially at the higher capacities. 
 
 Figure 14 shows curves depicting the annual cost of 
 operating a dredge (for wet mining), a floating wet mill, and 
 a dry mill. A cable dredge was assumed more effective at 
 lower capacities and a walking (pontoon) dredge at higher 
 capacities. Costs for the dredge range from just over 
 $400,000/yr for a 500-mt/h operation to over $1.3 million per 
 year for a 2,000-mt/h operation. Labor costs account for 
 approximately 17 pet of the total annual dredging cost; fuel 
 and electricity (with electricity being the far greater cost) 
 account for almost 35 pet; and parts plus maintenance labor 
 
 CO 
 
 O 
 
 O 2 
 
 300 600 900 1,200 1,500 1,800 2,100 
 
 CAPACITY, mt/h 
 
 Figure 13.— Annual operating costs for dry mining opera- 
 tions, Australia. 
 
 4.0 
 
 3.5 
 
 3.0 
 
 DREDGE AND CONCENTRATOR CAPACITY, mt/h 
 500 1,000 1,500 2,000 2,500 3,000 
 
 <a 
 
 
 CO 
 
 ? F> 
 
 3 
 
 
 •* 
 
 
 CO 
 
 
 0) 
 
 
 ■*" 
 
 2.0 
 
 o 
 
 
 
 
 K 
 
 
 'A 
 
 1.5 
 
 o 
 
 
 1.0- 
 
 .5- 
 
 \ I f 
 
 Annual cost is based 
 on 7,200 h/yr 
 
 Walking 
 
 (pontoon) 
 
 dredge 
 
 10 20 30 40 50 
 
 DRY MILL CAPACITY, mt/h 
 
 60 
 
 Figure 14.— Annual operating costs for dredge and wet and 
 dry mill concentrators, Australia. 
 
 account for 48 pet. Floating wet mill costs range from nearly 
 $2.4 million per year for a 500-mt/h operation to over $3.5 
 million per year for a 2,000-mt/h operation. Labor costs 
 account for 54 pet, electricity for 15 pet, and parts, 
 maintenance labor, and water supply for the remaining 31 
 pet of the total annual wet mill costs. Dry mill costs range 
 from over $1.5 million per year for a 15-mt/h operation to 
 approximately $2.8 million per year for a 60-mt/h operation. 
 Labor costs at the dry mill also account for 54 pet of the total 
 annual operating costs; electricity and fuel account for 28 
 pet; and the remaining 18 pet is for parts and maintenance 
 labor. The only curve that exhibits any significant economy 
 of scale is that of the floating wet mill, at its higher 
 capacities. 
 
 Labor costs for all of the curves are based on an annual 
 average wage scale in Australia (U.S. dollars) of approx- 
 imately $23,000/yr per person (including 50 pet overhead). 
 This cost is based on Queensland Award Rates for mineral 
 sands mining operations. For operations in other States, a 
 factor was applied to convert this rate. The total number of 
 people employed to operate the equipment ranged from 4 to 
 8 persons per year on the dredge, 60 to 80 persons in the wet 
 mill, and 45 to 55 persons in the dry mill. The ranges reflect 
 the various sizes of the operations. 
 
 Power costs range from 2.7(Z/kW«h to 3.6(Z/kW'h in 
 Queensland (in U.S. dollars), and these rates are also 
 applicable to the other States of Australia where mineral 
 sand operations exist. With the exception of the dry mill, 
 fuel costs are nonexistent or very small. Fuel costs at the 
 dry mill are based on just over 30 UScL. 
 

 Annual cost 
 
 
 ' 'key 1 
 
 
 is based on 
 
 
 A Production overlieads 
 
 8 
 
 7.200 h/yr 
 
 \\ 
 
 
 e Services 
 C Rehabilitation 
 D Water services 
 E Clearing and 
 
 
 ■ \\ 
 
 s, 
 
 preparation 
 F Road maintenance 
 G Housing and amenities 
 
 6 
 
 
 \ 
 
 H Surveys-mine planning 
 / Storekeeping 
 W Laboratory operations 
 
 5 
 
 \^ 
 
 \ 
 
 \^/\ 
 
 4 
 
 \ 
 
 
 Vfi \ 
 
 
 
 v^\ ^^ 
 
 3 
 
 - "^^o.^V° 
 
 \ 
 
 \\ ^ 
 
 2 
 
 ^v^ 
 
 ^' 
 
 XV- 
 
 
 < 
 
 
 --^3=; 
 
 1 
 
 T""^ 
 
 ^ 
 
 ^ AVN. /'. 
 
 
 
 
 1 1 1 
 
 500 1,000 1,500 2,000 2,500 3,000 
 
 CAPACITY, mt/h 
 
 Figure 15.— General costs associated with beach sand mining 
 operations, Australia. 
 
 19 
 
 The last set of curves (fig. 15) identifies all of the 
 general costs not directly associated with the mining and 
 milling operation in particular. Curves are represented for 
 clearing and preparation, rehabilitation, services, water 
 services, road maintenance, housing and amenities, produc- 
 tion overheads, storekeeping, surveys and mine planning, 
 and laboratory costs. The costs on these curves are 
 presented in terms of cents per metric ton ore. 
 
 TITANIUM CONCENTRATE AVAILABILITY 
 
 ECONOMIC EVALUATION METHODOLOGY 
 
 Once all of the cost and engineering data are 
 established, production parameters and cost estimates for 
 each mine and deposit are entered into the supply analysis 
 model (SAM). The Bureau has developed the SAM to 
 perform discounted-cash-flow rate of return (DCFROR) 
 analyses to determine the long-run constant dollar price at 
 which the primary commodity must be sold to recover all 
 costs of production and investments {20). The DCFROR is 
 most commonly defined as the rate of return that makes the 
 present worth of cash flow from an investment equal to the 
 present worth of all after-tax investments {21). For this 
 study, a 15-pct DCFROR is considered the necessaiy rate of 
 return to cover the opportunity cost of capital plus risk. The 
 determined value for the primary commodity price is 
 equivalent to the average total cost of production (including 
 credits for byproducts) for the operation over its producing 
 life, under the set of assumptions and conditions necessary 
 to make an evaluation (e.g., mine plan, full capacity 
 production, and a market for all output). 
 
 If an operation has more than one product, the prices of 
 the byproducts are assumed to be the market prices for the 
 period of analysis, which for this study is January 1984. 
 Revenues generated from byproducts are credited against 
 the costs of production. Market prices used in this analysis 
 
 are shown in table 9. No revenues were generated for 
 byproduct ilmenite, when assumed to be stockpiled. 
 
 Table 9.— Market prices of titanium concentrates and related 
 minerals for January 1984 {22-24) 
 
 Commodity 
 
 Where applicable 
 (f.o.b.) 
 
 Grade, 
 pet 
 
 85 TiO, 
 
 Do Richards Bay, 
 
 Republic of South 
 
 Africa 
 
 Byproduct: 
 
 Garnet Iwlill 
 
 Magnetite do 
 
 Monazite concentrate do 
 
 Pig iron do 
 
 Zircon concentrate . . Mill, Australia 65 ZrO; 
 
 Do Mill, United States . . 65 ZrO; 
 
 NAp 
 
 55REO 
 
 NAp 
 
 Price, 
 $/mt 
 
 Titanium product: 
 
 
 
 
 Ilmenite concentrate 
 
 Mill, Australia 
 
 '54 + Ti02 
 
 $32.00 
 
 Do 
 
 Mill, United States . . 
 
 '54 + Ti02 
 
 42.00 
 
 Leucoxene 
 
 Mill, Western Australia 
 
 87 TiOj 
 
 225.00 
 
 concentrate. 
 
 
 
 
 
 Mill 
 
 95 Ti02 
 
 347.00 
 
 Synthetic rutile 
 
 Plant, Mobile, AL, 
 United States 
 
 90 + TiO2 
 
 350.00 
 
 Titanium slag 
 
 Sorel, Quebec, 
 
 71 Ti02 
 
 159.00 
 
 10.00 
 23.00 
 389.00 
 235.66 
 104.50 
 182.00 
 
 'Price does vary on TiOz grade (from -47 to -64 pet TiOs). This also 
 applies to the values listed in the text. 
 
20 
 
 If an operation has more than one titanium product, a 
 "primary" product is selected on which to run the price 
 determination. The primary product is defined as the 
 titanium product that generates the greatest revenues. All 
 other products are assumed to be the byproducts. 
 
 Based on the methodology for this study, all capital 
 investments incurred earlier than 15 yr before the initial 
 year of the analysis (January 1984) are treated as 
 depreciated costs. Capital investments incurred less than 15 
 yr before January 1984 have the estimated undepreciated 
 balance carried forward to January 1984, with all subse- 
 quent investments reported in constant January 1984 
 dollars. All reinvestment, operating, and transportation 
 costs are updated, by computer, to January 1984 U.S. 
 dollars using country economic indexes. 
 
 The SAM contains a separate tax records file for each 
 State or nation, which includes all the relevant tax 
 parameters such as corporate income taxes, property taxes, 
 royalties, severance taxes, or other taxes under which a 
 mining firm would operate. These tax parameters are 
 applied against each mineral deposit under evaluation v«th 
 the implicit assumption that each deposit represents a 
 separate corporate entity. 
 
 Other items that may be considered in the analysis, if 
 they are allowed in the specific country, include deprecia- 
 tion, depletion, deferred expenses, investment tax credits, 
 and tax loss carryforwards. 
 
 Detailed cash-flow analyses are generated by the SAM 
 for each preproduction and production year of an operation, 
 beginning with the initial year of the analysis, 1984. Upon 
 completion of the individual property analyses for each mine 
 and deposit, all properties included in the study were 
 simultaneously analyzed and the data were aggi-egated into 
 resource availability curves. Two types of curves have been 
 generated for this study: (1) total availability curves and (2) 
 annual curves at selected production costs. Costs reflect not 
 only capital and operating costs, but also all pertinent 
 taxation and the cost of transporting the product to the 
 nearest port or point of consumption. 
 
 The total resource availability curve is a tonnage-cost 
 relationship that shows the total quantity of recoverable 
 primary product (titanium concentrate) potentially available 
 at each operation's average total cost of production (less 
 byproduct credits) over the life of the mine, determined at 
 the stipulated (15-pct) DCFROR. Thus, the curve is an 
 aggregation of the total potential quantity of titanium 
 concentrate that could be produced over the entire 
 producing life of each operation, ordered from operations 
 with the lowest average total cost of production to those 
 with the highest. The curve provides a concise, easy-to- 
 
 read, graphic analysis of the comparative costs associated 
 with any given level of potential output and provides an 
 estimate of what the average long-run price of the titanium 
 concentrate (in January 1984 dollars) would likely have to be 
 in order for a given tonnage to be potentially available to the 
 marketplace. For this study, separate discussions and 
 curves were generated for each titanium concentrate (rutile 
 and ilmenite) in order to correctly represent the various 
 titanium concentrate availabilities. 
 
 Annual curves are simply disaggregations of the total 
 curves to show annual titanium availability at varying costs 
 of production. Each curve represents a specific cost level. 
 The horizontal axis represents time, either actual years (for 
 producers) or the number of years following the commence- 
 ment of development (for nonproducing operations). The 
 vertical axis represents the annual production level based 
 upon aggregation of the proposed production levels of each 
 individual property. 
 
 Certain assumptions are inherent in all the curves. 
 First, all deposits produce at full operating capacity 
 throughout the productive life of the deposit. Second, each 
 operation is able to sell all of its byproducts at the stipulated 
 prices and all of its primary product at a price sufficient to 
 generate total revenues at least equal to its average total 
 production cost. Third, development of each nonproducing 
 deposit began in the same base year (N) (unless the property 
 was developing at the time of the evaluation). Since it is 
 difficult to predict when the explored deposits are going to 
 be developed, this assumption was necessary in order to 
 illustrate the maximum potential availability with a mini- 
 mum lag time. It is doubtful, however, that this potential 
 would be reached in the short term since it is unlikely that 
 all new producers would start preproduction in the same 
 year. The preproduction period allows for only the 
 minimum engineering and construction period necessary to 
 initiate production under the proposed development plan. 
 Consequently, the additional time lags and potential costs 
 involved in filing environmental impact statements, receiv- 
 ing required permits, financing, etc., have not been included 
 in the deposit analyses. 
 
 TOTAL AVAILABILITY 
 
 Rutile 
 
 The 40 deposits containing rutile that are analyzed in 
 this study contain 29.2 million mt of recoverable rutile 
 concentrates, mth an average grade of 95 pet Ti02 (table 
 10). These resources are either the primary product of rutile 
 
 Table 10.— Total estimated recoverable rutile concentrates, as of January 1984 
 
 (Thousand metric tons of product) 
 
 Brazil, 
 Italy 
 
 India, 
 Sri Lanka 
 
 Sierra Leone, 
 
 Republic 
 of South Africa 
 
 United 
 States 
 
 As primary-product rutile: 
 
 Producers 
 
 Nonproducers 
 
 Total 
 
 As a coproduct from ilmenite; 
 
 Producers 
 
 Nonproducers 
 
 Total 
 
 Grand total . . 
 
 3,270 
 4,257 
 
 
 12,081 
 
 2,837 
 
 
 1,544 
 
 
 169 
 713 
 
 7,820 
 17,051 
 
 7,527 
 
 12,081 
 
 2,837 
 
 1,544 
 
 882 
 
 24,871 
 
 1,136 
 461 
 
 39 
 
 
 866 
 
 
 1,556 
 
 
 
 313 
 
 3,597 
 774 
 
 1,597 
 
 39 
 
 866 
 
 1,556 
 
 313 
 
 4,371 
 
21 
 
 mines or occur as a coproduct from mines producing 
 ilmenite. Rutile resources available as a primary product are 
 24.9 million mt, 85 pet of the total. 
 
 Estimated recoverable rutile resources located in 
 Australia are over 9 million mt, or 31 pet of the total 
 recoverable rutile contained in deposits analyzed in this 
 study. Rutile potentially recoverable from producing mines 
 in Australia is 4.4 miUion mt, about 39 pet of rutile 
 concentrates estimated to be recoverable from all producing 
 rutile mines included in this study. Recoverable rutile 
 concentrates from Australian nonproducing deposits are 
 over 4 million mt, more than a quarter of the estimated 
 rutile recoverable from all nonproducing rutile deposits. 
 
 Rutile concentrates recoverable from mines and de- 
 posits located in India and Sri Lanka are almost 4 million mt; 
 this is almost 13 pet of the total. Rutile concentrates located 
 in the United States are about 1.2 miUion mt or only 4 pet of 
 the total. Other countries with deposits containing recover- 
 able rutile concentrates are Sierra Leone, the Republic of 
 South Africa, Brazil, and Italy. The Italian Piampaludo 
 deposit has the largest future potential of all the nonproduc- 
 ing deposits represented on the table. 
 
 The total availability curve for rutile concentrates from 
 deposits containing rutile as the major product or as an 
 important coproduct is shown in figure 16A. This curve 
 shows that about 10.8 million mt of rutile concentrate, 37 pet 
 of the total estimated recoverable rutile concentrate, can be 
 
 produced at a cost that is less than the January 1984 market 
 price of $347/mt, f.o.b. mill. An additional 14.5 million mt is 
 available at costs up to double the market price. The 
 tonnage available at costs of less than $700/mt represents 87 
 pet of the total resource. The curve does include a very small 
 tonnage of rutile associated as a byproduct from ilmenite 
 operations (3.5 pet). 
 
 Because Australia is a major world producer of rutile 
 concentrates, accounting for 64 pet of world production in 
 1981, a separate resource cost curve, figure 165, is 
 presented for mines and deposits in Australia. The total 
 amount of rutile concentrate potentially recoverable from 
 Australian deposits is about 9. 1 milhon mt; almost 52 pet of 
 this, 4.7 million mt, is potentially available at a cost of 
 production of less than $347/mt. (The curve does not include 
 a small quantity of rutile associated with costs greater than 
 $l,200/mt.) 
 
 The United States has only a small amount of its total 
 rutile resource of 1.2 million mt available at costs less than 
 the January 1984 market price. This is associated with the 
 only producing primary-product rutile mine in the United 
 States in 1984. 
 
 The tonnage of rutile concentrates potentially recover- 
 able from producing mines for which rutile was the primary 
 product or a major coproduct is shown on figure 16C. The 
 total rutile recoverable from producing mines is over 11.4 
 million mt of rutile concentrate, only 39 pet of the total 
 
 1,500 
 
 1,250 
 
 1,000 
 
 750 
 
 F 
 
 
 \ 
 
 500 
 
 ^ 
 
 
 3 
 
 
 ^ 
 
 250 
 
 00 
 
 
 G> 
 
 
 ■<- 
 
 
 d 
 
 
 
 
 500 
 
 
 
 CO 
 
 
 C) 
 
 
 o 
 
 
 
 400 
 
 < 
 
 
 1- 
 
 
 o 
 
 
 1 1 r— 
 
 A All mines and deposits 
 
 300 
 
 200 
 
 100 
 
 5 10 15 20 25 30 
 
 T 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 r 
 
 
 
 e 
 
 1 ~i— -1 — r ■ 1 T 
 
 Australia 
 
 J 
 
 1,000 
 
 - 
 
 
 
 / - 
 
 750 
 
 C 
 
 
 
 ^ - 
 
 500 
 
 r 
 
 1 1 
 
 250 
 
 1 1 J 1 1 L 
 
 C Producing mines 
 
 
 1,250 
 
 12 3 4 5 
 
 1,000- 
 
 750- 
 
 500- 
 
 - 250 
 
 7 8 9 10 
 "I 1 1 — 
 
 D Nonproducing deposits 
 
 6789 10 11 2 4 6 
 
 RECOVERABLE RUTILE CONCENTRATE, 1 0« mt 
 Figure 16.— Total recoverable rutile concentrate. 
 
 10 12 14 16 18 
 
potentially recoverable from all rutile mines. (The curve in 
 figure 16C shows less than 11.4 million mt because it does 
 not include a small quantity of byproduct rutile available at 
 costs greater than $450/mt.) About 10.3 miUion mt, 90 pet, is 
 potentially available at costs less than $347/mt. 
 
 The total rutile cost-tonnage relationship for nonpro- 
 ducing deposits is illustrated in figure 16Z). Resources 
 associated with nonproducing deposits were almost 18 
 million mt, almost 61 pet of all rutile potentially available. 
 (The curve does not include a small quantity of rutile 
 associated with costs greater than $l,200/mt.) Approximate- 
 ly 500,000 mt was potentially available at a cost of less than 
 the current market price, primarily from deposits located in 
 restricted areas in Australia, such as national parks. 
 
 This study shows that the majority of low-cost rutile is 
 contained in Austialian deposits. It also demonstrates that 
 there is only a small quantity of low-cost rutile that was not 
 being produced in 1984. Later sections will discuss potential 
 substitutes for rutile in the future, such as anatase and 
 synthetic rutile. 
 
 Ilmenite 
 
 It is estimated that 246 million mt of ilmenite, 
 containing typically 54 pet TiOg, could be recovered from the 
 demonstrated resources of 17 primary-product ilmenite 
 mines and deposits, 23 primary-product rutile mines and 
 deposits, and 3 mines that feed synthetic rutile operations 
 (table 11). This demonstrates an abundance of ilmenite 
 resources based on a 1981 world production level of 3.6 
 million mt/yr. This analysis assumed that for many potential 
 byproduct sources the ilmenite would be stockpiled rather 
 than sold. Resources of ilmenite that were selected as being 
 a part of a stockpile are those that are presently being 
 stockpiled or would likely be stockpiled. Most often these 
 stockpiles of ilmenite are or would be high in chromium 
 content and therefore not a desirable product. Most of these 
 resources are located in Australia. This tonnage was part of 
 the ilmenite resources, but no revenues from the sale of 
 ilmenite were credited. 
 
 Resources associated with primary-product ilmenite 
 mines account for approximately 72 pet of the total 
 recoverable ilmenite concentrate. Ilmenite resources lo- 
 cated in Europe contain by far the greatest portion of all 
 primary-product ilmenite potentially recoverable (76 pet). 
 Ilmenite potentially recoverable from primary-product 
 ilmenite operations located in the United States and 
 
 Australia is 24 million mt and 17 million mt, 13 pet and 10 pet 
 of the total, respectively. 
 
 The total recoverable ilmenite from primary ilmenite 
 deposits is shown in figure 17A. (The total quantity shown is 
 less than 178 million mt because the curve does not include 
 ilmenite associated with costs greater than $200/mt.) The 
 curve shows that over 145 million mt of ilmenite concentrate 
 is potentially recoverable, primarily from European de- 
 posits, at a cost less than the January 1984 U.S. cost of 
 $42/mt. This is over 81 pet of the total primary ilmenite 
 potentially available. 
 
 Primary ilmenite resources located in Austrlia that can 
 potentially be recovered at a cost less than the January 1984 
 Australian market price of $32/mt are over 10 miUion mt. 
 
 200 
 
 150- 
 
 100 
 
 1 1 1 1 r 
 
 - A Primary ilmenite mines 
 and deposits 
 
 50 
 
 1.250 
 
 1,000 
 
 750 
 
 500 
 
 250 
 
 r 
 
 / 
 
 J L 
 
 25 50 75 100 125 150 175 
 
 1 1 1 1 1 r 
 
 B Rutile mines and deposits 
 
 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 
 
 RECOVERABLE ILMENITE 
 CONCENTRATE, 1 0" mt 
 Figure 17.— Total recoverable Ilmenite concentrate. 
 
