It is used across a diverse range of applications no limited to aeronautics, medical implants, defence, sporting goods and componentry in the offshore mining and petrochemicals industries. Titanium metal is chemically resistant, has a high melting point and low conductivity. Titanium minerals are also used to produce titanium metal, which has the highest strength to weight ratio of all metals.
The wide range of applications for pigment includes house and car paints, laminates and other coatings, plastic pipes and packaging, fibres, inks, rubber, as well as clothing, sunscreen, toothpaste, food and in cosmetics and pharmaceutical manufacture. Upgraded forms of titanium dioxide, where ilmenites are beneficiated to a higher titanium dioxide product, include sulphate or chloride slags (80% to 95%) and synthetic rutile (88% to 95%).Īround 90% of titanium dioxide globally is used as a pigment in the manufacture of paint, plastic, paper and fibre where, in addition to being a non-toxic whitener, it also provides UV and chemical resistance. The main forms of titanium dioxide in titanium minerals are: Form of titanium dioxide Zirconium alloys are widely used as structural components in the nuclear industry such as pressure tubes, fuel channels, guide tubes, grid spacers, as well as for fuel cladding, fuel containers, and as the core structural materials of water-cooled nuclear reactors. Zirconium metal can be extracted from zircon and further processed to form numerous zirconium chemical compounds employed in manufacturing processes. Zirconium chemicals are also used in gemstone production, titanium dioxide coatings, anti-perspirants, paper coatings, and paint driers.
It is used in the manufacture of tubes, rings, discs, plates and other complex shapes, in sizes ranging from microns to centimetres, as well as lector-ceramics, structural ceramics, pump components and biocompatible devices, and advanced technical applications such as oxygen sensors and solid oxide fuel cells. Zirconia is used in the fabrication of special electro-ceramics for a wide range of applications in the automotive, aerospace and telecommunication sectors. Zirconium oxychloride (ZOC) represents the most important zirconium compound due to its use as a base material for the production of zirconia. Given that the variation between ilmenite pricing and zircon pricing can be 1:6 or more, the revenue to cash cost ratio can be materially influenced by the assemblage characteristics.Ĭonsequently, the industry tends to use a margin curve or revenue:cash cost ratio curve to assess the relative attractiveness of mineral sands deposits.
Most mineral sands mines produce several product streams, with ilmenite usually the predominant component, and lesser quantities of the more valuable minerals of rutile and zircon. In mineral sands, given the varying product streams from a deposit and their differing value in use, the economics is influenced as much by the assemblage (composition of the valuable heavy mineral stream which shapes the revenue per tonne characteristics) as the deposit HM grade or the cost of mining. The grade of valuable mineral, recoveries, scale, mining method, and associated costs are key factors in influencing unit cost. Unit cash cost is the measure typically used for most mineral commodities to benchmark a projects relative economics.
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