ILMENITE1/ (Data in thousand metric tons of contained TiO2, unless noted) Domestic Production and Use: Two firms produced ilmenite concentrate from three heavy-mineral sands operations in Florida and one produced ilmenite in California as a byproduct of sand and gravel production. Based on average prices, the value of U.S. ilmenite consumption in 1995 was about $250 million. Major coproducts of ilmenite from heavy mineral sand deposits are rutile and zircon. About 99% of the ilmenite and titanium slag was consumed by five titanium pigment producers. The remainder was used in welding rod coatings and for manufacturing alloys, carbide, and chemicals. Salient Statistics--United States: 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995e/ Production W W W W W Imports for consumption2/ 462 615 564 584 608 Exportse 12 16 7 9 12 Consumption:2/ Reported 751 882 889 W 920 Apparent W W W W W Price, dollars per metric ton: Ilmenite: Bulk, 54% TiO2, f.o.b. Australian ports 72 65 63 77 80 Slag:e/ 80% TiO2, f.o.b. Sorel, Quebec 293 276 276 278 300 85% TiO2, f.o.b. Richards Bay, South Africa 293 322 330 334 350 Stocks, mine, distributor and consumer, yearend2/ 218 254 218 208 200 Employment, mine and mill3/ 395 400 395 400 400 Net import reliance4/ as a percent of apparent consumption W W W W W Recycling: None. Import Sources (1991-94): South Africa, 60%; Australia, 25%; Canada, 10%; and other, 5%. Tariff: Item Number Most favored nation (MFN) Non-MFN5/ 12/31/95 12/31/95 Ilmenite and ilmenite sand 2614.00.6020 Free Free. Titanium slag 2620.90.5000 Free Free. Depletion Allowance: 22% (Domestic), 14% (Foreign). Government Stockpile: None. Prepared by Joseph M. Gambogi, (703) 648-7718. ILMENITE Events, Trends, and Issues: Another record year of titanium pigment production resulted in a moderate increase in the domestic consumption of ilmenite plus titanium slag. Total imports of ilmenite plus slag increased about 4% with Australia, Canada, and South Africa contributing more than 75% of imports. Imports from Brazil, India, and Ukraine increased significantly. Exploration and development of titanium mineral deposits were on the rise in 1995. In South Africa, a new producer of titanium concentrates was expected to commission a titanium slag operation by yearend. At full production, the operation was expected to produce 195,000 tons per year of slag. In Western Australia, plans were announced to proceed with the development of the Beenup deposit. The deposit was reported to be 4% heavy mineral sands and low in impurities with the potential for 500,000 tons per year of ilmenite. Domestic environmental problems related to ilmenite include (1) land use conflicts where heavy-mineral sands deposits exist principally along the Atlantic coast and (2) the potential for water pollution from pigment-producing processes. Solutions to the latter problem include the development of economic, environmentally acceptable processes for making synthetic rutile or titanium tetrachloride from lower grade ilmenites and the development of methods to recover and recycle spent sulfuric acid as well as to neutralize and control the effluents produced. The two U.S. producers using the sulfate process treated their spent acid effluent with calcium carbonate and lime, producing a gypsum byproduct. World Mine Production, Reserves, and Reserve Base: Mine production Reserves6/ Reserve base6/ 1994 1995e/ United States W W 8,000 59,000 Australia 1,010 1,030 33,000 88,000 Brazil 50 50 18,000 18,000 Canada (slag) 611 610 31,000 36,000 China 78 80 30,000 41,000 Egypt -- -- -- 1,700 Finland -- -- 1,400 1,400 India 162 170 30,000 38,000 Italy -- -- -- 2,200 Madagascar -- -- -- 19,000 Malaysia 159 160 -- 1,000 Norway (ilmenite and slag) 315 320 40,000 40,000 South Africa (slag) 632 750 63,000 63,000 Sri Lanka 32 30 13,000 13,000 Ukraine 75 100 5,900 13,000 Other countries 32 8 1,000 1,000 World total (rounded) 7/ 3,160 7/ 3,310 270,000 440,000 World Resources: Ilmenite supplies about 90% of the world's demand for titaniferous material. World ilmenite resources total about 1 billion tons of titanium dioxide. Major resources occur in Australia, Canada, China, India, New Zealand, Norway, South Africa, Ukraine, and the United States. Substitutes: Rutile and synthetic rutile were extensively used to produce titanium dioxide pigment. e/Estimated. W Withheld to avoid disclosing company proprietary data. 1/See also Rutile and Titanium and Titanium Dioxide. 2/Includes titanium slag from Canada, Norway, and South Africa and leucoxene from Australia. 3/Includes operating employees shown under Rutile, subject to the same footnoted comments. 4/Defined as imports - exports + adjustments for Government and industry stock changes. 5/See Appendix B. 6/See Appendix C for definitions. 7/Excludes U.S. production. Mineral Commodity Summaries, January 1996