 Table 11.— Total estimated recoverable Ilmenite concentrates, as of January 1984 
 
 (Thousand metric tons of product) 
 
 India, 
 Sri Lanl<a 
 
 Italy, 
 Finland, 
 Norway 
 
 United 
 States 
 
 As primary-product ilmenite: 
 
 Producers 
 
 Nonproducers 
 
 Total 
 
 As a byproduct or coproduct with rutile: 
 
 Producers 
 
 Nonproducers 
 
 Total 
 
 As a byproduct or coproduct with Ilmenite used for synthetic 
 
 rutile: Producers 5,286 
 
 Grand total 41 ,009 2,343 
 
 'Included as either a "mixed" product or as a byproduct from ilmenite operations. 
 
 10,015 
 7,019 
 
 2,343 
 
 
 
 
 
 134,929 
 
 
 '0 
 23,694 
 
 147,287 
 30,713 
 
 17,034 
 
 2,343 
 
 
 
 134,929 
 
 23,694 
 
 178,000 
 
 5,764 
 12,925 
 
 
 
 
 28,289 
 
 
 
 8,101 
 
 610 
 4,829 
 
 34,663 
 25,855 
 
 18,689 
 
 
 
 28,289 
 
 8,101 
 
 5,439 
 
 60,518 
 
 2,119 
 30,408 
 
 
 143,030 
 
 7,405 
 
 29,133 245,923 
 
23 
 
 This is 59 pet of the total ilmenite available from Australian 
 primary-product ilmenite mines. 
 
 The United States has no primary-product ilmenite that 
 can be recovered at a cost less than the January 1984 market 
 price of $42/mt; the 24 million mt of ilmenite potentially 
 recoverable from primary-product deposits in the United 
 States are associated with costs well above the January 1984 
 market price of $42/mt. 
 
 As shown in table 11, the tonnage of ilmenite 
 concentrates potentially recoverable from primary-product 
 ilmenite mines that were in productioa in January 1984 is 
 147 million mt. This is 83 pet of the total primary-product 
 ilmenite potentially recoverable. The amount potentially 
 recoverable at a total cost of less than the January 1984 U.S. 
 market price of $42/mt is 145 million mt, or almost 99 pet of 
 the total. 
 
 A total in excess of 30 million mt is potentially 
 recoverable from nonproducing primary-product ilmenite 
 deposits. This is about 17 pet of the total potential 
 recoverable ilmenite concentrates associated with primary 
 ilmenite operations. Very little of this could be produced at a 
 cost below $42/mt. 
 
 Ilmenite potentially recoverable as a byproduct from 
 primary-product rutile mines was over 60 million mt in 
 January 1984. This is about 24 pet of the total ilmenite 
 recoverable from all sources. India and Sri Lanka have 28 
 million mt, 47 pet of the byproduct ilmenite potentially 
 recoverable from primary-product rutile mines; Australia 
 has 19 million mt, or 31 pet. 
 
 The total availability curve for byproduct ilmenite from 
 primary-product rutile mines is illustrated in figure IIB. 
 (The curve does not include a small quantity of ilmenite 
 associated with costs greater than $l,200/mt of rutile.) 
 Ilmenite tonnage is associated with the cost of rutile because 
 only primary-product rutile operations are included here; 
 therefore, the viability of each operation is determined by 
 the viability of rutile production. About 37 million mt of 
 byproduct ilmenite is potentially recoverable at a primary- 
 product rutile cost less than the January 1984 rutile 
 concentrate market price, which was $347/mt. This is about 
 62 pet of the total byproduct ilmenite potentially recoverable 
 from primary-product rutile mines. Much of this byproduct 
 ilmenite is presently being stockpiled. Revenues from the 
 stockpiled ilmenite are not included in the analysis. A total 
 of 11.6 million mt of ilmenite is considered as stockpiled 
 material from a total of 10 mines and deposits, most of which 
 are located in eastern Australia. Ten percent of this total is 
 from mines presently producing. 
 
 More than 7 million mt of ilmenite are potentially 
 recoverable as a eoproduet from synthetic rutile operations; 
 this is less than 3 pet of all ilmenite potentially available. 
 Over 6 million mt are potentially recoverable at costs at or 
 below the Januai-y 1984 market price for synthetic rutile, 
 $350/mt. 
 
 Ilmenite resources used in the production of titanium 
 slags, synthetic rutile, or as a mixed ilmenite-leucoxene- 
 rutile product (as in Du Font's operations in the United 
 States) are discussed later in this section. 
 
 This study indicates that ilmenite resources are vast 
 and that the majority of low-cost ilmenite is contained in 
 European deposits. It also demonstrates that there is a 
 significant amount of low-cost ilmenite that is not being 
 produced or sold. This ilmenite is associated with primary- 
 product rutile operations and was stockpiled rather than 
 sold under the market conditions prevailing in January 1984. 
 Much of this ilmenite has a high content of chrome, which is 
 considered a deleterious material. 
 
 Leucoxene 
 
 It is estimated that approximately 2.9 million mt of 
 leucoxene concentrate, containing approximately 67 pet 
 Ti02, is potentially recoverable as a byproduct of primary- 
 product rutile, primary-product ilmenite, or the synthetic 
 rutile operations included in this study (table 12). These 
 resources comprise only a small portion of the titanium 
 resources included in this analysis. 
 
 Leucoxene potentially recoverable from resources 
 located in Australia is 2.4 million mt of concentrate, or 82 pet 
 of the total. The remaining 500,000 mt are located in India 
 and the United States. Producing mines in Australia 
 account for 63 pet of the total for Australia, or 1.5 milhon mt. 
 
 Curves were not drawn for leucoxene because of the 
 small number of deposits. Potentially recoverable leucoxene 
 concentrate associated with six primary-product rutile 
 mines included in the analysis is 1.4 million mt, which could 
 be recovered at a cost of production for the associated rutile 
 lower than its January 1984 market price. 
 
 Potentially recoverable leucoxene concentrate associ- 
 ated with five primary-product ilmenite mines included in 
 the analysis is about 1.0 miUion mt; 82 pet of these 
 concentrates could be recovered at a cost of production for 
 the associated ilmenite lower than its January 1984 market 
 price. Leucoxene concentrates associated with two synthe- 
 tic rutile operations included in the analysis are 500,000 mt. 
 All of these concentrates can be produced at a cost lower 
 than the January 1984 synthetic rutile market price. 
 
 Table 12.— Total estimated recoverable leucoxene 
 concentrates, as of January 1984 
 
 (Thousand metric tons of product) 
 
 Australia India United total 
 States 
 
 As a byproduct from primary- 
 product rutile: 
 
 Producers 
 
 Nonproducers 
 
 Total 
 
 As a byproduct from primary- 
 product ilmenite: 
 
 Producers 
 
 Nonproducers 
 
 Total 
 
 As a byproduct from synthietic 
 rutile: Producers 
 
 Grand total . . . 
 
 Synthetic Rutile 
 
 It is estimated that 15.5 million mt of synthetic rutile 
 concentrate, containing approximately 93 pet TiOa, is 
 potentially available from five properties in which ilmenite is 
 being used to feed synthetic rutile plants (table 13). 
 
 Table 13.— Total estimated recoverable synthetic rutile 
 concentrates, as of January 1984 
 
 (Thousand metric tons of primary-product synthetic rutile) 
 
 260 
 677 
 
 342 
 
 
 122 
 45 
 
 724 
 722 
 
 937 
 
 342 
 
 167 
 
 1,446 
 
 748 
 215 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 748 
 215 
 
 963 
 
 
 
 
 
 963 
 
 490 
 
 
 
 
 
 490 
 
 
 Australia, 
 New Zealand 
 
 India 
 
 Total 
 
 Producers 
 
 Nonproducers 
 
 Total 
 
 2,341 
 
 2,147 
 
 4,488 
 
 11,054 
 
 
 
 11,054 
 
 13,395 
 2,147 
 
 15,542 
 
24 
 
 Table 14.— Total estimated recoverable titanium slag, as of January 1984 
 
 (Thousand metric tons of primary-product slag) 
 
 
 Australia 
 
 Brazil 
 
 Canada 
 
 Republic 
 of Soutti Africa 
 
 United 
 States 
 
 Total 
 
 Producers 
 
 
 
 
 13,710 
 
 79,933 
 5,837 
 
 9,098 
 
 
 
 2,542 
 
 89 031 
 
 
 5,092 
 
 27 181 
 
 
 
 
 Total 
 
 5,092 
 
 13,710 
 
 85,770 
 
 9,098 
 
 2,542 
 
 116,212 
 
 The synthetic rutile operations included in the analysis 
 represent those with current or proposed production of 
 synthetic rutile from ilmenite. The plants included are 
 located in Australia and India, with the only nonproducer 
 located in New Zealand. Synthetic rutile plants located in 
 the United States, Japan, Malaysia, and Taiwan were not 
 included because the source of the ilmenite processed could 
 not be determined. 
 
 Much of the ilmenite potential, discussed in earlier 
 sections of this report, could be processed to produce 
 synthetic rutile if new plants were built. The world 
 resources of ilmenite are very large, and the costs to 
 produce ilmenite and convert it to synthetic rutile are quite 
 comparable to those for the production of rutile; therefore, 
 the potential production of synthetic rutile could be 
 significant in the future. Owing to the fact that the long-run 
 availability of rutile is limited, the production of synthetic 
 rutile is expected to grow. 
 
 Titanium Slag 
 
 It is estimated that 116 million mt of titanium slag, 
 containing at least 71 pet Ti02, is potentially recoverable 
 from the five properties included in this study (table 14). 
 Slag potentially recoverable from two properties in Canada 
 is 86 million mt, 74 pet of the total slag included in this 
 study. Slag potentially recoverable from the Republic of 
 South Africa is 9 million mt, almost 8 pet of the total slag 
 included in this study. Producing operations, all of which 
 have a cost of production below the market prices of $159/mt 
 for Sorel slag and $181/mt for Richards Bay slag, have 
 resources of 89 million mt potentially recoverable. This is 77 
 pet of the total titanium slag potentially recoverable from 
 properties included in this study. 
 
 The quantity of titanium slag that potentially is 
 recoverable, as with that of ilmenite, is large. Some slag is 
 high grade and has been used in place of rutile as a feed for 
 chloride pigment production. Additional high-grade slag 
 may be potentially recoverable in the future. QIT, the 
 producer of Sorel slag in Canada, has recently upgraded its 
 slag to 80 pet TiOg (25). 
 
 Anatase 
 
 Anatase potentially recoverable from three nonproduc- 
 ing properties in Brazil is 38 million mt of concentrate. 
 Although it has a slightly lower grade, anatase is a potential 
 replacement for rutile. One of the Brazihan properties, 
 Tapira, was being developed during 1984, with the other 
 two in pilot plant stages. Since there is no published market 
 price for anatase, cost comparisons are not possible. 
 However, the total cost of production estimated for these 
 deposits is between the present market prices of rutile and 
 ilmenite. 
 
 Miscellaneous Titanium Operations 
 
 It is estimated that 6.8 miUion mt of a mixed 
 ilmenite-leucoxene concentrate are potentially available 
 from four properties in the southeastern United States (two 
 producing and two nonproducing). This high-grade concen- 
 trate (greater than 60 pet Ti02) is used or would be used for 
 the specially designed Du Pont chloride plants. Du Pont 
 owns the two producing properties. Since the product is 
 produced and consumed in integrated operations, total cost 
 comparisons are not possible. 
 
 A deposit in Colorado contains demonstrated resources 
 of perovskite. Since there are no published prices, cost 
 comparisons are also not possible. 
 
 A producing glass sand mine in the southeastern United 
 States with demonstrated resources of ilmenite is included 
 in the analysis. The ilmenite would be a byproduct, but it 
 was not being produced during 1984. 
 
 ANNUAL AVAILABILITY 
 
 Annual availability curves are disaggregations of the 
 total resource availability curves showing potential availa- 
 bility on an annual basis. Each curve represents a specific 
 cost level. The horizontal axis represents time, either actual 
 years for producers, or the number of years follov^ng the 
 commencement of development for nonproducing opera- 
 tions. The vertical axis represents the annual production 
 level. 
 
 Rutile 
 
 Figure 18 shows the projected annual capacities for 
 rutile mines that were in production at the time of this 
 analysis. The curve, representing annual production at 
 operations with costs of production less than the January 
 
 1984 86 88 90 92 94 
 
 YEAR 
 Figure 18.— Annual availability curves for producing rutile 
 mines, at various total costs of production. 
 
25 
 
 1984 market price of approximately $350/mt, gradually 
 declines until the year 2000 and then decreases dramatically. 
 The curve shows that in 1984 about 350,000 mt could be 
 produced at a cost less than $350/mt. Australian production 
 is 48 pet of this, or 170,000 mt. These figures compare 
 closely with the world rutile production for 1981 of just over 
 350,000 mt (minus the U.S.S.R.) and 230,000 mt for 
 Australia (see table 1). This curve illustrates that by the 
 year 2000 a projected annual amount of about 320,000 mt 
 could be produced for a cost of production equal to or less 
 than $350/mt. This is 91 pet of 1984 production, representing 
 only a slight decline at this point. Australia could produce 46 
 pet of this, or 147,000 mt. Shortly after the year 2000, 
 production of rutile concentrates from mines producing as of 
 January 1984 is likely to decline significantly as the 
 demonstrated resources from many mines, particularly in 
 Austraha, are depleted. This decline could be offset if new 
 resources are found, if inferred tonnages become demon- 
 strated, or if production begins from properties that 
 currently are not producing, such as the higher cost rutile 
 mines or the Brazilian anatase deposits. 
 
 Annual availability curves showing the projected 
 annual production for deposits that were not in production at 
 the time of this analysis are shown in figure 19. As 
 illustrated, the cost of production from these properties is 
 significantly greater than the current market price of rutile 
 concentrates. The price of rutile would have to increase 
 significantly in order for most of these operations to 
 generate the revenues necessary to cover their high costs. 
 This also illustrates, on an annual basis, the point made in 
 the discussion of the total availability of rutile, that most of 
 the economical rutile resources are currently in production. 
 
 The three curves in figure 19 represent annual 
 production at operations with costs less than $450/mt, 
 $600/mt, and $900/mt. All three curves reach their highest 
 production level 4 yr after initiation of development, 
 assuming all of these properties were to initiate develop- 
 ment in the same base year. At this peak year, the $450/mt 
 curve shows a potential production level of 80,000 mt/yr, all 
 from Australia; the $600/mt curve reaches 182,000 mt/yr, 63 
 pet from Australia; and the $900/mt curve reaches a 
 production level of 310,000 mt/yr, 71 pet from Australia. 
 
 All three curves show a decline in production over a 
 period of 16 yr. At this point there is no production at the 
 $450/mt cost level, and the $600/mt curve shows a potential 
 production of 103,000 mt/yr, 34 pet from Australia. The 
 $900/mt curve shows a potential production of 182,000 
 mt/yr, 52 pet from Australia. The rutile available from the 
 
 nonprodueing mines in this analysis could replace the rutile 
 from producing mines when they become depleted, but at 
 substantially higher costs. The higher costs also should 
 encourage the development of alternate sources, including 
 synthetic rutile production from ilmenite concentrates. 
 Rutile from the nonprodueing deposits not only is high in 
 cost, but is very limited in quantity; therefore, it could act as 
 a replacement only for a limited amount of time, given a 
 static resource base and production at full-capacity levels. 
 
 Ilmenite 
 
 Annual production from producing operations of both 
 primary-product and byproduct ilmenite, with costs near or 
 below market prices, could potentially have been 2.7 million 
 mt/yr in 1984. This quantity may not match actual 
 production figures because it assumes mines are operating 
 at full capacity and includes byproduct ilmenite, some of 
 which is assumed in this analysis to be stockpiled and not 
 sold. In addition, most published data for ilmenite produc- 
 tion include ilmenite going to slag or synthetic rutile, while 
 the present analysis treats this ilmenite separately. 
 
 Annual production of both primary-product and bypro- 
 duct ilmenite from nonprodueing deposits could potentially 
 be a maximum of 2.4 million mt/yr. Those nonprodueing 
 operations with costs of production equal to or less than 
 twice the January 1984 market prices could produce 
 annually a maximum of 1.1 million mt. There is very little 
 potential annual production of ilmenite from nonprodueing 
 deposits with costs of production near or below the January 
 1984 market price. 
 
 Leucoxene 
 
 Annual availability of leucoxene concentrate with costs 
 near or below the market price could potentially have been 
 73,200 mt in 1984; this includes leucoxene as a byproduct of 
 producing primary-product rutile operations and primary- 
 product ilmenite operations, or from mines feeding synthetic 
 rutile operations. 
 
 Annual availability of leucoxene from nonprodueing 
 rutile and ilmenite deposits could potentially be 76,200 
 mt/yr. At a cost of production less than the January 1984 
 market prices, annual production from nonprodueing opera- 
 tions could be 65,200 mt. 
 
 Synthetic Rutile 
 
 T 1 r- 
 
 KEY 
 N Year preproduction 
 development begins 
 
 N +2 +4 +6 +8 +10+12+14+16+18+20+22 
 YEAR 
 
 Figure 19.— Annual availability curves for nonprodueing rutile 
 mines, at various total costs of production. 
 
 Annual availability of synthetic rutile from the produc- 
 ing operations included in this study potentially have been a 
 maximum of 193,300 mt in 1984. The one nonprodueing 
 synthetic rutile operation (Barrytown in New Zealand) 
 could not cover its costs at the January 1984 market price. 
 
 Titanium Slag 
 
 Annual availability of titanium slag from producing 
 operations could potentially have been a maximum of 1.2 
 million mt in 1984. This compares closely with the 1981 
 world production value of 1.1 million mt of slag. At that 
 level, slag production could be maintained into the next 
 century. Annual availability from nonprodueing slag opera- 
 tions (one each in the United States, Brazil, and Australia) 
 could potentially be more than 800,000 mt/yr. No nonpro- 
 dueing slag operations could cover their costs at the January 
 1984 market price. 
 
Table 15.— Total potentially recoverable zircon concentrates, as of January 1984 
 
 (Thousand metric tons of product) 
 
 Australia, g .. India, Republic United 
 
 New Zealand Sri Lanka of South Africa States 
 
 As a byproduct from primary-product rutile: 
 
 Producers 
 
 Nonproducers 
 
 Total 
 
 As a byproduct from primary-product ilmenite: 
 
 Producers 
 
 Nonproducers 
 
 Total 
 
 As a byproduct from other titanium sources:' 
 
 Producers 
 
 Nonproducers 
 
 Total 
 
 Grand total 14,157 302 2,048 3,022 3,624 
 
 'Includes slag operations, mines and deposits producing a mixed titanium product, and those ilmenite mines feeding synthetic rutile plants. 
 
 4,312 
 4,393 
 
 
 
 
 1,817 
 
 
 
 
 
 302 
 1,278 
 
 6,431 
 5,671 
 
 8,705 
 
 
 
 1,817 
 
 
 
 1,580 
 
 12,102 
 
 1,018 
 1,294 
 
 302 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 77 
 
 1,320 
 1,371 
 
 2,312 
 
 302 
 
 
 
 
 
 77 
 
 2,691 
 
 2,977 
 163 
 
 
 
 
 231 
 
 
 3,022 
 
 
 1,150 
 817 
 
 7,380 
 980 
 
 3.140 
 
 
 
 231 
 
 3,022 
 
 1,967 
 
 8,360 
 
 23,153 
 
 Anatase 
 
 No anatase mines were operating as of January 1984, 
 although development continued. Annual availability of 
 anatase from nonproducing operations could potentially be a 
 maximum of 281,000 mt/yr. This large annual tonnage of 
 anatase is a significant potential replacement source for 
 rutile and could be maintained for approximately 20 yr. 
 
 Mixed Concentrate 
 
 Annual availability of a mixed concentrate of ilmenite 
 and leucoxene from both producing and nonproducing 
 operations could potentially be a maximum of 243,800 mt/yr. 
 
 Table 16.— Average revenue distribution for selected mines 
 producing zircon, based on 1984 market prices 
 
 (Percent) 
 
 Australia 
 
 India, United 
 
 East West Sri Lanka States 
 coast coast 
 
 From rutile 75 9 44 W 
 
 From ilmenite 1 65 38 W 
 
 Total 76 74 82 66 
 
 From zircon 23 7 9 33 
 
 From other commodities 1 19 9 1 
 
 W Withheld to avoid disclosing company proprietary data. 
 
 AVAILABILITY OF BYPRODUCT ZIRCON 
 
 In addition to the various titanium minerals recoverable 
 from beach sand operations, zircon concentrates often 
 contribute significantly to the economic viability of an 
 operation. It is estimated that zircon concentrates that could 
 be recovered from 41 mines and deposits included in this 
 study total just over 23 million mt. The zircon concentrates, 
 which contain approximately 65 pet Zr02, are a byproduct of 
 the titanium operations. Potential zircon concentrates 
 recoverable from resources located in Australia account for 
 nearly two-thirds of the total, while those in the United 
 States account for only 16 pet. 
 
