Tag Archives: titanium dioxide

Rio Tinto looks for commercial uses of Aymium renewable biocarbon products

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Rio Tinto and Aymium have partnered to develop and trial a renewable biocarbon product for use as an alternative resource to reduce emissions in large scale industrial processes.

The product has been successfully trialled as a replacement for anthracite used in ilmenite smelting processes at Rio Tinto’s metallurgical complex in Sorel-Tracy, Quebec, a leading producer of high-grade titanium dioxide feedstock as well as iron and steel for specialised applications.

In a strengthening of the partnership, Rio Tinto has made a further equity investment in Aymium following its participation in a funding round in 2022. The second investment is part of Rio Tinto’s support for innovations needed to meet its 2030 emission reduction targets and deliver lower carbon supply chains.

The partners will now be working together on options for large-scale production of a biocarbon product.

Rio Tinto Minerals Chief Executive, Sinead Kaufman, said: “We are delighted to work with Aymium to develop and trial this renewable biocarbon product that has real potential as an alternative, low carbon resource for our processes. We are investing to deepen our partnership, as part our commitment to finding better ways to decarbonise our operations and the supply chains we are part of.”

Aymium CEO, James Mennell, said: “Our mission is to accelerate the transition away from fossil fuels and minimise our environmental impact. We are delighted about Rio Tinto’s follow-on investment as it will further advance our global mission to create bioproducts with enhanced performance and achieve ambitious emissions reduction targets.”

Funds from this investment will be directed towards advancing the construction of Aymium’s new production facilities in North America and supporting its research and development initiatives.

Aymium produces high-value biocarbon and biohydrogen products that, Rio Tinto says, can be used to immediately replace fossil fuels in the production of metals, energy, crops, and in the purification of water and air with no modifications to equipment or processes. Produced using biomass – recovered and unusable wood – Aymium’s bioproducts are renewable, carbon-negative and replace emission-heavy fossil fuels such as coal and coke, according to the company. Aymium’s technology is backed by more than 350 issued or pending patents on a global basis.

Chemours cuts ribbon on Trail Ridge South mineral sands mine

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The Chemours Company has held a ribbon cutting event for key community stakeholders and legislators to officially recognise the startup of its newest mineral sand mine, Trail Ridge South, in Florida, USA.

The new mining operation, which kicked off commissioning in August, represents a $93 million investment that will create approximately 50 new jobs in the three-county area.

The project to expand its mining operations will allow Chemours – the only domestic producer of titanium and zirconium minerals and one of only two domestic producers of rare earth minerals – to have additional access to these high-quality concentrated deposits used to produce Chemours’ Ti-Pure™ brand of titanium dioxide (TiO₂).

“A reliable supply of quality ilmenite and other minerals is critical to our ability to serve customers,” Mark Smith, Vice President of Operations for Chemours Titanium Technologies, said. “Sourcing those resources from a community we’re already so deeply connected to makes it even better – it’s a win-win. We’re incredibly proud to call Clay County home and look forward to many years of safe operations and partnership.”

Chemours’ sand mining approach uses environmentally responsible processes that have minimal impact on the environment and provides for full land reclamation when mining is complete, the company says. Constructed in approximately 13 months, the Trail Ridge South facility was designed using a modularisation concept, where modules were built off-site and then shipped to the site for assembly. Modularisation allows the facility to be more easily moved in a shorter timeframe at the end of the mining life of the site, which is anticipated to be approximately eight years.

The new mining facility took 150,000 man-hours to construct with zero recordable injuries. In addition, the site’s leaders worked closely with regulatory agencies to obtain required permits and ensure there was no adverse impact to the environment.

In addition, Trail Ridge South will incorporate Mobile Mining Units (MMUs) designed by Carrara, Queensland, Australia-headquartered Downer company Mineral Technologies that address environmental concerns with traditional dredge mining. The MMUs allow the site to have much lower emissions, reduced dust levels, and improved safety by removing conventional hauling trucks. In addition, the facility will recycle 98% of the water used in the manufacturing process – providing sustainable solutions while still meeting the Chemours’ commitment to process minerals. Trail Ridge South process water and water treatment ponds are all constructed above ground, with approximately 39 million gallons (177.3 million litres) of storage capacity.

