A detailed assessment of global Zr and Ti production
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ORIGINAL PAPER
A detailed assessment of global Zr and Ti production Cameron Perks 1
&
Gavin Mudd 1
Received: 14 January 2020 / Accepted: 10 September 2020 # Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2020
Abstract Titanium and zirconium are vital and often irreplaceable components of modern infrastructure and technology. As international trade routes are challenged, and consumers are increasingly aware of sustainable mining practices, it has become imperative to accurately understand where these minerals are sourced from and in what qualities and quantities. Despite investigation by various government groups, consultants, and scholars, there remain significant differences in global production assessments for titanium and zirconium minerals, particularly for ilmenite and titania slag. This paper investigates this by collating and analyzing publicly available historical data on a country and company basis, providing an analysis of production trends over time, commenting on emerging trends and their relevance to sustainable mining. To provide a complete picture of titanium and zirconium production, this paper also provides evidence of declining titanium and zirconium grades in heavy mineral sand mines. Despite there being some examples to the contrary, the majority of production data and reserve data from existing mines show that these deposits are experiencing declining grades. Overall, there remains a need for improvement in reporting of these minerals to facilitate a modern understanding of the sustainability of the sector. Keywords Ilmenite . Rutile . Zircon . Titanium . Sustainable mining . Mineral production
Introduction Titanium (Ti) and zirconium (Zr) minerals such as zircon ((Hf,Zr)SiO 4 ), rutile (TiO 2 ), ilmenite (FeTiO 3 ), and leucoxene1 are used as crucial feedstocks in a wide variety of end-uses. These minerals are derived from primary (or “hard rock” or “rock”) or secondary (or “sedimentary,” often “beach sand” or “paleo beach”) style mineral deposits and are part of a suite of minerals known as heavy minerals (HM) for which several definitions exist (see Perks and Mudd (2019)). Other HM can include baddeleyite, staurolite, kyanite, sillimanite, andalusite, tourmaline, cassiterite, wolframite, scheelite, columbite, tantalite, corundum, magnetite, monazite, xenotime, bastnäsite, garnet, diamonds, chromite, silica sand, 1
Leucoxene is common industry term for the alteration products of ilmenite
Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (https://doi.org/10.1007/s13563-020-00240-5) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. * Cameron Perks [email protected] 1
RMIT University, School of Engineering, 124 La Trobe St, Melbourne, VIC 3000, Australia
gold, and platinum (Elsner 2010; Morley 1981). Each deposit is unique geologically and geochemically, with varying mineral assemblages, grain sizes, ore grades, and volumes, as well as social, environmental, and regulatory contexts. Miners, end-users, and intermediate processo
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