 Table 15 shows that 65 pet of all recoverable zircon 
 concentrates included in this study would come from mines 
 that were producing titanium concentrates as of January 
 1984. This quantity represents the amount of zircon 
 concentrates available at roughly the market prices for the 
 various titanium products. The largest portion of this is from 
 producing mines in Austraha (55 pet). 
 
 The revenues generated from the production of zircon 
 concentrates can often be quite significant. Table 16 shows 
 that as much as one-third of the revenues generated from 
 many of the operations in this study are from zircon 
 concentrates, based on January 1984 market prices for all 
 commodities recovered. The ratio between revenues gener- 
 ated by titanium concentrates (rutile and ilmenite) and those 
 generated by zircon concentrates ranges from a low of 66 to 
 
 33 to a high of 82 to 9. Although titanium concentrates are 
 clearly the primary or most significant product produced 
 from most of the mines included in this study, zircon 
 concentrates can be a very significant revenue generator, 
 even to the extent of making the difference as to whether 
 the mine is economically viable. 
 
 It is interesting to note that one of the regions of the 
 world that produces large quantities of rutile (the east coast 
 of Australia) also produces significant amounts of zircon. 
 This relationship can be seen in the form of revenues 
 generated. The west coast of Australia, where ilmenite is 
 most often the primary commodity from the beach sand 
 operations, produces significantly less zircon and this too is 
 reflected in terms of the revenues generated. 
 
 The availability of zircon concentrates on an annual 
 basis was also considered. At the January 1984 market price 
 for titanium concentrates, over 570,000 mt of zircon was 
 available in 1984 from the producing mines included in this 
 study. This compares quite well with the nearly 550,000 mt 
 produced in 1981 (excluding the U.S.S.R. and China) {26, p. 
 934). Ovnng to the fact that a majority of zircon is produced 
 from rutile mines, which this study shows will be depleting 
 after the turn of the century, the annual availability of zircon 
 concentrates from producing mines should also be on the 
 decline. An additional 350,000 mt/yr of byproduct zircon, at 
 the minimum, could be available in the future from deposits 
 presently not in production, but at costs substantially higher 
 than the January 1984 market prices for the various 
 titanium products. 
 
27 
 
 The availability of hafnium can be directly related to the 
 availability of zircon, since they are nearly always found 
 together in nature. As a rule-of-thumb, there is tyiJically 2 
 pet hafnium found vvith zirconium (or Hf02 equal to 2 pet of 
 
 the amount of ZrOe). Therefore, based on the quantity of 
 zircon concentrates this study has shown to be available 
 (over 23 million mt) as of January 3984, a total of 463,000 mt 
 Hf02 is also available. 
 
 CONCLUSIONS 
 
 Titanium is used primarily in the form of Ti02 as a 
 source of pigments. Titanium metal is considered a strategic 
 and critical material for the United States because of its 
 defense and aerospace applications. In an attempt to assess 
 the world vidde availabihty of titanium mineral resources, the 
 Bureau evaluated 63 mines and deposits in market economy 
 countries. The selected mines and deposits include all known 
 resources of titanium at the demonstrated resource level 
 that met the criteria of the study and that can be mined and 
 processed with current technology, as of January 1984. 
 
 Approximately 438 million mt of Ti02 is contained in the 
 demonstrated resources of these mines and deposits. These 
 resources include 115 milHon mt in North America (the 
 United States and Canada), 93 million mt in South America 
 (Brazil), 120 million mt in Europe (Finland, Italy, and 
 Norway), 40 million mt in Asia (India and Sri Lanka), 20 
 million mt in Africa (Sierra Leone and the Republic of South 
 Africa), and 50 million mt in Oceania (Australia and New 
 Zealand). In addition, the studied deposits also contain 
 approximately 314 million mt of contained TiOa at the 
 inferred resource level. 
 
 Approximately 29 million mt of rutile concentrate is 
 potentially recoverable from 40 deposits analyzed, 39 pet 
 from producing mines. Approximately 11 million mt of rutile 
 is potentially recoverable at total production costs of less 
 than the January 1984 market price of $347/mt. About 25 
 million mt could be available at a net production cost of twice 
 the January 1984 market price. Australia accounts for about 
 one-third of the total rutile concentrate available. 
 
 In terms of annual availability, it is estimated that 
 approximately 350,000 mt/yr of rutile concentrate was 
 available in 1984, from mines producing at the time of this 
 study, at a cost of production less than the January 1984 
 market price. This compares with actual 1981 production, 
 excluding the U.S.S.R. The analysis showed that after the 
 year 2000, production of rutile concentrates from producing 
 mines will decline significantly as many mines, particularly 
 in Australia, deplete their currently estimated demons- 
 trated resources. This would indicate that within the coming 
 decade there could be a shortage of high-grade, low-cost 
 rutile. Potential production from the nonproducing rutile 
 deposits could act as a replacement source for a limited 
 amount of time, but at a substantially higher total cost. 
 Production could continue from the present producers if new- 
 resources were discovered at their deposits or if any of their 
 inferred tonnage were to become demonstrated, although 
 this would seem less likely. 
 
 Approximately 246 million mt of ilmenite concentrate is 
 estimated to have been recoverable, as the primary product 
 (72 pet of the total) or as a coproduct or byproduct of rutile, 
 from the deposits included in this study. Over 187 million mt 
 of this is potentially available at a total cost of less than the 
 January 1984 market prices (145 million mt from primary- 
 product ilmenite, 37 million mt as byproduct from rutile, and 
 5 million mt as byproduct with ilmenite feeding synthetic 
 rutile plants). European countries had by far the greatest 
 portion (143 milHon mt) of all ilmenite resources, both 
 primary and byproduct. These data indicate that an 
 abundance of ilmenite is available, compared with othe^ 
 sources of titanium, paticularly rutile, although much of this 
 ilmenite may not presently be usable because of high levels 
 of chromium. 
 
 Annual production from producing mines of both 
 primary and byproduct ilmenite in 1984 could potentially 
 have been a maximum of 2.7 million mt/yr. An additional 1.1 
 million mt/yr is available from the nonproducing deposits at 
 twice the January 1984 market prices. 
 
 Much of the ilmenite potential discussed in this report 
 could be used to produce synthetic rutile if new plants were 
 built. The world resources for ilmenite are very large, and 
 the costs to produce ilmenite and convert it to synthetic 
 rutile are quite comparable to those for the production of 
 rutile; therefore, the potential production of synthetic rutile 
 could be significant in the future. Owing to the fact that the 
 long-run availability of rutile is limited, the production of 
 synthetic rutile is expected to grow. 
 
 Demonstrated resources of leucoxene concentrates that 
 are potentially recoverable as a byproduct of primary- 
 product ilmenite and primary-product rutile mines are about 
 2.9 million mt. An additional 15.5 million mt of synthetic 
 ratile concentrate is available from the synthetic rutile 
 operations included in this study, and 116.2 million mt of 
 titanium slag is also available. Anatase deposits in Brazil, a 
 number of which are presently developing, include an 
 additional 38 million mt. 
 
 This analysis has determined that in the long run, 
 resources of rutile are limited. It has also determined that 
 there are various other sources of high-grade titanium. 
 Anatase deposits in Brazil have the potential to be a 
 significant source; slag deposits in Canada and the Republic 
 of South Africa could increase capacity; higher cost rutile 
 deposits could be developed; and most importantly, an 
 increased world synthetic rutile capacity, based on the large 
 resources of ilmenite, could become the most significant 
 resource, in the future, of high-grade titanium concentrate. 
 
28 
 
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 Major TiO., Production. V. 3, No. 11, June 7, 1984, p. 4. 
 
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 74. Paarma, H. Magnetic- Ilmenite Lenses Occur in Anorthosite 
 Along Amphibolite Contact. Min. World, Aug. 1956, pp. 64-66. 
 
 75. Soininen, J. Shrink Stoping With Machine Loading Makes 
 Output 146 Tons Per Man Shift. Min. World, Aug. 1956, pp. 66-68. 
 
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 77. Rautaruukki Oy (Finland). Annual Report for 1980. 30 pp. 
 
 78. Lindholm, 0., and R. Auttonen. Geology of the Otanmaki 
 Mine. Paper in Precambrian Ores of Finland. Guide to Excursions 
 078 A -h C, Part 2 (Finland), ed. by T. A. HakU (Proc. 26th Int. Geol. 
 Congr., Paris, 1980). Geol. Surv. Finland, Espoo, 1980, pp. 25- 
 33. 
 
 79. Bugge, J. A. W. Norway. Ch. in Mineral Deposits of Europe, 
 ed by S. H. U. Bowie, A. Kvalheim, and H. W. Haslami. Inst. Min 
 and Met. Miner. Soc, London, v. 1, 1978, pp. 217-220. 
 
 80. Dixon, C. J. The Tellnes Ilmenite Deposit — Norway. Sec. in 
 Atlas of Economic Mineral Deposits, ed. by C. J. Dixon. Cornell 
 Univ. Press, Ithaca, NY, 1979, pp. 108-109. 
 
 81. Geins, H. P. A Short Description of the Iron-Titanium 
 Provinces in Norway With Special Reference to Those in 
 Production. Miner. Sci. and Eng., v. 3, No. 3, 1971, pp. 13-24. 
 
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 ed. by S. H. Dolbear. AIME, 2d ed., 1949, p. 1048. 
 
 83. Hoyt, C. D. Time Studies and Cost Accounting Increase 
 Efficiency at Titania. Min. Eng. (N.Y.), v. 189, No. 9, 1950, pp. 
 935-940. 
 
 84. Industrial Minerals (London). Italian Rutile? No. 117, June 
 1977, pp. 10-11. 
 
 85. The Industrial Minerals of Italy. No. 148, Jan. 1980, 
 
 p. 45. 
 
 86. Mancini, A., and G. Martinotti. Valorisation of New Titanium 
 Resource: Titaniferous Eclogites. Paper in 10th World Mining 
 Congress (Istanbul, Turkey). Sec. IV-15, Sept. 1979, pp. 1-19. 
 
 87. Mining Engineering (New York). Sand Deposits of Titanium 
 Minerals; World Survey of Processes as Illustrated by Indian 
 Deposits. V. 6, No. 4, 1954, pp. 421-429. 
 
 88. Kanapathipittai, K. C. Ilmenite From the East Coast of 
 Ceylon. Min. Mag., v. 110, No. 7, Apr. 1964, pp. 239-240. 
 
 89. Hockin, H. W. Ilmenite From Alluvial Deposits in Malaya, A 
 Note on Composition and Texture. Malaya, Dep. Mines, Bull. 1, 
 1957, 6 pp. 
 
 90. Industrial Minerals (London). Byproduct Minerals From Tin 
 Mining. No. 57, June 1972, p. 35. 
 
 91. Spencer, R. V., and F. R. Williams. The Development of a 
 Rutile Mining Industry in Sierra Leone. Paper in Proceedings of the 
 Eighth Commonwealth Mining and Metallurgical Congress, Austra- 
 lia and New Zealand, 1965. Inst. Min. and Metall., London, v. 6, 
 1967, pp. 1337-1341. 
 
 92. Mining Magazine. Sierra Rutile. V. 144, No. 6, June 1981, pp. 
 458-463. 
 
 93. Skilling's Mining Review. Sierra Rutile Ltd. Commences 
 Production in Sierra Leone, West Africa. V. 68, No. 23, June 9, 
 1979, p. 8. 
 
 94. World Mining. Mining One of the World's Richest Rutile 
 Deposits Begins. V. 32, No. 9, Aug. 1979, p. 88. 
 
 95. Sierra Leone; Government Agrees to Bethlehem- 
 
 Nord Resources Rutile Development Plan. V. 28, No. 9, Aug. 1975, 
 p. 93. 
 
 96. Behn, S. H. Heavy Mineral Beach Deposits in the Karroo 
 System. A Nuclear Raw Materials Investigation, Primarily for the 
 Atomic Energy Board. S. Afr. Geol. Surv. Mem. 56, 1965, p. 1. 
 
 97. Coetzee, C. B. (ed.). Mineral Resources of the Republic of 
 South Africa. S. Afr., Geol. Surv. Handb. 7, 5th ed., 1976, p. 462. 
 
 98. Whitworth, H. F. The Zircon-Rutile Deposits on the Beaches 
 of the East Coast of Australia With Special Reference to Their 
 Mode of Occurrence and the Origin of the Mineral. N.S.W., Dep. 
 Mines, Tech. Rep., v. 4, 1956, 60 pp. 
 
 99. Connah, T. H. Beach Sand Heavy Mineral Deposits of 
 Queensland. Geol. Surv. Queensl., Publ. 302; pt. 1, 1961, 31 pp. 
 
 100. Western Australia School of Mines. Reference Papers: 
 Exploitation of Mineral Sands (A Course Text Book). 1979, 323 pp. 
 
 101. Gardner, D. E. Beach Sand Heavy Mineral Deposits of 
 Eastern Australia. Aust., Bur. Miner. Resour., Geol. and 
 Geophys., Bull. 28, 1955, 103 pp. 
 
 102. McKellar, J. B. The Eastern Australian Rutile Province. 
 Sec. in Economic Geology of Australia and Papua New Guinea, ed. 
 
by M. Mauby. Monogr. 5, 1980, pp. 1055-1062; available upon 
 request from R. Fantel, BuMines, Denver, CO. 
 
 103. The Mineral Sands Producer's Association (Sydney, New 
 South Wales, Australia). The Mineral Sand Mining Industry in New 
 South Wales, A Case for Re-Appraisal of Policies. Oct. 1980, App. 
 p. 20. 
 
 104. Rutile & Zircon Mines Ltd. (Newcastle, New South Wales, 
 Australia). The Company and Its Products. 1977, 6 pp. 
 
 105. Heath, A. A., and Partners (Sydney, New South Wales, 
 Australia). Moreton Island Environmental Impact Study and 
 Strategic Plan. 1975, 38 pp. 
 
 106. Lewis, J. W. Fraser Island Revisited. Min. Rev. (Adelaide), 
 Nov. 1979, pp. 4-12. 
 
 107. Mineral Deposits Ltd. (Southport, Queensland, Australia). 
 Environmental Impact Study Report for Proposed Subdivi- 
 sion—Rocky Point. 1975, 22 pp. 
 
 108. Terence Willsteed and Associates (Sydney, New South 
 Wales, Australia). List of mining tracts. Appen, to rep., undated, 7 
 pp. ; available upon request from R. Fantel, BuMines, Denver, 
 CO. 
 
 109. Ian Potter and Co. (Brisbane, Queensland, Australia). 
 Report on Ore Reserves by 15 Mining Tenements Held by 
 Murphyores Inc. Pty Ltd. in Queensland. Feb. 23, 1968, 18 pp. 
 
 110. Ward, J. Australian Resources of Mineral Sands. Aust. 
 Miner. Ind. (Econ. Notes and Stat.), v. 25, No. 1, 1972, pp. 12-23. 
 
 HI. Pinter, J. Mining Heavy-Mineral Sand in AustraUa — 
 Summary. Paper in Circum-Pacific Energy and Mineral Resources, 
 ed. by M. T. Halbouty, J. C. Maher, and H. M. Lian (Proc. Conf. 
 Honolulu, HI, Aug. 26-30, 1974). Am. Assoc. Pet. Geol., 1976, pp. 
 418-421. 
 
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 Geophysics. Titanium and Zirconium. Bull. 72, Aug. 1965, pp. 
 623-629. 
 
 113. Kile, M. G. The Barrambie Titanium- Vanadium-Iron De- 
 posit, Western Australia. A Project Survey (1968-1982) and 
 Developmental Potential. Oct. 1982, 60 pp; available from the 
 Ferrovanadium Corp., Perth, W.A., Australia. 
 
 114. Hancock, P. M. and Associates (Hamilton, New Zealand). 
 Extracts From New Zealand Titanium Resources. Dec. 1980, p. 46. 
 
 115. Ferguson, F. A., A. Garnett, and 0. Kamatari. CEH 
 Marketing Research Report, Titanium Dioxide Pigments. Ch. in 
 Chemical Economics Handbook. Stanford Res. Inst. Int., Aug. 
 1981, pp. 788.5000A-788.5005L. 
 
 116. Raymond Kaiser Engineers, Inc. Development of Engineer- 
 ing and (Dost Data for Foreign Titanium Properties (contract 
 J0215037). BuMines OFR 20-85, 1982, 38 pp.; NTIS PB 85-172997. 
 
31 
 
 APPENDIX A.— WORLD TITANIUM DEPOSIT GEOLOGY AND RESOURCES 
 
 The following discussions give an overview of the world 
 resources of titanium by region. Included in these discus- 
 sions are primarily those deposits evaluated for this study. 
 
 NORTH AMERICA 
 United States 
 
 Major titanium mines and deposits in the United States 
 that were included in this study are shown on figure A-1. 
 The figure shows the abundance of deposits along the east 
 coast, most of which are beach-sand-type deposits. 
 
 The most important titanium resources of the United 
 States, from a commercial standpoint, are located in 
 Florida, just south of Jacksonville. There are three 
 producing mines in this region, one owned by Associated 
 Minerals Ltd., the Green Cove Springs Mine, and two 
 owned by Du Pont, the Trail Ridge and Highland 
 operations. These mines are believed to be ancient elevated 
 beach sand deposits of Pliocene to Pleistocene age, although 
 recent work has supported the statement that much of the 
 Trail Ridge ore is aeolian dune (27, p. 30).' 
 
 'Italicized numbers in parentheses refer to items in the list of references 
 preceding this appendix. 
 
 The Green Cove Springs ore body, located on the Duval 
 Upland, is approximately 19 km long, 1 km wide, and 6 m 
 thick, with the ore overlain by approximately 0.5 m of 
 topsoil. The two Du Pont operations are actually one single 
 ore body found on the Trail Ridge feature, separated by 
 State Highway 225. The ore body on the Trail Ridge feature 
 is approximately 27 km long, 4 km wide, and from 8 to 21 m 
 thick. Here, too, the ore is located just below the thin 
 topsoil. 
 
 Resources are estimated to be greater than 400 million 
 mt of sand (or approximately 5 million mt of contained Ti02) 
 at the demonstrated level for both these deposits, and 
 possibly as much as a billion tons of sand (over 10 million mt 
 of contained Ti02) when inferred resources are included {2). 
 The average heavy-mineral content of these deposits is 3 to 
 4 pet. The most significant heavy minerals produced are 
 rutile, altered ilmenite, leucoxene, zircon, and monazite. 
 High-grade Ti02 minerals account for about 45 pet of the 
 heavy minerals at Trail Ridge (28). The Trail Ridge and 
 Highland operations have been producing since 1949 and 
 1955, respectively, while the Green Cove Springs Mine 
 started up in 1972. 
 
 Humphreys Mining Co. had been mining heavy 
 minerals in Florida near the town of Boulougne during the 
 1970's, but by 1980, the deposit was completely mined out 
 and, therefore, this mine was not included in our evaluation. 
 
 Allard Lake • 
 
 Pin-Rouge Lake4& 
 
 Pit 
 
 /Iron Mountain 
 
 * 
 
 ^Powderliorn 
 
 .Maclntyre* 
 
 Piney River "^ 
 
 rOak Grove' ^n 
 'Silica Mine/O- 
 
 4e>0tter Creek Valley 
 
 1^ Magnet Cove 
 
 LEGEND 
 H: Mines and deposits 
 
 Cumberland Island 
 Brunswick-ANamaha! 
 
 gGrs'en Cove Springs ^.^ 
 ' Trail Ridge ^ 
 Highland 
 
 Figure A-1.— Location of titanium mines and titanium-bearing deposits of North America. 
 
32 
 
 Two significant deposits in Georgia containing heavy 
 minerals, particularly titanium, were included in the 
 evaluation. Both are located in the southeast corner of the 
 State, the Cumberland Island deposit on the coast just north 
 of the Florida State line, and the Brunswick-Altamaha 
 deposit slightly inland just north of the town of Brunswick. 
 Neither of these deposits has ever been developed, although 
 various drilling programs have defined the ore bodies. These 
 deposits are placer beach sand deposits of Pleistocene to 
 Recent age. The Cumberland Island deposit is located in the 
 Silver Bluff Shoreline Complex covering the entire island 
 (2,833 ha) and is overlain by 0.2 m of overburden. Heavy 
 minerals are located in the upper, sandy unit. The 
 Brunswick-Altamaha deposit is found in the Princess Anne 
 Shoreline Complex. It is 10,460 m long and 805 m wide, and 
 has a thickness of 4.6 m. It, too, is overlain by 0.2 m of 
 topsoil. 
 
 Ilmenite is the major titanium-bearing ore mineral at 
 both the Georgian deposits. Small amounts of rutile and/or 
 leucoxene are present. Zircon and monazite may also be 
 recoverable. The average heavy-mineral content of the 
 Silver Bluff Shoreline Complex (for Cumberland Island) has 
 been reported to be 1.7 pet, containing over 45 pet ilmenite, 
 nearly 3 pet leucoxene, and almost 7 pet rutile. Zircon and 
 monazite have also been reported to be nearly 13 pet and 
 over 1 pet, respectively, of the heavy minerals (29). 
 Demonstrated resources for the two deposits range from 200 
 to 500 million mt of sand (or from 1.5 to 4 million mt of 
 contained Ti02). Identified resources from old beach sands 
 in Georgia have been reported to contain nearly 3 million mt 
 TiOs (2). 
 