Rio Tinto to decarbonise titanium dioxide, steel and metal powders business in Quebec

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Rio Tinto is partnering with the Government of Canada to invest up to C$737 million ($537 million) over the next eight years to decarbonise its Rio Tinto Fer et Titane (RTFT) operations in Sorel-Tracy, Québec, Canada, and to position the business as a centre of excellence for critical minerals processing.

The partnership will support technological innovations that represent a first step towards reducing greenhouse gas emissions from RTFT’s titanium dioxide, steel and metal powders business by up to 70%. It will also progress initiatives to diversify RTFT’s product portfolio, reinforcing Rio Tinto’s leadership as a North American supplier of critical minerals for key growth sectors such as electric vehicles, 3D printing and aerospace, the miner said.

The Government of Canada is investing up to C$222 million over the next eight years to support these initiatives through its Strategic Innovation Fund (SIF), which supports large-scale, transformative, and collaborative projects that will help position Canada to prosper in the global knowledge-based economy.

Rio Tinto Chief Executive, Jakob Stausholm, said: “Rio Tinto is committed to being part of a net-zero future, from decarbonising our operations to finding new ways to produce the materials needed for the transition. We are excited to collaborate with the Government of Canada to position RTFT for the future and strengthen the critical minerals and metals value chains in Canada and the United States.”

The Right Honourable Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada, said: “Good middle-class jobs, clean air, and made-in-Canada tech: this is our vision for a strong economy and a strong future. Today’s announcement is about delivering on that vision and positioning Canada as a leader in critical minerals – a key part of things like electric vehicles. Together, we will continue to innovate, create good jobs, and keep our air clean.”

The Honourable François-Philippe Champagne, Canada’s Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry, said: “Supporting the growth of Canada’s critical minerals supply chain will ensure that our country remains a global leader in this strategic sector. Our government is committed to the sustainable development of critical minerals resources, creating good jobs, and building strong global supply chains while strengthening trade relationships with Canada’s closest allies.”

The partnership will support projects including:

BlueSmelting

The BlueSmelting project is an ilmenite smelting technology that could generate 95% less greenhouse gas emissions than RTFT’s current reduction process, enabling the production of high-grade titanium dioxide feedstock, steel and metal powders with a drastically reduced carbon footprint.

A demonstration plant is currently under construction at the RTFT metallurgical complex in Sorel-Tracy to test and validate this technology developed by scientists from Rio Tinto’s Critical Minerals and Technology Centre. Construction of the demonstration plant, which will have a capacity to process up to 40,000 t/y of ilmenite ore, is expected to be completed in the first half of 2023.

If fully implemented, the BlueSmelting project has the potential to deliver a reduction of up to 70% in RTFT’s overall greenhouse gas emissions, a decrease of approximately 670,000 t CO2e-based on 2021 emissions or the equivalent to removing 145,000 cars from the road.

Increasing scandium production

After becoming the first North American producer of scandium, a critical mineral used in solid oxide fuel cells and aluminium alloys, earlier this year, Rio Tinto is planning to quadruple its production capacity to reach up to 12 t/y of scandium oxide, from the current nameplate capacity of three tonnes.

New modules will be added to the existing plant, which uses an innovative process to extract high purity scandium oxide from the waste streams of titanium dioxide production, without the need for any additional mining. The C$30-35 million project is expected to start producing scandium oxide in 2024.

Adding titanium metal to the portfolio

Rio Tinto is partnering with other titanium industry participants to advance the development of a new process for extracting and refining titanium metal, a high-performance material used in the medical, aerospace, and automotive industries.

Rio Tinto is setting up a pilot plant at the RTFT metallurgical complex to validate this low-cost process which requires no harmful chemicals and does not generate direct greenhouse gas emissions. The plant is expected to be completed by the end of 2023.

This project has the potential to greatly increase the production of raw titanium metal in North America, while strengthening the security of supply for this critical mineral for Canadian and US manufacturers.

Chemours kicks off commissioning at Trail Ridge South mineral sands mine

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The Chemours Company has begun commissioning its newest mineral sand mine, Trail Ridge South, in Florida, USA.

The new mining operation represents a $93 million investment that will create approximately 50 new jobs in the three-county area, and will incorporate Mobile Mining Units (MMUs) that were previously tested out at the company’s Jesup, Georgia mining site, allowing for reduced dependency on traditional dredge or truck and shovel mining processes.