 The Brunswick-Altamaha deposit is presently owned by 
 Union Camp Corp. (40 pet), the Jones family (40 pet), and 
 the Brunswick Pulp and Paper Co. (20 pet), which did the 
 drilling of the deposit in 1960. The Cumberland Island 
 deposit is primarily owned by the U.S. Department of the 
 Interior's National Park Service (86 pet). The remaining 14 
 pet is privately owned. The deposit was drilled out in the 
 1950's, and very little has been done since then. 
 
 The Folkston deposit, not included in the present study, 
 was a significant producing titanium mine in Georgia (near 
 the Florida border along the coast) throughout the 1960's 
 and into the 1970's. Humphreys Mining Co. ceased 
 operations there in 1974 because of the exhaustion of 
 reserves. 
 
 The only deposit in North Carolina evaluated for this 
 study is NL Industries' property located near the east coast 
 of the State, west of the town of Aurora. The deposit 
 consists of heavy-mineral sands occurring primarily in 
 unconsolidated placer beach sands of Pleistocene to Recent 
 age. The sand occurs in narrow strips within a zone 19 km 
 long and 0.85 km wide. The average thickness of the ore 
 zone is 6 m, covered by approximately 1 m of overburden. 
 Although the heavy-mineral sands in this deposit are 
 un weathered, poorly sorted, and contain various impurities 
 (making processing and recovery more difficult), scattered 
 pockets may contain as much as 15 pet heavy minerals. The 
 average heavy-mineral content is 3 pet. Ilmenite is the 
 primary titanium mineral present. Small amounts of zircon 
 and rutile, although insufficient to recover, are also present. 
 Reserves at this deposit have been reported to be 35 million 
 mt of beach sand, or approximately 400,000 mt of contained 
 Ti02 (30). Various drilling programs defined this deposit in 
 the 1950's, 1960's, and 1970's. This deposit has never been 
 developed. 
 
 Two deposits in Virginia were included in the evalua- 
 tion, both associated with ferrodiorites of the Roseland 
 
 District. These deposits, the B. F. Camden Anomaly and 
 the Piney River deposit, are located in Amherst County in 
 the center of the State. Ilmenite is the major ore mineral at 
 these deposits and is found either at the base of ferrodiorite 
 sheets or with apatite in dikehke masses also known as 
 nelsonite (31). The nelsonite deposits are higher grade but 
 limited in size. Some rutile also exists in the district but is 
 not significant in the two deposits studied. The B. F. 
 Camden Anomaly ore body is just over 2 km in length and 
 approximately 200 m wide. The ore zone averages 20 m thick 
 under approximately 1 m of overburden. At the Piney River 
 deposit, the ore body is nearly 900 m long, extending to a 
 depth of over 120 m. Ilmenite grades average nearly 20 pet 
 (10 pet Ti02) at both these deposits, with demonstrated 
 resources ranging from 20 to 30 million mt of ore (or 1 to 3 
 million mt contained Ti02). 
 
 Ilmenite has been mined in New Jersey since the early 
 1960s. Glidden Industries operated the Lakehurst operation 
 until it was closed in 1973; and the Manchester Mine, which 
 is included in this evaluation, was operated by Asarco from 
 1973 until it was closed in 1981 for economic reasons. Even 
 though this operation is presently closed and Asarco has no 
 intention of ever returning (all equipment and structures are 
 being dismantled and sold), it was included in this evaluation 
 since some resources remain. It was evaluated from the 
 standpoint of a nonproducing deposit that would need 
 complete development to start production. Asarco retained 
 the mineral rights to the deposit. 
 
 The Manchester deposit is located in northern Ocean 
 County, NJ, southwest of the town of Lakehurst. The ore is 
 found in the Cohansey Sand formation, of late Miocene or 
 Pliocene age. The formation is a medium-grained poorly 
 sorted quartz sandstone approximately 30 m thick. It lies 
 unconformably on the Kirkwood Formation of Miocene age. 
 The Cohansey, in the central part of the State, is ilmenite 
 rich and has been the only formation mined, although heavy 
 minerals are present above and below it. Resources for the 
 Manchester Mine were originally estimated to be on the 
 order of 163 million mt at 1.95 pet Ti02 (32). Once production 
 through January 1981 is subtracted (approximate time of 
 shutdown), approximately 100 million mt of ore (2 million mt 
 contained Ti02) remain. 
 
 The entire district, including both the Manchester 
 deposit and the old Lakehurst Mine, had been estimated by 
 Markewiez in 1969 to contain as much 11.3 million mt of 
 contained Ti02 resources (33). Subtracting production to 
 date, the district may contain as much as 10 million mt of 
 contained Ti02 (^)- These estimated resources should 
 probably be considered identified since they may include 
 both demonstrated and inferred resources. The heavy- 
 mineral content at these deposits ranges from 3 to 15 pet, 
 averaging 4 to 5 pet (28). Altered ilmenite makes up 85 to 90 
 pet of the heavy minerals (33). 
 
 The only deposit in New York included in this 
 evaluation is the Maelntyre Development, located near 
 Tahav^Tis, in Essex County. The Maelntyre Development is 
 within the Precambrian Sanford Lake magnetite district in 
 the midst of the Adirondack Mountains. Although titanifer- 
 ous magnetite deposits have been known to exist in the 
 Adirondacks since the 1800's, no significant development 
 occurred until National Lead Co. (now NL Industries) 
 began developing the Sanford Hill ore body in the early 
 1940's. Iron (from magnetite) and titanium (from ilmenite) 
 have been produced from this region since then, moving to 
 the south (the South Extension) in the 1960's. As of the end 
 of 1982, the ilmenite concentrates have been stockpiled, 
 since NL's pigment plant in Sayreville, NJ, the main 
 
33 
 
 consumer of Maclntyre's ilmenite, has closed because of 
 economic conditions. 
 
 Anorthositic ore, occurring as massive lenses, and 
 gabbroic ore, occurring as oxide-enriched bands, are both 
 found at the South extension, where mining presently 
 exists. The Sanford Lake district contains four major ore 
 bodies: the Sanford Hill-South Extension, the upper works 
 (also called Calamity-Mill Pond), Mt. Adams, and Cheney 
 Pond, where mining activities would probably occur next. 
 Demonstrated resources, used in this evaluation, include the 
 Sanford Hill-South Extension (nearly mined out) and 
 Cheney Pond. It has been reported that total resources for 
 the entire district are 8.6 million mt of contained Ti02 (2). 
 The Ti02 grade ranges from 10 to 30 pet (28) throughout the 
 district although it is closer to 15 to 20 pet at the South 
 Extension and Cheney Pond. Small amounts of vanadium 
 (0.5 pet V2O5) exist in the magnetite phase throughout the 
 district but are not recovered. Iron grades range from 15 to 
 30 pet at the South Extension and Cheney Pond. 
 
 Two deposits in Tennessee were included in the 
 evaluation, the Oak Grove deposit and the Sihca Mine. Both 
 deposits occur in the Cretaceous McNairy Sand formation at 
 the eastern edge of the Mississippi River Embayment. The 
 deposits, located in northwestern Tennessee, are secondary, 
 ancient marine beach sands. The Silica Mine presently 
 produces only a quartz sand product. Altered ilmenite and 
 rutile are the major heavy minerals at both deposits, with 
 zircon, leucoxene, staurolite, kyanite, tourmaline, and 
 monazite also potentially recoverable. Resources for this 
 region have not been published for specific deposits but are 
 estimated by the U.S. Geological Survey and the Bureau of 
 Mines to be 8.4 milhon mt contained Ti02 from the ilmenite 
 and 1.3 million mt contained TiOg from the rutile (2). This 
 estimated resource is at the identified level and contains 
 more tonnage than at Oak Grove and the Silica Mine. These 
 estimates seem to include tonnage owned by Kerr-McGee 
 and in Natchez Trace, which was not included in this 
 evaluation because of a lack of information. 
 
 Oak Grove is owned by the Ethyl Corp. and is located in 
 Henry County. The ore body is over 20 km long and 8 km 
 wide, and approximately 12 m thick with 12 m of 
 overburden. Although the deposit was explored in the early 
 1970's, no development has ever occurred. 
 
 Sihca sand is produced by the Tennessee Silica Sand Co. 
 (a subsidiary of Jesse S. Morie and Sons, Inc.) at the Sihca 
 Mine in Benton County. This deposit, about 400 ha in 
 extent, and with sand outcropping in many places, has a 
 minable ore thickness of about 4 m. The mine has been in 
 production for more than 40 yr and has only recently been 
 acquired by its present owners. 
 
 There are three known significant titanium deposits in 
 Hot Spring County, AR; only the Magnet Cove deposit, just 
 north of the city of Hot Springs, was included in this 
 analysis. The other two, both of which have never produced, 
 are the Christy deposit and the Hardy-Walsh deposit. The 
 Magnet Cove deposit produced about 5,000 mt of rutile 
 concentrate from 1932 to 1944. The Magnet Cove deposit has 
 been owned by various companies and is now held in fee by 
 numerous private owners. 
 
 These deposits in northern Hot Springs County are 
 part of a complex mixture of alkahc igneous rocks (the throat 
 of an ancient volcano). Cretaceous in age, intruding into 
 folded sedimentary and metamorphic rocks (28). Rutile and 
 brookite are the most significant titanium minerals present. 
 
 In situ resources of ore remaining at the Magnet Cove 
 deposit have been reported to be just over 7 million mt at 2.6 
 pet TiOg (or nearly 200,000 mt of contained TiOa) (3Jt). Small 
 
 amounts of columbium are also present but not in quantities 
 sufficient for recovery. Idealized dimensions of this ore body 
 are 580 m in length and 151 m in width. Maximum pit depth 
 is presently 9 m, with little or no overburden, and the ore 
 body has been drilled to depths of at least 41 m. The Christy 
 deposit was drilled by the Bureau in 1948 and, although no 
 quantification of resources was made, it has been stated that 
 the ore body contains 5.8 pet Ti02 (35). 
 
 An alluvial river sand deposit of Quaternary age in 
 southwestern Oklahoma (Kiowa and Tillman Counties) was 
 included in this evaluation. The Otter Creek Valley deposit, 
 located along the southwest flank of the Wichita Mountains, 
 
 3.5 km west of the town of Snyder, is a portion of the valley 
 fill within the Otter Creek drainage system. These 
 ilmenite-bearing black sands, first recognized by the 
 Oklahoma Geological Survey in the early 1950's, were 
 extensively investigated by the Bureau in the late 1950's. 
 There has never been any development at this deposit and 
 no further studies since the Bureau's 1960 report (36). 
 
 The Otter Creek Valley deposit is approximately 20 km 
 long and 2 km wide. The thickness of the deposit averages 
 
 7.6 m (a basal sand-elay component), while the overburden 
 averages 5.9 m thick (a silt-clay alluvium). 
 
 The indicated potential resource for the Otter Creek 
 Valley deposit was estimated to be approximately 340 
 million mt of alluvial material containing 1.24 pet Ti02 (or 
 4.2 million mt of contained TiOg) (36). The Ti02 is in the form 
 of ilmenite. Small amounts of Columbian are also present but 
 not in sufficient quantities for recovery. The resource 
 estimated by the Bureau in 1960 includes the northern 
 portion of the deposit, flooded by a reservoir. It is estimated 
 that of the 340 million mt, only 317 milHon mt with a grade of 
 1.23 pet Ti02 (or 3.9 million mt of contained TiOg) would be 
 available for mining. The deposit has no clear overall owner, 
 since it is covered by a collection of numerous individual 
 landholders who may or may not own the mineral rights. 
 
 The Powerhorn titanium deposit, owned by Buttes Gas 
 and Oil Co. , was the only deposit in Colorado evaluated for 
 this study. It is 1-^eated 40 km southwest of the town of 
 Gunnison, in the southwestern part of the State of Colorado. 
 The deposit is an alkalie igneous stock and carbonatite, which 
 intruded a Precambrian host rock, consisting of gi-anites and 
 other metamorphic rocks, approximately 550 million yr ago 
 (Cambrian period). The carbonatite is surrounded by 
 pyroxenite, which, primarily in northeastern half of the 
 complex, contains the titanium-bearing mineral perovs- 
 kite, together with magnetite. The perovskite and 
 magnetite occur as both irregular lenshke bodies several 
 feet long and an accessory minerals in the pyroxenite. The 
 ore body has been studied and drilled out at various times 
 from the 1950's to the late 1970's. Holes drilled to a depth of 
 180 m had not determined the lower hmits of mineralization. 
 The deposit is 4 km long and 0.6 km wide. 
 
 Resources for the Powderhorn deposit were pubhshed 
 in a 1976 Wall Street Journal article as 380 milhon mt 
 averaging 12 pet Ti02. This was classified as 88 million mt 
 measured, 158 milhon mt indicated, and 134 million mt 
 inferred (37). Although the ore body is reported to be 12 pet 
 Ti02 in total, much of this titanium is mineralogieally 
 "locked up" in augite, magnetite, mica, and even leucoxene. 
 The major recoverable titanium mineral, perovskite, con- 
 tains the only potentially recoverable Ti02 from the ore 
 body. It has been estimated that recoverable perovskite is 
 approximately 8 pet of the ore body and that the perovskite 
 contains only about 50 pet Ti02. Therefore, only 4 pet Ti02 
 would be reahzed, resulting in 9.8 milhon mt contained Ti02 
 at the demonstrated level and an additional 5.9 million mt 
 
34 
 
 contained Ti09 at the inferred level. Columbium and rare 
 earths are also present in this deposit; the rare earths are 
 considered to be of commercial significance. Little has been 
 done with this deposit since Butte's drilling program in 1976. 
 
 The Iron Mountain titaniferous magnetite deposits, 
 located in the Laramie Range, were included in this 
 evaluation. The deposits are in southeastern Wyoming, 
 approximately 76 km northeast of Laramie. The rocks in this 
 region are predominantly a metamorphic Precambrian 
 complex intruded by anorthosites and associated igneous 
 rocks, which were subsequently intruded by dikes of granite 
 and magnetite-ilmenite (28). The main Iron Mountain dike 
 contains the major ore deposits occurring as either massive 
 megnetite-ilmenite or as disseminated magnetite-ilmenite. 
 In either case, ore is composed of extremely fine inter- 
 growths of magnetite and ilmenite and occurs as irregular 
 masses or as streaks in the central areas of the anorthosite. 
 Since most of the ilmenite is combined with the magnetite, 
 these intergrow^ths would have to be upgraded using a 
 smelting process similar to that used by QIT in Sorel. 
 
 Resources for the high-grade massive ore at Iron 
 Mountain have been estimated to be 30 miUion mt with an 
 average grade of 45 pet Fe and 20 pet Ti02. The lower grade 
 disseminated ore has been estimated to be 148 million mt 
 with an average grade of 20 pet Fe and 9 pet Ti02. Much of 
 this material was classified as inferred. The resource value 
 used for this evaluation was a portion of the high-grade 
 massive ore (38). 
 
 The Iron Mountain deposits were drilled and evaluated 
 in the 1950's and 1960's. They are owned by Rocky Mountain 
 Energy Co., a subsidiary of Union Pacific (64 pet), and by 
 Anaconda, a subsidiary of ARCO (35 pet). The remaining 1 
 pet is controlled by local ranchers. The deposit has never 
 been developed. 
 
 The evaluation also included a clay-producing operation 
 in central California near the town of lone. The waste 
 material found in the tailings pond from this mine (called the 
 lone pit and mill) contains titanium, in the form of altered 
 ilmenite, and zircon. The commercially important clay, sand, 
 and lignite deposits of this region are found in the Tertiary 
 lone Formation. The waste material, which could be 
 reprocessed for the heavy minerals, contains just over 1 pet 
 zircon (ZrOg) and 20 pet ilmenite (10 pet TiOg) (39). No 
 published resources exist. The mine is owned by North 
 American Refractories Co. and has been operating since 
 1954. 
 
 Additional United States Resources 
 
 The following section briefly describes those U.S. 
 deposits not included in this evaluation. Most of these were 
 too small to include, or their resource is not presently 
 extractable vdth today's technology, or the resource was not 
 at the demonstrated level. Unless otherwise noted, the 
 resource level was not stated in the literature. Most of the 
 resource values that were given in the literature are 
 probably inferred estimates. 
 
 Florida phosphate deposits contain various heavy 
 minerals, including rutile, ilmenite, zircon, and monazite, 
 found in the Phocene Bone Valley Formation UO). The 
 Bureau has studied the potential for recovering these heavy 
 minerals from the flotation circuits of central Florida 
 phosphate mines. Although commercial-grade concentrates 
 were produced, the heavy-mineral recoveries were ex- 
 tremely low ovdng principally to the fineness of grain size 
 Ul). Resources have been estimated to be at least 200,000 
 mt TiOg (2). 
 
 The Bureau has also investigated the potential for 
 recovering heavy minerals from sand and gravel operations 
 in Alabama. The most significant heavy minerals found in 
 these Cretaceous sand operations were ilmenite (an altered 
 form), rutile, zircon, kyanite, and monazite. The study found 
 that the occurrence of heavy minerals in these operations is 
 widespread U2). Other Bureau studies have investigated 
 the potential recovery of rutile as well as various heavy 
 minerals from sand and gravel operations throughout the 
 southeastern United States (particularly Alabama, Georgia, 
 North Carolina, and South (Ilarohna) U3-4-4-). The resource 
 could be substantial based on the number of sand and gravel 
 operations in that region and, in fact, has been estimated to 
 be as much as 400,000 mt of contained Ti02 from Alabama 
 and Georgia operations (2). 
 
 The Bureau has also investigated the potential to 
 recover byproduct heavy minerals from sand and gravel 
 operations in Oregon and Washington U5) and in central and 
 southern California U6). Resources in these regions were 
 not estimated, with the exception of lone. 
 
 Various old beach sand deposits have been investigated 
 in South Carolina. One source estimates identified resources 
 of 3.8 million mt of ilmenite and 1.0 million mt of rutile 
 (together equahng approximately 3.0 million mt of contained 
 TiOz) from 11 of these deposits U7, p. 7). The Charleston 
 area deposits contain an additional resource, containing 2 
 miUion mt of heavy minerals U8, p. 14). 
 
 The Natchez Trace area of Tennessee, in Henderson 
 County, is reported to have over 7 million mt of heavy 
 minerals containing significant quantities of rutile (250,000 
 mt) and ilmenite (4.1 million mt) as well as various other 
 heavy minerals U9, p. 17; 50, p. 24). There could be as much 
 as 2.5 million mt of contained Ti02. 
 
 Iknenite resources on the western side of Ship Island, 
 MS, have been reported to be on the order of 200,000 mt 
 (100,000 mt contained TiOg) (51, p. 23). Ship Island is a 
 modem barrier island in the Gulf of Mexico. 
 
 An ilmenite mine in Caldwell County, NC, called the 
 Yadkin Valley deposit, produced high-gi-ade ilmenite from. 
 1942 to 1952. The deposit consists of small masses of ilmenite 
 in a quartzite and mica schist. The Ti02 grade (49 to 52 pet) 
 has been considered unusually high for a rock-type ilmenite 
 (28). Remaining resources have been estimated to be 
 200,000 mt of contained TiOa (2). 
 
 The Willis Mountain Mine, a producing kyanite mine in 
 Virginia, is reported to have 300,000 mt of contained Ti02 
 resources. This value is based on the rutile content of 
 identified kyanite resources (2). 
 
 In the serpentinite belt of Harford County, MD, initile 
 is found in significant quantities in the ultramafic chlorite 
 rock. Although averaging approximately 1 pet rutile, some 
 pockets contain as much as 16 pet (52). Resources for this 
 deposit have been estimated to be 700,000 mt of contained 
 Ti02 at the identified level (2). 
 
 The Port Leyden heavy-mineral deposit, at the edge of 
 the Adirondack Mountains in New York, contains significant 
 quantities of low-gi-ade ilmenite and zircon resources. The 
 ilmenite sands are found in Pleistocene glacial deposits. 
 Although the grade of the Ti02 in the ilmenite is only 25 pet, 
 there is a reported 31 million mt of ilmenite at this deposit 
 (7.8 milhon mt of contained Ti02). Inferred resources have 
 been estimated to be on the order of 2.4 billion mt of sand 
 with an ilmenite grade of 1.5 pet. Zircon and small quantities 
 of rutile also are present at this deposit (53). Technology to 
 recover this ilmenite resource is questionable, and there- 
 fore, this large resource has never been considered for 
 development. Resources discusssed here are only for the 
 
35 
 
 Port Leyden Quadrangle. Possibly more tonnage exists 
 outside that area. 
 
 The Duluth Gabbro Complex of mafic igneous rocks in 
 Minnesota has recently been studied to determine various 
 byproduct recoveries. Of interest is the large quantity of 
 ilmenite that could potentially be recovered. It was 
 estimated that over 500,000 mt/yr ilmenite with a grade of 
 50 pet TiOg could become available from the copper-nickel 
 tailings (54). Resources for the complex, at the identified 
 level, have been estimated at 10 million mt of contained Ti02 
 (2). 
 
 Various rare earths were mined from Idaho alluvial 
 placer deposits in the 1950's. Ilmenite does exist at these 
 deposits and could be recovered, although the grade is very 
 low. These resources would become significant only if 
 mining for rare earths ever reoccurred. 
 
 Some years ago, the Bureau studied the titaniferous 
 Cretaceous shoreline sandstones of Utah, Wyoming, New 
 Mexico, and Colorado. In that reconnaissance, nearly 28 
 million mt of sandstone containing an average of 7 pet Ti02, 
 equivalent to 2 million mt contained Ti02, was quantified 
 (55, p. 8). The titanium minerals present were ilmenite and 
 altered ilmenite. Some zircon and monazite were also found 
 to be present in these deposits. The resource estimate was 
 based on field sampling and dimensional calculations, and 
 therefore the resource level should not be considered any 
 greater than inferred. Technology to recover these re- 
 sources is unproven. 
 
 A rutile deposit was discovered in 1968 in a Precam- 
 brian gneiss near Evergreen, CO. Average rutile grade was 
 2. 1 pet in an indicated resource estimated to be 115,000 mt of 
 rutile, with additional inferred resources of 47,000 mt rutile 
 for every 30 m in depth below the 73 m measured. Although 
 this resource was determined to be recoverable, it was felt 
 that it would never be mined owing to both environmental 
 and economic factors (56). 
 
 Deposits similar to the type found in Evergreen, CO, 
 are also found in Farmville District, VA, Kings Mountain 
 District, NC and SC, Graves Mountain, GA, White 
 Mountain, CA, Yuma County, AZ, and Santa Cruz County, 
 AZ (56). 
 
 Preliminary studies have been made by both the U. S. 
 Geology Survey and the Bureau to determine the potential 
 for recovering rutile from porphyry coper tailings in Arizona 
 and Utah. The Geological Survey work has estimated that 8 
 million mt of recoverable rutile may exist at just three 
 deposits (Bagdad and San Manuel, AZ, and Bingham, UT) 
 (57, p. 2245). The Bureau work has centered on the 
 technology to recover these very large resources of rutile 
 (58). Although the tests proved that the rutile could be 
 partially recovered from these tailings, additional research 
 will be needed before these could be considered a 
 commercial source. 
 
 Clay deposits near Spokane, WA (400,000 mt contained 
 Ti02) (2), and bauxite deposits near Salem, OR (1.8 million 
 mt contained Ti02) (2), both contain presently unrecover- 
 able ilmenite. 
 
 An ilmenite deposit in the San Gabriel Mountains of 
 California contains possibly as much as 4.8 million mt of Ti02 
 (2). The ilmenite, found in an nnorthosite, may contain 45 pet 
 Ti02 (28), which could be upgraded by smelting. 
 
 Recent studies by the Geological Survey have outlined 
 areas along the U.S. Atlantic Continental Shelf where heavy 
 minerals may be present (59). Although very little work has 
 been done on these offshore deposits, the potential appears 
 to be significant. Large tonnages of ilmenite have been 
 estimated to be present offshore south of New York City, 
 
 in the inner New York Bight. This, too, is from recent work 
 and remains under investigation (60). 
 
 Canada 
 
 The Allard Lake deposit in Canada is one of the most 
 important titanium deposits in the world (fig. A-1). It occurs 
 as massive dykes, sills, lenses, or irregular bodies associated 
 with a local anorthositic intrusion within this Precambrian 
 shield area. Ilmenite and hematite are the primary economic 
 minerals. The deposit consists of three primary ore bodies: 
 the Min ore body, (the most important), the Northwest ore 
 body, and the Cliff ore body. In total, the deposit is 
 approximately 1 km long by 1 km wide. The open pit mine 
 currently exploits approximately one-half of that area. 
 Demonstrated resources for the three ore bodies at Allard 
 Lake plus the Grader, Springer, and Mills ore bodies have 
 been estimated, as of 1980, at 218 million mt at 31 pet Ti02 
 (68 million mt contained TiOg) and 36 pet Fe (61). 
 
 Although the Allard Lake deposits were explored 
 throughout the 1940s, production did not begin until 1950. 
 The mine was originally owned by Quebec Iron and 
 Titanium Corp. (a company formed by Kennecott Copper 
 Corp. and the New Jersey Zinc Co.). It is now owned by 
 QIT-Fer et Titane Inc. (which is owned by Standard Oil Co. 
 of Ohio). 
 
 The Puyjalon Lake and Magpie Mountain deposits, 
 located near the Allard Lake deposits, were not included in 
 this evaluation primarily because of the lack of information 
 and the low grade of the ore. These two deposits are also 
 asociated with the local anorthosites and, as with Allard 
 Lake, are iron-titanium deposits. The Puyjalon Lake deposit 
 has been reported to contain almost 210 million mt of ore 
 with 11 pet Ti02 and 18 pet Fe, while the Magpie Mountain 
 deposit was estimated to contain 1 billion mt of ore with 11 
 pet Ti02 and 43 pet Fe, both at the indicated level (62, p. 57). 
 
 The Pin-Rouge Lake deposit in Quebec was included in 
 the evaluation (fig. A-1). As with the Allard Lake deposits, 
 the deposit at Pin-Rouge Lake is also associated with an 
 anorthositic core. The titanium mineralization is primarily 
 ilmenite and is associated predominantly with the gabbros 
 that rim the anorthosites. Hematite is also widespread and 
 is associated with the ilmenite as well as some magnetite. 
 The evaluation treated this deposit like the Allard Lake 
 deposit in that a titanium slag and a pig iron byproduct 
 would be produced. 
 
 The ore body at Pin-Rouge Lake was thoroughly 
 explored in the 1950's by Laurentian Mines Ltd. and later, 
 in the 1970's, by the Canadian Nickel Co. Ltd. (CANICO). 
 Presently, Laurentian Mines Ltd. controls the 34 un- 
 patended claims. 
 
 Pin-Rouge Lake is located approximately 50 km 
 northwest of Montreal. The ore body, consisting of a main 
 zone and its northern extension, contains numerous massive 
 steep dipping lenses of ilmenite-hematite. Both zones are 
 approximately 1.5 km in length, with widths ranging from 
 20 to 50 m. Published demonstrated resources for the 
 Pin-Rouge Lake ore body are approximately 15 million mt 
 averaging 20 pet Ti02 and 27.6 pet Fe to a depth of 69 m (63). 
 This is the equivalent of approximately 3.0 million mt 
 contained Ti02. Values used in this evaluation were 
 somewhat higher based en unpublished sources. 
 
 The Athabasca Tar San('? of Canada were not included 
 in this evaluation. This deposit, located in Alberta, is an oil 
 sand, often termed a "tar sand," deposit that contains 
 approximately 1 pet heavy minerals, of which titanium and 
 zirconium minerals are the most notable (6i). Various 
 
Canadian companies such as Syncrude Canada, Great 
 Canadian Oil Sands, and Canadian Titanium Pigments are 
 investigating the feasibility of recovering these minerals 
 from the tar sands {65). Total resources for this deposit have 
 not been quantified. 
 
 Mexico 
 
 A titaniferous deposit, located at Pluma Hidalgo, 
 Oaxaca, Mexico, was not included in this study. The 
 titanium minerals present in this deposit are rutile and 
 ilmenite. The deposit is similar in nature to those Virginia 
 deposits included in the study and discussed earlier. 
 
 SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 Titanium resources in Brazil (fig. A-2) are found 
 primarily in five mines and deposits, all. of which were 
 included in this analysis. Three of the deposits (Catalao, 
 Bananeira, and Tapira) are proposed anatase operations, 
 while the other two (Camaratuba and Campo Alegre de 
 Lourdes) are ilmenite deposits. 
 
 Of the five mines and deposits, Camaratuba is the only 
 one producing as of January 1984. Owned by Titanio do 
 Brasil (TIBRAS) and operated by Rutilo e Ilmenite do 
 Brasil S.A. (RIB), this operation began production some- 
 time in late 1982 or early 1983 (66) producing an ilmenite 
 concentrate and rutile and zircon byproduct concentrates. 
 Camaratuba is located along the Grajua beach in the 
 municipality of Mataraca between the States of Paraiba and 
 
 
 
 LEGEND 
 
 •south 
 
 AMERIC 
 
 Area of 
 map 
 
 A 
 
 State boundary 
 
 ® Capital 
 
 • City or town 
 
 * Mines and deposits 
 
 400 800 
 
 1 1 , t 
 
 Scale, km 
 Figure A-2.— Location of titanium mines and titanlum-bearing 
 deposits of Brazil. 
 
 Rio Grande do Norte. It is about 80 km south of the city of 
 Natal. Exploration of the beach sand deposits in this region 
 was undertaken by RIB in the late 1970's, with leases 
 approved by the state in 1978. Construction of facilities 
 preceeded until 1982 when startup was scheduled. 
 
 Camaratuba, a conventional secondary bei.ch sand 
 deposit of Recent age is a series of elevated sand dunes that 
 he between the ocean and an ancient sea chff. The dunes 
 stretch in a continuous line parallel to the shoreline, 
 extending in a north-northwest by south-southeast direction 
 for approximately 20 km. The dunes average 25 m high, and 
 those that have been explored cover an area of approximate- ' 
 ly 10 ha. The total heavy mineral content of the sand is 5 to 6 
 pet, containing ilmenite, zircon, rutile, along with other, less 
 important heavy minerals such as monazite, xenotime, 
 garnet, and tourmaline. 
 
 The Campo Alegre de Lourdes deposit, located in the 
 north-central part of the State of Bahia, 100 km northwest of 
 Salvador, is the only other Brazilian ilmenite deposit 
 included in this study. There are actually 10 individual 
 deposits in that area grouped together for the purpose of 
 this analysis. These deposits are associated with a regional 
 intrusive gabbro within the Precambrian Brazilian shield, 
 found in a small mountain range called Serra Dois Irmaos. 
 The 10 deposits are Anfilofio, Branco, Carlata, Chico Velho, 
 Lazan I, Lazan II, Redondo, Siyio, Testa Branca, and 
 Tuicuiu (66-67). 
 
 These deposits are owned by Cia. Bahiana de Pesquisa 
 Metais (CBPM), a state-owned company (70 pet), and 
 Caraiba Metais S. A. (30 pet). The deposits were explored in 
 the mid- to late 1970's, but no development ever occurred or 
 was planned. It was assumed, based on the type of ore and 
 the investigations made by CBPM, that the product from 
 these deposits would be a titanium slag. 
 
 The deposits at Campo Alegre de Lourdes occur in a 
 series of 10 north-south-oriented hills covering a length of 11 
 km, averaging 2.5 km wide. The resources are composed of a 
 gabbro intrusive in the schist country rock. Two distinct 
 zones are found at these deposits: the nonoxidized and the 
 oxidized. Even though the nonoxidized rocks contain 
 mineralization such as titaniferous magnetite, ilmenite, and 
 other accessory minerals (rutile and various sulfides), the 
 oxidized rocks contain the exploitable resources. In the 
 oxidized rocks, ilmenite and leucoxene are the most 
 prominent titanium minerals, averaging 20 pet Ti02 in the 
 ore (67). The ore zone averages 100 m wide and 1,000 m long 
 (67). Measured and indicated resources at Campo Alegre de 
 Lourdes have been reported to be 100 million mt of ore; the 
 inferred resource could be as much as 500 miUion mt of ore 
 (68). 
 
 The three anatase deposits included in the study are 
 located in south-central Brazil. These deposits are unique in 
 that the major titanium mineral is anatase, rather than 
 rutile or ilmenite. Anatase has never been produced on a 
 commercial scale, although significant testing has occurred 
 at the pilot plant stage. There still remains some uncertainty 
 in producing an untested product such as anatase. 
 
 The largest of the three anatase deposits is the Tapira 
 mine in the State of Minas Gerais. It is approximately 400 
 km west of Belo Horizonte in a region already being mined 
 for phosphate. The mine, which is in the development stages 
 preparing for production, is owned by Cia. Vale do Rio Doce 
 (CVRD). Most recent accounts show that the pilot plant 
 work at this deposit is now completed and CVRD is 
 constructing a plant that will produce a 90-pct-TiO2 
 concentrate (69), which is anticipated to feed a chloride plant 
 to be built in the city of Uberaba (State of Minas Gerais). 
 
37 
 
 The Tapira deposit occurs in a large alkaline pipe (6.4 
 km in diam). Titanium ore is found in residual deposits 
 overlying phosphate ore already being mined by Fertili- 
 zantes Fosfatados S.A. (FOSFERTIL). The alkaline pipe, 
 or diatreme, is of late Cretaceous age, having intruded into 
 Precambrian metasediments of the Canastra Group. The ore 
 contains as much as 22.4 pet TiOg (at a 15-pct-Ti02 cutoff), 
 with resources reported to be approximately 190 million mt 
 (70, p. 46). Resources used for this study were larger, using 
 a lower cutoff grade. Demonstrated resources have been 
 reported to be as large as 1.6 billion mt with more than 10 
 pet TiOz (71). 
 
 The Bananeira deposit, also in the State of Minas Gerais 
 (Municipality of Patroeinio), is an anatase deposit with 
 characteristics very similar to those of Tapira. The 
 Bananeira deposit is actually composed of three deposits: 
 Bananeira, Salitre II, and Sierra Negra. These deposits are 
 located approximately 400 km west of Belo Horizonte, just 
 north of the Tapira Mine. Bananeira is owned by Mineracao 
 Itaqui, Ltd., which is owned by Cia. Brasileira de Mineracao 
 e Metalurgia (CBMM). Ore from this deposit is being tested 
 in a pilot plant. 
 
 The resources at Bananeira are in rock almost identical 
 in age and characteristics to rock at Tapira. Resources have 
 been reported to be 150 million mt averaging 22.4 pet Ti02, 
 using a IS-pct-TiOg cutoff (70). 
 
 The third anatase deposit evaluated is the Catalao 
 deposit (also called Catalao-Ouvidor), located in the south- 
 ern part of the State of Goias, approximately 350 km south 
 of Brasiha. The owners of this deposit, Metais de Goias S. A. 
 (METAGO) and Goias Fertilizantes S. A. (GOIASFERTIL) 
 (a phosphate producer) have plans to do pilot plant studies 
 on the ore at Catalao, although, as of this writing, no 
 progress has been made. 
 
 The Catalao deposit is located just to the northwest of 
 the Tapira and Bananeira deposits, and its geological 
 characteristics are nearly the same. Resource data for this 
 deposit are not available, although it is fair to assume that 
 Ti02 grades are very similar to those at Tapira and 
 Bananeira. 
 
 Demonstrated resources used in this study for the three 
 anatase deposits in Brazil total nearly 300 million mt of ore 
 (over 75 million mt contained Ti02). Inferred resources are 
 an additional 145 million mt of ore (containing approximately 
 37 million mt TiOg). 
 
 EUROPE 
 
 Finland and Norway have the two most important 
 producing titanium mines in Europe at Otanmaki and 
 Tellnes, respectively. Italy's Piampaludo deposit, in the 
 feasibility planning stage, has a large potential. Titanium 
 resources are found in Portugal and Spain, although they 
 are small and rather insignificant. Romania and the 
 U.S.S.R. also produce titanium products. 
 
 Finland and Norway 
 
 The Precambrian areas of the Baltic Shield characterize 
 the titanium deposits of Finland and Norway. Deposits 
 appear to belong to one main genetic type, being generally 
 considered as differentiates from the crystalhzation of basic 
 magmas. These deposits almost invariably show an associa- 
 tion with provinces, complexes, or single bodies of mafic, 
 less often ultramafie, igneous rocks in which anorthosites, 
 gabbros, norites, and/or their metamorphie deriv- 
 
 atives predominate. The two most important deposits are 
 Otanmaki in Finland and Tellnes in Norway (72, p. 22; 73). 
 Figures A-3 and A-4 show the locations of these deposits. 
 The Otanmaki operation is Finland's only titanium 
 producer. It is located 500 km north of Helsinki. The 
 vanadium-bearing magnetite-ilmenite ore deposit is located 
 on the northern flank of a large layered Precambrian 
 hornblende gabbro-anorthosite intrusive. Amphibolite is the 
 predominant rock type. The ore itself is the contact zone 
 between the gabbros and anorthosites, and is made up of 
 heterogenous anorthosites, gabbros, metagabbros, and 
 orthoamphibolite. This zone is about 2.5 km long and 500 m 
 wide and can be traced to a depth of 800 m. Several types of 
 
 A 
 
 Otanmaki * 
 
 ^\ 
 
 /'^ 
 
 V 
 
 \ 
 
 
 1 
 
 )' ^ 
 
 
 ) 
 
 \ 
 
 r 
 
 \ 
 
 FINLAND 
 
 ) 
 
 -^r-^ 
 
 LEGEND 
 
 Provinical boundary 
 
 9 Capital 
 
 • City or town 
 
 * Mine 
 
 Figure A-3.— Location of Finland's Otanmalti Mine. 
 

 W^nrC^ 
 
 \ :^m-.^ .4S W E D E N 
 
 
 Yt, V; 
 
 VjtTellnesV / 
 
 ^ i^ 
 
 Flekkefjord* "-i/ 
 
 ^ 
 
 
 LEGEND 
 
 
 International boundary 
 
 — 
 
 -County boundary 
 
 ® 
 
 Capital 
 
 • 
 
 City or town 
 
 * 
 
 Mine 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 100 200 
 
 Scale, km 
 Figure A-4.— Location of Norway's Tellnes Mine. 
 
 trate at approximately 45 pet Ti02, 35 pet FeO, and 12 pet 
 Fe203; magnetite eoncentrate at 64.5 pet Fe, and 3.5 pet 
 Ti02; and a sulfide eoncentrate at 2.5 pet Cu, 4.5 pet Ni, and 
 0.7 pet Co (79-83). A potential slag operation in Norway was 
 not included or discussed in this study because of a lack of 
 information. 
 
 Italy 
 
 Italy's Piampaludo deposit could potentially be 
 Europe's only natural rutile producer. The deposit is still 
 undergoing feasibility studies. Piampaludo is located in 
 northwest Italy (fig. A-5) in the province of Savona near the 
 town of Piampaludo, about 13 km from the coast, 55 km (by 
 road) from the nearest coastal cities of Genoa and Savona. 
 The deposit consists of a low-grade eclogite. Eelogites are 
 metamorphic rocks formed at extremely high temperatures 
 and pressures during regional metamorphism. A massive 
 and highly fractured ore body, the deposit is 1.8 km long by 
 500 m wide, covering 90 ha. Rutile, as an accessory mineral 
 in eelogites, is disseminated throughout the entire ore body 
 at approximately 3 to 5 pet. Industrial-grade garnet, at 25 to 
 30 pet of the deposit, is also recoverable. Diamond drilling 
 has proven the existence of 150 million mt of ore at 6 pet 
 
 ore are present: impregnation ores (low grade, less than 20 
 pet Fe) to massive ores (high grade, greater than 40 pet Fe). 
 Individual ore bodies are lens shaped and range in size from 
 2 to 20 m long and 5 to 30 m wide. Their long axis is oriented 
 east to west; dips are near vertical to vertical, and they 
 plunge from 45° to 60° to the west. Average grades are 39 
 pet megnetite, 29 pet ilmenite (13.5 pet Ti02), and 1.5 pet 
 pyrite. Vanadium does not occur as distinct vanadium 
 minerals but is contained in the magnetite at 0.9 pet (0.275 
 pet in the deposit). The deposit was discovered in 1938, by 
 tracing titaniferous float material and by subsequent 
 magnetic surveys. Exploratory drilling in 1939 delineated 
 two ore bodies, Otanmaki and Vuorokas, approximately 3 
 km to the east. Construction and development of the mine, 
 mill, and support facilities begun in 1951; a small amount of 
 ore was hoisted in 1953. Over the years, production has 
 increased to over 1.0 miUion mt/yr. Between 1953 and 1955, 
 only concentrates of iron, ilmenite and pyrite were 
 produced. In 1956, the vanadium pentoxide concentrate was 
 added. This is now the most valuable product of the 
 operation {74--78). 
 
 The Tellnes mine is located in southwestern Norway in 
 the State of Rogaland, northwest of FlekkeQord. In the 
 early 1950's, NL Industries' subsidiary Kronos Titan A/S 
 realized that the accessible resources at its Storgangen Mine 
 would soon be depleted. Exploration for other resources was 
 initiated in 1954 using aeromagnetic surveying techniques, 
 resulting in the discovery of the Tellnes ore body. Half of the 
 ore body is under the waters of Tellnesvann (Tellnes Lake). 
 The deposit is a large lens- or boat-shaped homogeneous 
 ilmenite-norite intrusive in the Ana-Sira Anorthosite Massif 
 of the Egersund Anorthosite Complex. It is a large complex 
 covering 1,000 km^ of southwestern Norway. The deposit is 
 2.7 km long and up to 450 m wide, covering 57 ha; 
 mineralization was proven to a depth of 330 m. Diamond 
 drilling indicated substantial ore resources of 200 to 300 
 million mt at 18 pet Ti02 (39 pet ilmenite) and 23 pet Fe (2 
 pet magnetite). Resources used for Tellnes in this study are 
 substantially larger. Production at Tellnes began in 1960 at 
 300,000 mt/yr and has increased to over 2.0 million mt. 
 Three types of concentrates are produced: ilmenite concen- 
 
 SWITZERLAND 
 
 LEGEND 
 International boundary 
 
 • City or town 
 
 * Deposit 
 
 100 
 
 J 
 
 Scale, km 
 
 Figure A-5.— Location of itaiy's Plampaiudo rutile deposit. 
 
39 
 
 Ti02 (rutile plus ilmenite), with another possible 300 million 
 mt at 5.8 pet Ti02. Mineraria Italiana S.p.A. Milan, the 
 owners, are looking for a joint venture in order to begin 
 development and production (8^-86). 
 
 Romania 
 
 Although no deposits from Romania were evaluated in 
 this study, there exist three deposits worthy of discussion. 
 All heavy-mineral deposits in Romania are owned and 
 operated by the Federal Government, Ministry of Mines- 
 Geology. 
 
 The Chituc heavy-mineral deposit is located in the 
 Dobrogea Province on the Black Sea coast. The mine was 
 developed in the late 1970's and has been known to have 
 produced at least at pilot plant scale. The plant produces an 
 ilmenite concentrate along with some zircon and garnet. The 
 ilmenite concentrate cannot be used for pigment production 
 owing to its high nickel and chromite content. Resources at 
 Chituc have been estimated to be approximately 200 million 
 mt of ore grading 0.51 pet TiOg at the inferred resource 
 level. 
 
 The Tigveni Mine is located on the River Topolog in 
 Arges Province. It appears to have been in production since 
 the late 1970's. The deposit consists of several heavy- 
 mineral-bearing formations of late Pliocene to early Pleis- 
 tocene age. The mine produces primarily an ilmenite 
 concentrate although it is possible that zircon is also 
 recovered as a byproduct. Identified resources at this 
 deposit have been estimated at 50 million mt of sand grading 
 approximately 1.0 pet Ti02 from the ilmenite. 
 
 The Glogova-Sisesti deposit is located on the banks of 
 the River Motru on the boundary between Mehedinti and 
 Gorj Provinces in southwest Romania. Exploration at this 
 deposit occurred in the late 1970's although further 
 development is not thought to have taken place. The deposit 
 consists of three heavy-mineral-bearing formations of late 
 Pliocene to early Pleistocene age, similar to the Tigveni 
 deposit. It appears that ilmenite, rutile, zircon, and 
 monazite could all be recovered. Resources have been 
 estimated at 340 million mt of sand grading 0.75 pet TiOg at 
 the inferred resource level. 
 
 Union of Soviet Socialist Republics 
 
 Significant production of titanium in the U.S.S.R. 
 began after World War II. The ilmenite-magnetite deposits 
 of the Urals were the early sources. Since 1960, the fossil 
 placer deposits in the Ukraine have assumed greater 
 importance. Ilmenite is ^Iso obtained from titanomagnetite 
 deposits in the Kola Peninsula. Other significant deposits of 
 titanium in the U.S.S.R. are located in the Azov Coast, 
 Kasakhstan, Siberia, Transbaikalia, and the far eastern 
 provinces. Titaniferous magnetite deposits in the Caucasus 
 Mountains of Armenia, discovered in the early 1970's, are 
 also considered important, as well as titanomagnetite sands 
 on the Kuril Island, Iturup. 
 
 By far the most important producing titanium deposits 
 in the Soviet Union are the ancient heavy-mineral placers 
 along the middle reaches of the River Dnieper in the 
 Ukraine. Production is centered in two main areas near Kiev 
 and Dnepropetrovsk, with the latter being more important. 
 Heavy minerals at this deposit ocur in thin Cretaceous- 
 Tertiary sediments overlying the northeast flank of the 
 Ukrainian Massif. It appears that there are two types of 
 commercial titanium placers in the Ukraine, ancient littoral 
 marine placers and alluvial placers. Resources for these 
 
 deposits are not known, although the ilmenite content of the 
 sands averages 20 kg/m', and some of the sands contain as 
 much as 2,000 kg/m'. 
 
 Until the discovery and development of the Ukraine 
 heavy-mineral placers, the titaniferous magnetite deposits 
 of the Ural Mountains were the major source of ilmenite 
 concentrates for the developing Soviet titanium industry. 
 Iron ore mining is the main activity in the area, but a variety 
 of other mineral concentrates are being produced including 
 vanadium, titanium, and more recently, rare-earth miner- 
 als. Of the nuf^erons mines in the Urals, it is believe:! th;;- 
 three of these at present are important titanium ore 
 deposits, although it is known that other deposits do contain 
 significant resources of titanium minerals. The three 
 deposits are Gusevogorsk, Kachkanar, and Kopansk (Kusa), 
 which occur in titaniferous magnetites related to basic, 
 ultrabasic intrusive rocks, and amphibolites outcropping 
 along the main range of the Ural Mountains. Total titanium 
 resources in the Urals have been estimated as 132 million mt 
 of ore at the inferred level averaging 10 pet Ti02. 
 
 Important titanium deposits are found in the alkalic 
 rocks of the northwest part of the Soviet Union, in the Kola 
 Peninsula, and in the Karelia Autonomous S.S.R. Ores are 
 primarily of the titanomagnetie associations and the main 
 mining and processing acvitities in the area are centered in 
 the iron ore fonnations. Five or six deposits are producing 
 iron oxide and vanadium pentoxide concentrates, but it 
 appears that only the Afrikanda Mine is actually producing a 
 titanium dioxide concentrate, from perovskite and titano- 
 magnetite. Resources for Afrikanda are not known, 
 although they have been estimated as "large"; Ti02 grades 
 range from 8 to 18 pet. Other present and potential sources 
 of titanium on the Kola Peninsula and in Karelia are the 
 apatite-nepheline (aluminum) deposits at the Khibiny Massif 
 and the titanomagnetites of the Pudozhgorsk, Tsaginsk, and 
 Yelet Lake deposits. 
 
 The most recent discovery of importance is the 
 titaniferous magnetites of the Caucaeuses, found in 1973. 
 Deposits are referred to as Kamakorskoye and Svoranzkoye 
 in the region of Armenia. The area is considered very 
 promising for further exploration. These deposits may be 
 suitable for iron ore exploitation with ilmenite as a 
 byproduct. Resources, estimated based on dimensions, are 
 in the order of 100 million mt of ore grading from 0.7 to 3.7 
 pet Ti02, primarily from ilmenite. 
 
 ASIA 
 India-Sri Lanka 
 
 Beach sand deposits of India and Sri Lanka (fig. A-6) 
 have been exploited for their monazite content since the 
 early part of this century. Extraction of ilmenite and some 
 rutile began in the 1920's in India and around 1961 in Sri 
 Lanka. 
 
 India's heavy-mineral sand deposits are located on the 
 west coast and peninsula tip in the States of Kerala 
 (formerly Travancore and Cochin) and on the east coast in 
 Orissa. Orissa Mineral Sands Complex, also known as the 
 Chatrapur Sand Deposit, is India's largest and newest 
 deposit, located 300 km southwest of Calcutta and 22 km 
 northeast of Berhampur. It is planned to come onstream in 
 1985. The Chavara, or Quilon, sand deposit located on the 
 west coast near the town of Quilon has produced ilmenite 
 since 1932; monazite was probably recovered long before 
 this. Peak production was reached in the 1940's as a result of 
 
_^ NORWAY 
 
 ^•x-Tellnes*^ 
 
 Flekkefjord* 
 
 LEGEND 
 
 International boundary 
 
 County boundary 
 
 9 Capital 
 
 • City or town 
 
 ■X- Mine 
 
 100 200 
 I I I 
 
 Scale, km 
 Figure A-4.— Location of Norway's Tellnes Mine. 
 
 trate at approximately 45 pet Ti02, 35 pet FeO, and 12 pet 
 Fe203; magnetite eoneentrate at 64.5 pet Fe, and 3.5 pet 
 Ti02; and a sulfide eoneentrate at 2.5 pet Cu, 4.5 pet Ni, and 
 0.7 pet Co {79-83). A potential slag operation in Norway was 
 not ineluded or diseussed in this study beeause of a lack of 
 information. 
 
 Italy 
 
 Italy's Piampaludo deposit eould potentially be 
 Europe's only natural rutile producer. The deposit is still 
 undergoing feasibility studies. Piampaludo is located in 
 northwest Italy (fig. A-5) in the province of Savona near the 
 town of Piampaludo, about 13 km from the coast, 55 km (by 
 road) from the nearest coastal cities of Genoa and Savona. 
 The deposit consists of a low-grade eelogite. Eelogites are 
 metamorphie rocks formed at extremely high temperatures 
 and pressures during regional metamorphism. A massive 
 and highly fractured ore body, the deposit is 1.8 km long by 
 500 m wide, covering 90 ha. Rutile, as an accessory mineral 
 in eelogites, is disseminated throughout the entire ore body 
 at approximately 3 to 5 pet. Industrial-grade garnet, at 25 to 
 30 pet of the deposit, is also recoverable. Diamond drilUng 
 has proven the existence of 150 million mt of ore at 6 pet 
 
 ore are present: impregnation ores (low grade, less than 20 
 pet Fe) to massive ores (high grade, greater than 40 pet Fe). 
 Individual ore bodies are lens shaped and range in size from 
 2 to 20 m long and 5 to 30 m wide. Their long axis is oriented 
 east to west; dips are near vertical to vertical, and they 
 plunge from 45° to 60° to the west. Average grades are 39 
 pet megnetite, 29 pet ilmenite (13.5 pet Ti02), and 1.5 pet 
 pyrite. Vanadium does not occur as distinct vanadium 
 minerals but is contained in the magnetite at 0.9 pet (0.275 
 pet in the deposit). The deposit was discovered in 1938, by 
 tracing titaniferous float material and by subsequent 
 magnetic surveys. Exploratory drilling in 1939 delineated 
 two ore bodies, Otanmaki and Vuorokas, approximately 3 
 km to the east. Construction and development of the mine, 
 mill, and support facilities begun in 1951; a small amount of 
 ore was hoisted in 1953. Over the years, production has 
 increased to over 1.0 million mt/yr. Between 1953 and 1955, 
 only concentrates of iron, ilmenite and pyrite were 
 produced. In 1956, the vanadium pentoxide concentrate was 
 added. This is now the most valuable product of the 
 operation m-78). 
 
 The Tellnes mine is located in southwestern Norway in 
 the State of Rogaland, northwest of Flekke^ord. In the 
 early 1950's, NL Industries' subsidiary Kronos Titan A/S 
 realized that the accessible resources at its Storgangen Mine 
 would soon be depleted. Exploration for other resources was 
 initiated in 1954 using aeromagnetic surveying techniques, 
 resulting in the discovery of the Tellnes ore body. Half of the 
 ore body is under the waters of Tellnesvann (Tellnes Lake). 
 The deposit is a large lens- or boat-shaped homogeneous 
 ilmenite-norite intrusive in the Ana-Sira Anorthosite Massif 
 of the Egersund Anorthosite Complex. It is a large complex 
 covering 1,000 km^ of southwestern Norway. The deposit is 
 2.7 km long and up to 450 m wide, covering 57 ha; 
 mineralization was proven to a depth of 330 m. Diamond 
 drilling indicated substantial ore resources of 200 to 300 
 million mt at 18 pet Ti02 (39 pet ilmenite) and 23 pet Fe (2 
 pet magnetite). Resources used for Tellnes in this study are 
 substantially larger. Production at Tellnes began in 1960 at 
 300,000 mt/jT and has increased to over 2.0 miUion mt. 
 Three types of concentrates are produced: ilmenite coneen- 
 
 SWITZERLAND 
 
 LEGEND 
 — International boundary 
 
 • City or town 
 
 * Deposit 
 
 Scale, km 
 
 Figure A-5.— Location of Italy's Piampaludo rutile deposit. 
 
Ti02 (rutile plus ilmenite), with another possible 300 million 
 mt at 5.8 pet Ti02. Mineraria Italiana S.p.A. Milan, the 
 owners, are looking for a joint venture in order to begin 
 development and production (8^-86). 
 
 Romania 
 
 Although no deposits from Romania were evaluated in 
 this study, there exist three deposits worthy of discussion. 
 All heavy-mineral deposits in Romania are owned and 
 operated by the Federal Government, Ministry of Mir.es- 
 Geology. 
 
 The Chituc heavy-mineral deposit is located in the 
 Dobrogea Province on the Black Sea coast. The mine was 
 developed in the late 1970's and has been known to have 
 produced at least at pilot plant scale. The plant produces an 
 ilmenite concentrate along with some zircon and garnet. The 
 ilmenite concentrate cannot be used for pigment production 
 owing to its high nickel and chromite content. Resources at 
 Chituc have been estimated to be approximately 200 million 
 mt of ore grading 0.51 pet Ti02 at the inferred resource 
 level. 
 
 The Tigveni Mine is located on the River Topolog in 
 Arges Province. It appears to have been in production since 
 the late 1970's. The deposit consists of several heavy- 
 mineral-bearing formations of late Pliocene to early Pleis- 
 tocene age. The mine produces primarily an ilmenite 
 concentrate although it is possible that zircon is also 
 recovered as a byproduct. Identified resources at this 
 deposit have been estimated at 50 miUion mt of sand grading 
 approximately 1.0 pet Ti02 from the ilmenite. 
 
 The Glogova-Sisesti deposit is located on the banks of 
 the River Motru on the boundary between Mehedinti and 
 Gorj Provinces in southwest Romania. Exploration at this 
 deposit occurred in the late 1970's although further 
 development is not thought to have taken place. The deposit 
 consists of three heavy-mineral-bearing formations of late 
 Pliocene to early Pleistocene age, similar to the Tigveni 
 deposit. It appears that ilmenite, rutile, zircon, and 
 monazite could all be recovered. Resources have been 
 estimated at 340 million mt of sand grading 0.75 pet Ti02 at 
 the inferred resource level. 
 
 Union of Soviet Socialist Republics 
 
 Significant production of titanium in the U.S.S.R. 
 began after World War II. The ilmenite-magnetite deposits 
 of the Urals were the early sources. Since 1960, the fossil 
 placer deposits in the Ukraine have assumed greater 
 importance. Ilmenite is ^Iso obtained from titanomagnetite 
 deposits in the Kola Peninsula. Other significant deposits of 
 titanium in the U.S.S.R. are located in the Azov Coast, 
 Kasakhstan, Siberia, Transbaikalia, and the far eastern 
 provinces. Titaniferous magnetite deposits in the Caucasus 
 Mountains of Armenia, discovered in the early 1970's, are 
 also considered important, as well as titanomagnetite sands 
 on the Kuril Island, Iturup. 
 
 By far the most important producing titanium deposits 
 in the Soviet Union are the ancient heavy-mineral placers 
 along the middle reaches of the River Dnieper in the 
 Ukraine. Production is centered in two main areas near Kiev 
 and Dnepropetrovsk, with the latter being more important. 
 Heavy minerals at this deposit ocur in thin Cretaceous- 
 Tertiary sediments overlying the northeast flank of the 
 Ukrainian Massif. It appears that there are two types of 
 commercial titanium placers in the Ukraine, ancient littoral 
 marine placers and alluvial placers. Resources for these 
 
 deposits are not known, although the ilmenite content of the 
 sands averages 20 kg/m', and some of the sands contain as 
 much as 2,000 kg/m'. 
 
 Until the discovery and development of the Ukraine 
 heavy-mineral placers, the titaniferous magnetite deposits 
 of the Ural Mountains were the major source of ilmenite 
 concentrates for the developing Soviet titanium industry. 
 Iron ore mining is the main activity in the area, but a variety 
 of other mineral concentrates are being produced including 
 vanadium, titanium, and more recently, rare-earth miner- 
 als. Of the numerous mines in the Urals, it is believ? ! th:"' 
 three of these at present are important titanium ore 
 deposits, although it is known that other deposits do contain 
 significant resources of titanium minerals. The three 
 deposits are Gusevogorsk, Kachkanar, and Kopansk (Kusa), 
 which occur in titaniferous magnetites related to basic, 
 ultrabasic intrusive rocks, and amphibolites outcropping 
 along the main range of the Ural Mountains. Total titanium 
 resources in the Urals have been estimated as 132 million mt 
 of ore at the inferred level averaging 10 pet Ti02. 
 
 Important titanium deposits are found in the alkalie 
 rocks of the northwest part of the Soviet Union, in the Kola 
 Peninsula, and in the Karelia Autonomous S.S.R. Ores are 
 primarily of the titanomagnetic associations and the main 
 mining and processing acvitities in the area are centered in 
 the iron ore formations. Five or six deposits are producing 
 iron oxide and vanadium pentoxide concentrates, but it 
 appears that only the Afrikanda Mine is actually producing a 
 titanium dioxide concentrate, from perovskite and titano- 
 magnetite. Resources for Afrikanda are not known, 
 although they have been estimated as "large"; Ti02 grades 
 range from 8 to 18 pet. Other present and potential sources 
 of titanium on the Kola Peninsula and in Karelia are the 
 apatite-nepheline (aluminum) deposits at the Khibiny Massif 
 and the titanomagnetites of the Pudozhgorsk, Tsaginsk, and 
 Yelet Lake deposits. 
 
 The most recent discovery of importance is the 
 titaniferous magnetites of the Caucacuses, found in 1973. 
 Deposits are referred to as Kamakorskoye and Svoranzkoye 
 in the region of Armenia. The area is considered very 
 promising for further exploration. These deposits may be 
 suitable for iron ore exploitation with ilmenite as a 
 byproduct. Resources, estimated based on dimensions, are 
 in the order of 100 million mt of ore grading from 0.7 to 3.7 
 pet Ti02, primarily from ilmenite. 
 
 ASIA 
 lndia*Sri Lanka 
 
 Beach sand deposits of India and Sri Lanka (fig. A-6) 
 have been exploited for their monazite content since the 
 early part of this century. Extraction of ilmenite and some 
 rutile began in the 1920's in India and around 1961 in Sri 
 Lanka. 
 
 India's heavy-mineral sand deposits are located on the 
 west coast and peninsula tip in the States of Kerala 
 (formerly Travancore and Cochin) and on the east coast in 
 Orissa. Orissa Mineral Sands Complex, also known as the 
 Chatrapur Sand Deposit, is India's largest and newest 
 deposit, located 300 km southwest of Calcutta and 22 km 
 northeast of Berhampur. It is planned to come onstream in 
 1985. The Chavara, or Quilon, sand deposit located on the 
 west coast near the town of Quilon has produced ilmenite 
 since 1932; monazite was probably recovered long before 
 this. Peak production was reached in the 1940's as a result of 
 
40 
 
 ORISSA 
 Orissa-Chatrapur^i 
 
 Berhampur ^ 
 
 -O 
 
 LEGEND 
 State boundary 
 Capital 
 State capital 
 City or town 
 Mineral sand deposit 
 
 Figure A-6.— Location of India and Sri Lanlta heavy-mineral 
 sand deposits. 
 
 World War II. A third mineral sand deposit, located on the 
 peninsula tip near the town of Triandrum, the M.K., or, 
 more formally, the Manavalakurichi (also known as the 
 Kayankomari deposit), has been in production since 1911 
 when monazite was recovered. By the mid-1920's ilmenite 
 replaced monazite in importance. However, after Chavara 
 was discovered, M.K.'s ilmenite was not as acceptable for 
 market, at 54 pet Ti02, as the ilmenite at Chavara, which is 
 60 pet Ti02. Chavara's titanium is recovered as ilmenite and 
 rutile concentrates, while M.K. produces ilmenite, synthetic 
 rutile, and rutile. Orissa's sand deposit vdll produce only 
 synthetic rutile (from ilmenite, 51 pet Ti02) and rutile, as 
 proposed in this study, although it may also produce 
 monazite, zircon, and siUimanite. 
 
 Geologically and physiologically, many similarities exist 
 between these deposits, including their coastal locations. 
 Wave-action-formed sandbar deposits are the most common- 
 ly occurring deposits {87). With emergence, these beach 
 deposits became buried by sand dunes. The Orissa- 
 Chatrapur deposit is a system of transverse coastal and 
 inland dunes separated by another system of lower dunes. 
 Maximum elevation reached by these dunes is 17 m above 
 sea level. This dune system is approximately Quaternary in 
 age. 
 
 Sri Lanka has only one major heavy-mineral sand 
 deposit, Pulmoddai, a beach deposit located about 58 km 
 north of Trincomalee (China Bay) and 400 km northeast of 
 Colombo. It is owned by the Ceylon Mineral Sands Corp. 
 (CMSC). Pulmoddai began production in 1961, although 
 heavy-mineral concentrations at Pulmoddai have been 
 known since the 1920's. The deposit covers an area of 3.2 
 km^ approximately 7.2 km long and 46 m wide. Ilmenite is 
 the major economic mineral; however, rutile, zircon, and 
 monazite are also present. Origin of these sands has not 
 been firmly established, although the mountainous region at 
 the center of Sri Lanka has been suggested. As an 
 intermediate host of the heavy minerals, the younger 
 Pleistocene and Recent rocks along the coast have been 
 considered. Eroded material is transported by the Ma-Oya 
 River to the Kokkilai lagoon north of Pulmoddai; from there 
 it is carried southward by coastal drift and offshore currents 
 to the Pulmoddai deposit area. A promontory at Arisi Malaa 
 acts as a barrier to further southward development. Under 
 appropriate conditions, monsoon storm waves attack the 
 intermediary host rock and add additional material to the 
 deposit. Drill-hole exploration of the deposit has yielded a 
 consistant pattern of placer sands to a depth of 6 m, where 
 Precambrian crystalline rocks are f-ncountered {88). 
 
 Because of the confusing nature of pubhshed sources 
 and confidentiality, Indian and Sri Lankan mineral sand 
 resources are combined into a single number and not 
 discussed on property-by-property basis. Demonstrated 
 heavy-mineral sand tonnages are estimated at 552 million 
 mt, with inferred resources of 455 million mt; total contained 
 titanium is 40 and 44 million mt, respectively. Demonstrated 
 resources contain ilmenite, 33.9 million mt, rutile, 5.1 
 million mt, and leucoxene, 0.6 miUion mt. Inferred tonnages 
 are 41.6 million mt ilmenite and 2.1 million mt rutile. 
 
 Resources in Southeast Asia 
 
 Titanium resources in Southeast Asia were not included 
 in this study because of the scarcity of data and the 
 relatively minor impact of these resources on world titanium 
 availability. The greatest potential for titanium resources in 
 this region is from Malaysia where small-scale alluvial tin 
 operations recover ilmenite and other heavy minerals; in 
 aggregate they represent significant production. At these 
 operations, ilmenite and many of the other heavy minerals 
 are separated from the tin in the "amang" plants, using 
 gravity and magnetic separation. Ilmenite concentrates 
 range from 51 to 64.5 pet Ti02 {89). Many of the ilmenite 
 concentrates prod"ced in Malaysia are sold to Japan. A 
 synthetic rutile plant was built in 1976, but owing to market 
 conditions, it has been inactive since 1980. Malaysia should 
 continue to be a producer and net exporter of ilmenite 
 concentrates so long as it is producing tin, although its 
 exports of ilmenite will remain limited. The size of the 
 resources of ilmenite in Malaysia is currently unknown and 
 very difficult to quantify. Much of the ilmenite is stockpiled 
 and never marketed. 
 
41 
 
 A similar situation occurs in Thailand and Indonesia 
 where ilmenite is also stockpiled as a byproduct from tin 
 mining. These untreated resources of ilmenite, termed 
 "amang" as in Malaysia, are currently unquantified. 
 Ilmenite grades of treated amang have been reported to be 
 over 53 pet TiOg (90). 
 
 Titanium resources also are found in Korea, Vietnam, 
 Laos, Cambodia, the Philippines, New Guinea, and Japan. 
 Most are small prospects of alluvial beach sands or are 
 associated with tin mining as in Malaysia, Thailand, and 
 Indonesia. 
 
 People's Republic of China 
 
 Resources in the People's Republic of China are not 
 included in this study. The most significant deposits of 
 titanium are at Sai-Lao, Wuzhuang (Hainan Dao), Xun 
 Jiang, Beihai, Guangxi, Panzhihua (Sichuan), and other 
 deposits in Guangdong Province. All titanium mines and 
 deposits are Government owned and, in most cases, 
 operated by farmer collectives. 
 
 Two producing titanium mines are located on Hainan 
 Island off Guangdong Province (Sai-Lao and Wuzhuang). 
 Mining has occurred on Hainan Island since the late 1950's 
 The deposits are beach sands that have been concentrated 
 along the coastline by wave action. The primary product 
 produced at both these mines is ilmenite, although rutile, 
 anatase, monazite, and zircon are also recovered. Resources 
 for Sai-Lao have been estimated to be 203 million mt of sand 
 (measured plus indicated) containing 1 pet Ti02 (as 
 ilmenite). Total heavy-mineral content at Sai-Lao is 
 approximately 2.5 pet. Wuzhuang is a larger deposit 
 totalling 508 million mt of sand (measured plus indicated) 
 but averaging only 0.3 pet Ti02 as ilmenite. The percent of 
 heavy minerals at Wuzhaung is L5 pet. 
 
 The mines that are producing titanium products in the 
 Guangdong Province (mainland) are feeding five heavy- 
 mineral processing plants (Dianbai, Haikang, Xiton, Yang- 
 jiang, and Zhanjiang). The mines are producing from beach 
 sands located along the coast that have been concentrated 
 by wave action. These mines have been operating since at 
 least the early 1960's. Ilmenite is the primary product from 
 all of the mines, with monazite, rutile, and ziron also 
 recovered. Demonstrated resources for the Guangdong 
 Province operations are estimated to be 434 million mt with 
 the Ti02 ilmenite grades averaging 1.1 pet. The total 
 heavy-mineral content averages 1.5 pet. 
 
 Ihnenite deposits of the Guangxi autonomous region are 
 both river and beach sand deposits. Mines producing from 
 these deposits feed a processing plant in the city of Beihai. 
 Production of ilmenite began at Beihai in 1966, with small 
 quantities of rutile, zircon, and monazite recovered in later 
 years. In the late 1970's, a synthetic rutile plant was added 
 to the operation for the purpose of producing welding rod 
 coatings. Two-thirds of the heavy mineral concentrates 
 feeding the Beihai plant originate in river sand rather than 
 beach sand deposits. Indicated resources from the deposits 
 feeding Beihai total 557 million mt of sand grading 0.7 pet 
 Ti02 from the ilmenite. Approximately 1.5 pet heavy 
 minerals are contained in the sand. 
 
 A fairly high-grade explored ilmenite prospect in 
 Guangxi is located along the Xun Jiang River. The deposit 
 was discovered in the mid-1970's but has not yet been 
 developed. Measured resources at this deposit have been 
 estimated to be 66.7 million mt of sand containing 2.7 pet 
 Ti02 from the ilmenite. The heavy-mineral content of 6 pet is 
 high compared viath that of other deposits in Guangxi. 
 
 A large vanadium titaniferous magnetite deposit, called 
 Panzhihua, is located between the cities of Dukou and 
 Xichang in Sichuan Province. Various products are recovered 
 from this operation including ilmenite, nickel, and 
 cobalt (which is presently stockpiled), a titanium slag (which 
 is discarded because of its vanadium), and steel ingots. _The 
 Panzhihua Iron and Steel Co. operates the processing plant, 
 the blast furnace, and the steelmaking facilities. The 
 operations at Panzhihua have been producing for many 
 years, although the ilmenite concentrate has only been 
 recovered since 1980. Proven (measured) resources at 
 Panzhihua are just over 1 billion mt of ore, and as much as 5 
 billion mt of additional resources have been estimated at the 
 indicated level. The ilmenite grade averages 9 pet. Some of 
 the ilmenite resources are contained as tailings, which also 
 average approximately 9 pet TiOg. 
 
 AFRICA 
 
 Deposits containing titanium minerals in Africa are 
 known to exist in Burkina Faso (formerly Upper Volta), 
 Egypt, the Gambia, the Ivory Coast, Liberia, Madagascar, 
 Malawi, Mozambique, Senegal, Sierra Leone, the Republic 
 of South Africa, and Tanzania. Most of these deposits have 
 not been extensively explored, have low tonnages and are too 
 low grade to be of special interest. The two most important 
 deposits, the only two African deposits evaluated in this 
 study, are the Gbangbama area (also known as Mogbwemo) 
 of Sierra Leone and the deposit at Richards Bay, Republic of 
 South Africa. 
 
 Sierra Leone 
 
 Sierra Leone's heavy-mineral resources potential was 
 estabhshed in 1954 with the discovery of rutile at 
 Mogbwemo in the Sherbro River estuary of the Bonthe and 
 Moyamba districts (fig. A-7), 100 km (400 km by road) from 
 Freetown, Sierra Leone's capital city {91-92). Major 
 production first occurred in 1967. Total area of the deposits 
 is approximately 1,000 kml Mineral leases are held by 
 Sierra Rutile Ltd., owned wholly by Nord Resources Corp. 
 of Ohio. There are four separate deposits covering an area of 
 1,600 ha (called collectively in this report Mogbwemo), and 
 the possibility exists that more deposits will be discovered. 
 Principal deposits lie between the Gbangbama and Imperri 
 Hills and in the coastal plain-tidal flats zone. Primary 
 sources of the sediments containing the heavy minerals are 
 the Precambrian garnetiferous gneisses and other 
 metamorphic rocks and granite intrusions to the north and 
 northeast. Deposits consist of layers of loosley consolidated 
 interbedded sands and clays with occasional laterite 
 cappings {91). Rutile is the only titanium mineral recovered, 
 although ilmenite is present in recoverable amounts. Other 
 heavy minerals are monazite, zircon, sillimanite, and 
 staurolite. None of these are of sufficient quantities to be 
 recoverable. Published resource tonnages of these deposits 
 range from 110 to 187 million mt of sand averaging 1.5 pet to 
 2.0 pet rutile {72, 93-95). 
 
 Republic of South Africa 
 
 The Republic of South Africa has large resources of 
 titaniferous ore in various types of deposits ranging from 
 layered intrusions such as the Bushveld Igneous Complex, 
 carbonatite deposits, and Kimberlite deposits to the 
 numerous beach deposits, both fossil (located in the interior. 
 
42 
 
 FREETOWN 
 
 OCEAN 
 
 LIBERIA 
 
 LEGEND 
 
 International boundary 
 
 Provinical boundary 
 
 % Capital 
 
 ^ Mineral sand deposit 
 
 50 
 
 100 
 _J 
 
 Figure A-7.— Location of Sierra Leone mineral sand deposit. 
 
 such as the Waterberg and Karroo systems) and the more 
 recent deposits along the east coast, Richards Bay (96). 
 
 The most important heavy-mineral occurrences are 
 located on the Republic of South Africa's east coast along a 
 965-km stretch between East London and the Mozambique 
 border. Heavy-mineral concentrations, known to exist in 
 this area since the 1920's, have an estimated total sand 
 tonnage of about 2.3 billion mt, with heavy-mineral 
 concentrations of 2 to 25 pet, averaging 9 pet. The east coast 
 ilmenite deposits are of relatively low grade at 48 pet 
 average TiOa content and 0.14 pet ehromite. Rutile on the 
 east coast runs about 91 pet TiOa {96-97), although as much 
 as 93.5 pet at Richards Bay. Origin of the heavy minerals 
 has not been established with any consistency. Suggested 
 sources are the Karroo dolerite and Sternberg basalt; 
 however, the basalt contains more magnetite than ilmenite. 
 
 The Richards Bay Minerals operation (fig. A-8) is 
 located along a stretch of eastern coastline, primarily north 
 of the port-town of Richards Bay. Deposits of mineral sands 
 occur as a Pleistocene coastal dune system about 2 km wide 
 and aligned roughly parallel to the coast. Dunes attain 
 elevations of 180 m and rest on the Port Durnford beds, a 
 raised fossil beach formed by constructive wave action and 
 representing an old high-water mark. Estimated sand 
 tonnage is 750 million mt at 6 pet ilmenite, 0.25 pet rutile, 
 and 0.4 pet zircon, with some garnet and a trace of monazite. 
 Production began in 1977 with the output of rutile and 
 zircon; in 1978, ilmenite and titanium slag were also 
 produced. 
 
 South Africa's west coast dune deposits are unexploit- 
 able owing to the poor quality of the ilmenite, deposit size 
 and configuration, and their remoteness. 
 
 MOZAMBIQUE-^ 
 
 -^^^ 
 
 S W A Z 1 L A N D^<:^7 
 
 AMAPUTA 
 
 /r E P U B L I c m 
 
 y^v^^ ^Richards Bay 
 L E S T H 0^,X ^ J^ 
 
 y\ y F VOurban 
 
 / SOUTH / 
 
 / y INDIAN OCEAh 
 
 AFRICA y^ 
 
 ^East London 
 
 r—-^ 
 
 
 LEGEND 
 International boundary 
 Capital 
 City or town 
 Mineral sand deposit 
 
 100 200 
 1 1 I 
 
 Area of 
 map 
 
 Figure A-8.— Location of Republic of South Africa's Richards 
 Bay mineral sand deposit. 
 
 OCEANIA 
 Australia 
 
 Australia's heavy-mineral beach sand deposits first 
 attracted interest owing to their gold content. Between 1870 
 and 1895, small-scale operations continued intermittently to 
 recover this gold. Possibilities of commercial exploitation of 
 the heavy-mineral sand deposits were recognized by D. H. 
 Newland, who was commissioned in 1928 by Titanium Alloy 
 Manufacturing Co.. of America (TAMCA), to report on the 
 economic potential of these sands. Zircon-Rutile Ltd. began 
 the first large-scale heavy-mineral sand mining operations in 
 1933-34, producing a mixed zircon-rutile-ilmenite concen- 
 trate for overseas shipment and sale to TAMCA {98, p. 8; 99, 
 p. 1; 100, p. 51). 
 
 World War II, the Korean war, and interest in atomic 
 energy increased demand for rutile, zircon, and monazite 
 between 1939 and the early 1950's. Later work confirmed 
 that the monazite content was insufficient for large-scale 
 commercial exploitation. However, at the present time, 
 some monazite is stockpiled for later processing to a 95-pct 
 monazite concentrate for export markets. EstabHshment in 
 1954 of a commercial-scale metaUic titanium industry in the 
 
43 
 
 United States and Europe continued the increased rutile 
 demand and helped the rutile market become independent of 
 wartime activity {98, p. 8). 
 
 Much of Australia's heavy-mineral sand deposits are 
 concentrated by wave action or by wind-sorting in both 
 parallel and transgressive dunes. Wind-sorted heavy- 
 mineral sand deposits generally do not compare in grade or 
 size to wave concentrations. However, in some areas of 
 extensive dune development, e.g., Fraser, Moreton, and 
 North Stradbroke Islands, there are large quantities of 
 low-grade heavy-mineral concentrations of economic import- 
 ance. The interaction of tidal currents in protected waters is 
 a third concentrating method. A large deposit of heavy- 
 mineral sands exists on the southwest side of Moreton 
 Island from the interaction of northern and southern tides. 
 One dune deposit without any cover or interbedding of lower 
 grade sand exists in a sheltered estuary area protected from 
 waves and storm action. The concentration mechanism is 
 not apparent but it does require a stable, long-continued 
 concentrating condition. One mechanism is possibly the 
 interaction of tidal currents and oblique waves resultant 
 from east-southeast winds, which persist through most of 
 the years, with constant accumulation over a lengthy period 
 while the sea level gradually recedes {99, pp. 4-5). 
 
 The occurrence of zircon and rutile of similar type and 
 grain size over about 1,700 km of coastline from just north of 
 Curtis Island to just south of Sydney indicates derivation 
 from more than one localized source. Accumulations of 
 ilmenite are considered to be more from local sources such as 
 the Mesozoic and Permian sediments of the Clarence, 
 Moreton, and Sydney Basins. The origin of Western 
 Austrahan heavy-mineral sand deposits is beheved to be the 
 Yilgarn Block, which supplied the sediments for the 
 Pleistocene shorelines where these deposits occur. The 
 source of Austraha's coastal heavy-mineral sands is thought 
 by many in Australia to be pegmatite and quartz veins of the 
 Precambrian shield {98, pp. 27-31; 99, p. 8; 100, p. 73; 101, 
 pp. 21-23). 
 
 East Coast 
 
 Heavy mineral deposits on Australia's east coast occur 
 along approximately 1,700 km of coastline, from the mouth 
 of the Shoalhaven River, N.S.W., north to about Cape 
 Clinton, Queensland. The 13 east coast deposits considered 
 in this study are located between Sydney, N.S.W., and 
 Curtis Island, Queensland, along nearly 1,400 km of 
 coasthne (fig. A-9). 
 
 Individual deposits range in size from 700 to 13,000 ha. 
 Heavy-mineral concentrations commonly encountered are 
 wave-concentrated deposits along present day beaches 
 and/or in old strandlines. Wind-concentrated deposits are 
 also present along the crests of beach and coastal dunes and 
 the parallel and transgressive dune systems further inland 
 from the shoreline. Estimated geologic age of these deposits 
 has been placed at late Pliocene or early Pleistocene to 
 Recent. Mineralogically, the four deposits of New South 
 Wales (Evans Head, Munmorah, Tomago Sand Pits, and 
 Yuraygir National Park) have a ratio of zircon-rutile to 
 ilmenite of nearly 5.0 to 1.0, while the Queensland 
 heavy-mineral deposits have a ratio of 0.54 to 1.0, a 
 consequence of an increasing ilmenite content rather than a 
 decreasing zircon-rutile content as the deposits go north. 
 The ilmenite concentrate has a high chromite (Cr204) 
 content, generally above 1.0 pet, and a low Ti02 content, 56 
 pet or less, which makes it useless for the production of 
 pigment unless upgraded to synthetic rutile first. 
 
 Curtis Island 
 Gladstone^ Gladstone Mainland 
 Agnes Waters 
 
 CORAL SEA 
 
 Fraser Island 
 
 Moreton Island 
 
 f North Stradbroke Island 
 
 PACIFIC OCEAN 
 
 Evans Head 
 Yuraygir National Park 
 
 TASMAN SEA 
 
 Bridge Hill Ridge 
 Stockton Bight 
 
 LEGEND 
 State boundary 
 State capital 
 City or town 
 Mineral sand deposit 
 
 50 100 
 I I I 
 
 Figure A-9.— Location of Australia's east coast mineral sand 
 deposits. 
 
44 
 
 Munmorah-Tomago Sand Pits Area 
 
 Deposits in the Munmorah-Tomago Sand Pits area are 
 located directly to the north and south of Newcastle, 
 N.S.W. Rutile & Zircon Mines (Newcastle) Ltd. (RZ Mines) 
 and Associated Minerals ConsoHdated Ltd. (AMC) own the 
 Tomago Sand Pits Mine and the Munmorah deposit, 
 respectively. Tomago Sand Pits was in production in 1982; 
 Munmorah ceased operation owing to State mining bans 
 enacted in 1977. 
 
 These deposits are concentrations of windblown sand, 
 redeposited by aeolian erosion of older dunes. Heavy 
 minerals average less than 2.0 pet of the total sand through 
 the area. Rutile and zircon are the major ore minerals, and 
 ilmenite and monazite are also available. These minerals 
 represent over 90 pet of the total heavy minerals. 
 
 Published estimates of the Munmorah area are 578,000 
 mt of heavy minerals, averaging in terms of percent of the 
 concentrate about 46.2 pet rutile, 22.7 pet zircon, 14.0 pet 
 ilmenite, and 0.8 pet monazite (102-103). Mineral tonnages of 
 the Tomago Sand Pits area were reported by RZ Mines in 1977 
 to be 640,000 mt of rutile and 670,000 mt of zircon (lOi). 
 
 Evans Head-Yuraygir National Park Area 
 
 The Evans Head-Yuraygir National Park area covers a 
 coasthne distance of about 100 km, approximately 40 km 
 north of the Clarence River (Evans Head area) to 60 km 
 south of the Clarence River (Yuraygir National Park area). 
 Heavy-mineral deposits are mostly beach strandhnes 
 concentrated at the back beach line during storms. Age 
 classification of deposits is Recent and currently forming. 
 
 This area was first mined for gold and plantinum 
 between 1890 and 1900, v^ith sporadic mining to the 1930's. 
 Reported heavy-mineral content of this area is 130,000 mt 
 •with grades, in terms of percent of the concentrates, of 30.7 
 pet rutile, 21.6 pet ilmenite, 30.8 pet zircon, and 46.1 pet 
 monazite. Current owners of this area are the McGerary 
 brothers and both the Federal and State governments. Most 
 of this area along the coasthne is national park, and because 
 of this, little production occurs {101, pp. 89-96). 
 
 North Stradbroke Island 
 
 North Stradbroke Island lies off the coast of Queens- 
 land, Australia, separated from the mainland by Moreton 
 Bay. The island is approximately 35 km long and is 8 km at 
 its widest point. Two companies own mining leases on the 
 island: Associated Minerals Consolidated Ltd. (AMC) and 
 ConsoHdated Rutile Ltd. (CRL). Heavy-mineral deposits on 
 the island occur as beach strandlines, both present and 
 buried, coastal and parallel dunes, and high and transgres- 
 sive dune systems. The current island ai'eas being mined are 
 the old high-dune system of the eastern-central, central, and 
 west coasts. These deposits are Pliocene to Pleistocene 
 placer deposits formed by aeolian action. Large low grade 
 heavy-mineral deposits are found to depths of over 30 m. In 
 1961, the average heavy-mineral grade was estimated to be 
 0.7 pet with a heavy- mineral composition, in terms of the 
 percent of the concentrate, of ilmenite, 51 pet, rutile, 28 pet, 
 zircon, 17 pet, and monazite, 0.12 pet (99, p. 16). More 
 recent estimates of the heavy-mineral composition (102, p. 
 1062) are ilm.enite, 50.1 pet, rutile, 15.8 pet, zircon, 12.5 pet, 
 and monazite, 0.2 pet. AMC does not publish its heavy- 
 mineral resources separately, only as part of the total of all 
 its operations. Heavy-mineral tonnages reported in the 
 CRL 1981 annual report are 1.5 million mt of rutile and 1.4 
 
 million mt of zircon. Both companies are currently mining 
 their heavy-mineral leases on this island. 
 
 Moreton Island to Eraser Island 
 
 This area includes Moreton and Eraser Islands, plus the 
 intervening part of mainland Queensland, covering about 
 215 km of coastline. The four deposits considered in this 
 study are both the Mineral Deposits Ltd. (MDL) and 
 Murphyores Holdings Ltd. leases on Moreton Island, the 
 Cooloola deposit owned by the State of Queensland and the 
 Federal Government, and the Eraser Island leases owned 
 by Murphyores and Dillingham Minerals. 
 
 Moreton Island is situated about 60 km off the coast 
 northeast of Brisbane, Queensland. It is approximately 40 
 km long and 9 km vdde at its vddest point. Four types of 
 deposits exist on Moreton Island: (1) current beach deposits, 
 (2) foredune and low-dune deposits near the beach, (3) 
 high-dune areas, formed by the reworking of older dunes 
 that existed at a higher sea level, and (4) some offshore and 
 swamp areas. MDL lease holdings are mostly the high-dune 
 areas of the island. Estimated heavy-mineral tonnage is 
 about 3.6 million mt in 421.8 miUion mt of sand. Composition 
 of the heavy mineral, in terms of the percent of the 
 concentrate, is 42.8 pet ilmenite, 26.9 pet rutile, 16.6 pet 
 zircon, and monazite (although no grade was reported) (105). 
 Murphyores does not publish its lease holdings' sand and 
 mineral tonnage. At the present time, neither owner is 
 operating its leases. 
 
 The Cooloola deposit, located on the Queensland 
 mainland in Cooloola National Park, stretches along 20 km 
 of coastline. Deposits consist of beach concentrations, 
 northwest-trending transgressive dunes, and frontal paral- 
 lel dunes backing the beach areas. Windblown dune 
 coneentations occur on the crest of dunes to depths of 24 m. 
 Here, as in other east coast deposits, rutile and zircon are 
 the major economic minerals, about 18 pet to 20 pet, 
 respectively, of the heavy-mineral fraction. However, 
 ilmenite dominates the heavy-mineral fraction with a 59-pct 
 average. Some monazite is also present at nearly 0.9 pet. No 
 recent tonnage estimates have been published for this area. 
 Since 1974, when the area was placed in the Australian 
 national park system, all mining has been banned. 
 
 Eraser Island is located off the coastline of Queensland 
 approximately 12 km east of Mary Borough. The island is 
 about 122 km long and from 5 to 25 km wide. About 16,300 
 ha of land (10 pet of the total island area) was held as mineral 
 leases in 1976 (106, p. 4). Deposits are largely high 
 transgressive dunes and other areas similar to those at 
 Cooloola. Murphyores and Dillingham Minerals jointly hold 
 leases to the major mineralized areas, although mining is 
 presently banned at Eraser Island because of environmental 
 restriction by the Government. Most of the leases are 
 located along the 123 km of eastern coastline, while some are 
 on the south and west of the island. Estimated tonnages of 
 these holding have not been published by the owners. 
 Tonnage estimates in 1961 were about 1.0 million mt of 
 heavy minerals along the east coast of the island. 
 Composition of this estimate was 60 pet ilmenite and 16 pet 
 each of i-utile and zircon (99, p. 22-23). 
 
 Agnes Waters — Gladstone — Curtis Island 
 
 Three deposits, Agnes Waters, Gladstone, and Curtis 
 Island are located along Queensland's central coastal section 
 between Bundaberg to just north of Gladstone, about 150 
 km of coastline. The Agnes Waters deposit is located about 
 
45 
 
 128 km north of Bundaberg near the small town of Agnes 
 Waters. MDL holds the lease applications to 1,300 ha of 
 land. This deposit comprises three generations of dune 
 formation ranging from Pleistocene to Recent. Aeolian 
 action and eustatic variations are the mechanisms of 
 concentration. Rutile and zircon are the major ore minerals, 
 with ilmenite and monazite as secondary minerals. A total of 
 2.7 million mt of heavy minerals with an estimated content, 
 in terms of the percent in the concentrate, of 60 pet ilmenite, 
 10 pet rutile, and about 15 pet zircon, is present in 217.8 
 million mt of sand {107, p. 5). Extensive exploration and 
 feasibility studies have been carried out; however, no 
 development has taken place. 
 
 The Gladstone Mainland deposit is actually a number of 
 deposits located from 15 to 60 km southeast of Gladstone. 
 Mineral leases held by Murphy ores total 3,331 ha {108). Both 
 aeolian and wave action have formed the heavy-mineral 
 concentrations of this deposit. These concentrations are 
 found in low parallel dunes near the coast and on the beaches 
 adjoining the low dunes. Values of the Gladstone area's 
 heavy-mineral concentrations, in terms of the percent in the 
 concentrate, are 65 pet ilmenite, 5 pet rutile (some places up 
 to 10 pet), zircon averaging 16 pet, with monazite variable 
 up to 0.2 pet. Total heavy-mineral tonnage is estimated at 
 2.6 million mt. Heavy-mineral content of the sand is 4.3 pet 
 {109, pp. 17-18). Extensive reconnaissance driUing has been 
 done throughout the area by Murphyores and other 
 companies; however, no development has taken place. 
 
 The Curtis Island deposit is located near the Capricorn 
 Peninsula on Curtis Island, approximately 40 km north of 
 Gladstone. Approximately 300 km' of coastal dunes (2,726 
 ha) are covered by the deposit. Murphyores holds the 
 mineral leases for the deposit. Concentrations of heavy 
 minerals are found on the beaches and the northwest- 
 trending parabolic dune system. The most recent heavy- 
 mineral tonnage estimate (1968) is 705,000 mt containing 
 concentrate with 78 pet ilmenite, 6 pet rutile, and 13 pet 
 zircon. This represents only part of the Curtis Island 
 tonnage {109, p. 18). Again, extensive reconnaissance 
 drilling has been carried out although no development ha'^ 
 taken place. 
 
 West Coast 
 
 Since 1956, the State of Western Australia has been a 
 major ilmenite producer. Discovery and development of new 
 deposits in the late 1960's to mid-1970's has continued this 
 trend {100, pp. 61). 
 
 Titanium deposits of Western Australia (fig. A-10) are 
 located on the Swan Coastal Plain from Busselton north to 
 Eneabba (1,300 km) and on the Scott Coastal Plain, 160 km 
 south of Busselton. The majority of these deposits are found 
 within 400 km north and south of Perth, W. A. , with the best 
 ilmenite deposits occurring between Busselton and Bun- 
 bury. West coast heavy-mineral deposits were formed under 
 conditions and mechanisms similar to those that formed the 
 east coast deposits, and the west coast deposits occur within 
 2 or 3 km of the present coasthne at or near sea level, or up 
 to 70 km inland, as much as 130 m above sea level. 
 
 Concentrations of heavy minerals are found in "fossil" 
 shorelines as buried strandlines and dune systems deposited 
 in wave-cut platforms in the underlying Mesozoic basement 
 rock, formed as a result of sea regression and coastline uplift 
 during the Pleistocene epoch. A total of 850 million mt of 
 sand at 9.6 pet heavy minerals has been estimated for this 
 area. Ilmenite is the principal economic ore mineral 
 estimated for the west coast. Two types of ilmenite are 
 
 \ 
 
 Adamson (Eneabba 
 and Allied Eneabba) 
 
 Jurien Bay 
 
 Cooljarloo 
 
 INDIAN OCEAN 
 
 WW 
 
 lAustrallnd 
 Bunbur^^ 
 Cable Sands, 
 North CapeL 
 
 CapalJ^Yoganup 
 
 Ssstt il^ir 
 
 "-■^-.s-i' 
 
 LEGEND 
 State capital 
 City or town 
 IVIinerai sand deposit 
 
 50 100 
 
 Scale, km 
 
 Figure A-10.— Location of Australia's west coast mineral 
 sand deposits. 
 
present, "altered ilmenite" at 65 to 85 pet Ti02, which is 
 suitable for pigment production via the chlorination process, 
 and "pure ilmenite" at 52 to 54 pet Ti02, which can be 
 upgraded to synthetic rutile or can be used for pigment 
 production via the sulfate process. Leucoxene, rutile, 
 zircon, and monazite are of secondary importance (100, pp. 
 65-77; no, pp. 18-19; 111, p. 419; 112, p. 627). 
 
 An estimated total sand tonnage of 600 million mt 
 averaging 10 pet heavy minerals from 14 deposits on the 
 west coast was evaluated in this report. The heavy-mineral 
 content, in terms of the percent of the concentrate, is 54 pet 
 ilmenite, 14 pet zircon, 5.1 pet rutile, 4.4 pet leucoxene, and 
 0.4 pet monazite. The remainder includes other miscel- 
 laneous heavy minerals. 
 
 The most important ilmenite heavy-mineral area is 
 located south of Perth (400 km), between Bunbury and 
 Busselton. The deposits of Australind, Capel (north and 
 south areas), and the Yoganup area (three deposits) are part 
 of three "fossil" shorelines associated with the Whicher 
 Escarpment. These deposits are lenticular in shape and 
 occur in sequential units of conglomerate heavy-mineral 
 sands and sandy silts and clays. They are found at the 
 surface to a depth of 15 m, with an average ore zone 
 thickness of 5 m. Total estimated sand tonnage is 162 million 
 mt at 14.2 pet heavy minerals. The heavy-mineral fraction 
 content, in terms of the percent of the concentrate, is 
 ilmenite, 30 pet, zircon, 6.5 pet, leucoxene, 5.0 pet, rutile 0.5 
 pet, and monazite, 0.4 pet. Australind, owned by Associated 
 Minerals Consohdated Ltd. (AMC), is undeveloped while 
 the others are producing. Their owners are also AMC, as 
 well as Westralian Sands Ltd. 
 
 Another major west coast heavy-mineral area, discov- 
 ered in the late 1960's to mid-1970's, extends for 400 km 
 north of Perth along the Gingin Scarp located approximately 
 70 km inland on the Swan Coastal Plain between the cities of 
 Perth and Eneabba. These deposits are also associated with 
 ancient shorelines 25 to 130 m above sea level and are a 
 mixture of buried strandlines and dune systems formed 
 during the Pleistocene epoch. Heavy-mineral concentrations 
 occur within the same sequence of conglomerate and sandy 
 silt and clay. Ilmenite is still the dominant titanium mineral 
 at 50 pet of the heavy-mineral fraction. The remaining 
 heavy-mineral fraction, in terms of the percent of the 
 concentrate, is zircon, 20 pet, rutile, 8.5 pet, leucoxene, 4.2 
 pet, and monazite, 0.5 pet. Depth and thickness of these 
 concentrations are similar to those in the Busselton- 
 Bunbury area. Estimated total demonstrated sand at these 
 six deposits [Cataby, Eneabba area two, Gingin, Jurien Bay 
 and Cooljarloo] is 393 million mt containing 36 million mt of 
 heavy minerals. 
 
 The Eneabba deposit is one of the most important rutile 
 mines in the world. Production began there in 1974, and 
 identified resources account for nearly 100 million mt of 
 heavy minerals. 
 
 Deposit owners are Metals Exploration Ltd. and 
 Alliance Minerals NL (Cataby), Associated Minerals Con- 
 solidated Ltd. (Eneabba), Allied Eneabba Pty. Ltd. (Allied 
 Eneabba), Lennard Oil NL and Westralian Sands Ltd., 
 (Gingin), Western Mining Corp. Holdings Ltd. (Jurien Bay 
 area). Only the two Eneabba deposits are producing (100, 
 pp. 72-73). 
 
 The Scott Coastal Plain, 160 km south of Busselton, is 
 the newest area of heavy-mineral sand exploration and 
 discovery in Western Australia. The Scott River deposit is 
 located in the northwest corner of the coastal plain about 7 
 to 10 km inland. It was discovered in the mid-1970's. As in 
 other west coast mineral sand areas, this deposit is also 
 
 associated with former shorelines; however, the deposit 
 suggests shore and backshore areas of former lake and river 
 deposits rather than a coastal beach deposit. The ore zone is 
 9 m thick, with about 4 m of overburden. Leucoxene, rutile, 
 and zircon together make up 20 pet of the heavy-mineral 
 fraction, while ilmenite is 60 pet of the fraction. No reported 
 tonnage was published for the deposit; however, a total 
 tonnage of 10 million mt of heavy minerals at 10 pet for the 
 total area is estimated to include the Scott Coastal Plain, 
 Bremer Basin, and the Leeuwin Block. Ownership of the 
 deposit area has probably reverted back to the State. A joint 
 exploration project by Union Oil Co. and Samedan Australia 
 Pty. Ltd. failed to find significant heavy-mineral content. 
 
 Barrambie (not shown on figure A- 10), a hard-rock 
 titanium, vanadium, and iron occurrence in Western 
 Australia, was included in this study because of its potential 
 as Australia's largest hard-rock titanium deposit even 
 though no mine presently producing slag in the world has as 
 low a grade of Ti02. The deposit is owned by Ferrovanadium 
 Corp. N.L. and is located approximately 420 km inland from 
 Geraldton. Initial exploration began in 1968 with geological 
 mapping, geophysical surveying, and percussion and di- 
 amond drilling detailing the mineralization. The vanadifer- 
 ous titanomagnetite deposit occurs within an Archean 
 anorthositic gabbro complex approximately 20 km long and 
 400 m wide. Drilling has indicated mineralization to a depth 
 of 50 m. The deposit was first discovered in 1960 by H. J. 
 Ward during aerial reconnaissance of the Murchison 
 Goldfield. Gold has been produced from the deposit at 
 various times. Total indicated tonnage of 27 million mt at 26 
 pet Fe, 15 pet Ti02, 0.7 pet V2O5 was estimated based on the 
 exploration. Another 415 million mt at the inferred resource 
 level was also estimated, but no grades were established. 
 Development plans call for open pit mining and production of 
 titanium slag, low-manganese iron and flake vanadium 
 pentoxide. The deposit is undeveloped and is undergoing 
 feasibility and technical processing studies {113). 
 
 New Zealand 
 
 New Zealand's titanium-bearing sands occur on both 
 the North and South Islands. Those on the North Island are 
 associated with the Waikato River at Murina and Munukau 
 Heads. South Island deposits are found on the west coast 
 between Jackson Bay and Karamea; the most promising 
 area lies between Barrytown and Westport. The South 
 Island deposits contain the only significant ilmenite deposits 
 in New Zealand. A churn driUing program begun in the late 
 1960's found sufficient quantities and grades of heavy 
 minerals plus gold, seheelite, and cassiterite to indicate a 
 viable deposit. The heavy-mineral concentrations are beach 
 deposits formed by wave and wind action. Deposits 
 occurring along the coastline from sea level to 20 m above 
 sea level have overburden and deposit thickness averaging 
 1.4 and 5.2 m, respectively. Ilmenite is the titanium mineral 
 of importance, at 4 pet of the total sand tonnage. Other 
 minerals are rutile (0.1 pet), zircon (0.35 pet), monazite 
 (0.001 pet), and gold (0.06 g/mt), along with seheelite and 
 cassiterite. The ilmenite, however, is low in Ti02 (47 pet) 
 and must be upgraded to synthetic rutile or the sulfate 
 process must be used for pigment production. Total sand 
 tonnage of the area is estimated at 1.0 million mt (llA, p. 
 16). Fletcher-Challenge Ltd. at one time had an interest in 
 this property although no development was ever under- 
 taken. If land for mining is ever developed, it would have to 
 be bought or leased from various farmers, who use some of 
 the area for grazing land. 
 
47 
 
 APPENDIX B.—TITANIUM DIOXIDE PIGMENT 
 
 Under current technology, the two processes for 
 producing Ti02 pigment are the chloride process and the 
 sulfate process. The two major factors that influerice which 
 process is selected are (1) the availability of the raw 
 materials (ilmenite or titanium slag for the sulfate process; 
 rutile, synthetic rutile, titanium slag, or leucoxene for the 
 chloride process and (2) environmental concerns related to 
 soHd and hquid waste disposal (this problem is less severe 
 for the chloride process than for the sulfate process). 
 However, the diminishing supply of rutile resources is a 
 concern to producers using the chloride process. A 
 description of each process is given below. 
 
 of water or weak sulfuric acid. This solution is passed over 
 scrap iron to convert all ferric sulfate [Fe3(S04)2] to ferrous 
 sulfate (FeS04) if ilmenite was the feed material. The 
 resultant solution is clarified by filtration. The clarified 
 solution is then cooled to 10° C in vacuum crystahzers where 
 about 50 pet of the ferrous sulfate precipitates out as 
 copperas. After further concentration and filtration, the 
 hquor containing soluble titanyl sulfate [Ti(S04)2] is 
 hydrolyzed by injection of steam. By careful seeding 
 techniques, either an anatase-grade or rutile-grade titanium 
 pigment may be produced. Typical titanium recoveries 
 range from 80 pet to 85 pet Ti02, depending on the Ti02 
 content of the feed material (115). 
 
 CHLORIDE PROCESS 
 
 The chloride process was introduced commercially in 
 1956 by Du Pont. This process primarily utihzes as material 
 feed stock, rutile, synthetic rutile, or other high-grade Ti02 
 sources. The one exception is Du Font's special patented 
 process which uses a mixture of rutile, leucoxene, and 
 ilmenite, ranging from 63 to 80 pet Ti02. 
 
 For the chloride process, materials are chlorinated at 
 850° to 950° C in a fluid-bed reactor in the presence of oxygen 
 and a carbon source. The products are titanium tetrachloride 
 (TiCU) and other titanium and iron chlorides. The TiCU is 
 separated and purified by fractional distillation. The product 
 is then oxidized with air or oxygen, yielding Ti02. Typical 
 recovery for the chloride process, depending on the Ti02 
 content of the feed material, is 90 pet (115). This process is 
 now able to produce both anatase-grade and rutile-grade 
 Ti02 pigments, although the anatase grade is usually a 
 mixture of anatase and rutile (70/30). 
 
 SULFATE PROCESS 
 
 The majority of world Ti02 pigment plants use the 
 sulfate process. Their raw materials are ilmenite or titanium 
 slag from ilmenite. In a typical sulfate process, feedstock is 
 ground to minus 200 mesh, then leached with concentrated 
 sulfuric acid, agitated with air, and heated to 110° C by 
 steam in a batch reaction tank. The reaction requires an 
 acid-to-ilmenite ratio of 1.3 to 0.8, with the ilmenite added 
 over a period of from 15 to 30 min. A soHd mass of soluble 
 titanium and iron sulfate and insoluble compounds is 
 produced. The soluble sulfates are dissolved by the addition 
 
 TITANIUM PIGMENT PLANT COSTS 
 
 Table B-1 gives the capacity, capital, and operating cost 
 of typical titanium pigment production for both the chloride 
 and sulfate processes in various parts of the world (116). 
 These costs include construction of all necessary facilities 
 and infrastructure to initiate production and to produce a 
 commercially marketable pigment product. Labor, energy, 
 and material costs are also included. In some cases, as in 
 Japan, the costs of pollution control equipment are included; 
 these costs can add from $90/mt to $120/mt to the cost of 
 titanium pigment production. 
 
 Table B-1.— Typical capital and operating costs of titanium 
 
 dioxide pigment plants by region, January 1981 dollars (116) 
 
 Capacity, Capital °PT$!mt 
 
 Region and plant type 10' mt/yr cost, concentrate 
 
 TiO, pigment 10^ ^°"S 
 
 Australia: 
 
 Chloride 33,000 63,000 1,p38.6 
 
 Sulfate 33,000 58,125 911.9 
 
 50,000 74,600 710,7 
 
 Japan; Sulfate 33,000 88,300 '873.4 
 
 50,000 120,000 '632.1 
 
 Spain: Sulfate 25,000 65,000 '509 2 
 
 50,000 100,000 '487.9 
 United States: 
 
 Chloride ^ggooo 143,832 ^B^^.7 
 
 Sulfate ^66,250 NA ^755.3 
 
 NA Not available. 
 
 'Costs do not include cost of feed material or depreciation or return on 
 investment. 
 ^Costs are averaged based on available data. 
 
APPENDIX C— TITANIUM SPONGE AND METAL PRODUCTION 
 
 There are two processes for the production of titanium 
 sponge: the Kroll and Hunter processes. Both involve the 
 use of magnesium or sodium to reduce TiC^. 
 
 The Kroll process, using magnesium, is the most widely 
 used. The reaction takes place in a sealed, pressurized 
 vessel, previously purged with argon or helium, from which 
 a mass of titanium metal and soluble magnesium chloride 
 (MgCl2) are produced. This mass is removed from the 
 reaction vessel by a special boring machine and washed to 
 dissolve the MgCl2. The MgCl2 is sent to electrolytic cells 
 that separate it into chlorine and magnesium metal, which 
 are both recycled. The chlorine can be used in the 
 
 chlorination of the titanium feed material, if necessary, and 
 the magnesium metal is used in the reduction reaction. 
 
 ine production of titanium sponge is only an intermedi- 
 ate process to the final production of the metal form. Special 
 techniques such as double arc melting, electrolytics, or the 
 iodide process are used to produce the metal. Estimated 
 capital costs for titanium sponge plants range from $10,000 
 to $18,000 per annual ton of sponge produced. One total 
 capital cost estimate is $138 million for a 7,000-mt/yr plant, 
 with an operating cost of $5.49/lb of sponge (1982 U.S. 
 dollars) (ii 7). 
 
 i^U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICf 1986- tf98'--733-if2it30 
 
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 ^v JUN 86 
 
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