Commissioning work to test operational aspects of the new mine has begun, with startup anticipated later this year. Expansion of its mining operations will allow Chemours – the only domestic producer of titanium and zirconium minerals and one of only two domestic producers of rare earth minerals – to have additional access to these high-quality concentrated deposits used to produce Chemours’ Ti-Pure™ brand of titanium dioxide (TiO₂).

“The commissioning of our new Trail Ridge South mine is much more than an operational milestone – it represents a huge win for our customers, community, and our country,” Jody Sciance, co-Director of Minerals Operations for Chemours, said. “This secure, domestic mineral supply means more tonnes of TiO₂ for our pigment customers, more jobs for Clay County residents, and access to critical materials identified by the U.S. Department of the Interior as vital to our nation’s security and economic prosperity – all with minimal impact on our local environment. We are extremely proud to expand our footprint in Florida and look forward to partnering with this community for years to come.”

The MMUs to be used at Trail Ridge South, an expansion of its existing Trail Ridge operation, allow the site to have much lower emissions, reduced dust levels and improved safety by removing conventional hauling trucks, Chemours says. In addition, the Trail Ridge South facility will recycle 98% of its water used in the manufacturing process – providing sustainable solutions while still meeting the company’s commitment to process minerals. Trail Ridge South process water and water treatment ponds are all constructed above ground, with approximately 39 million gallons (177 million litres) of storage capacity.

A high-performance solution, the MMUs for both Jesup and Trail Ridge South have been designed by Carrara, Queensland, Australia-headquartered Downer company Mineral Technologies (MT). MT told IM in 2021 that these units are aimed at mining sites where traditional dredging is not an option, or not cost effective. The technology delivers improvements in availability, orebody yields, throughput and overall mineral recovery. Suited to sand environments that include organics such as tree roots, light clay and soft or friable rock, MMUs can reduce operating costs by also eliminating the need for conventional truck and shovel mining. MT said the Chemours MMUs are extracting difficult-to-reach mineral sand deposits where traditional mining methods don’t stack up as the best business case. The MMUs provide a far safer and substantially reduced cost per tonne solution compared with other options.

MT says the MMU has a 750 t/h nominal operation with peak at 900 t/h. It offers complete remote control via a tablet device eliminating the need for on-board personnel. Dozers push run of mine ore to the unit where a hopper is loaded via hydraulic excavator, with the material then crushed to a suitable size for pumping of slurried ore to downstream processes.

NioCorp working with Weir Minerals, NRRI on Elk Creek HPGR test work

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NioCorp Developments Ltd is to initiate testing of Elk Creek project ore using high pressure grinding rolls (HPGR) technology from Weir Minerals.

HPGR technology is considered an energy efficient and low-emission alternative to conventional processing for reducing the size of the ore to enable the recovery of niobium, scandium, titanium, and potential rare earth products, NioCorp said.

The use of this technology in the project reinforces the company’s commitment to the environment and designing a sustainable operation, it added.

The testing is being conducted at the Natural Resources Research Institute (NRRI) of the University of Minnesota-Duluth, in partnership with Weir Minerals. During the testing, which is expected to take several weeks, around 3 t of Elk Creek drill core will be reduced to the 1-mm size needed for hydrometallurgical test work.

Working with Weir Minerals, NRRI acquired an industrial-scale Enduron® HPGR to carry out testing on a variety of ores with this process back in 2020. This is the only large scale HPGR dedicated to research in the US, NRRI claims.

“The network is expected to provide key data that will be used to properly size the HPGR unit for the potential ore throughput at the Elk Creek project, once project financing is secured and the project is operational,” NioCorp said.

The company is currently evaluating the next steps in its overall metallurgical test work program, which will focus on optimising and streamlining the existing processing flowsheet as well as establishing process routes for the potential recovery of rare earth products. The rare earth products that are of most interest to the company are, at present, neodymium-praseodymium (NdPr) oxide, terbium oxide and dysprosium oxide. As previously announced, the company has launched a review of the economic potential of expanding its currently planned product suite from the project to also include rare earth products.

An April 2019 feasibility study on Elk Creek, in Nebraska, USA, estimated average production of 7,220 t/y of ferroniobium, 95 t/y tpa of scandium trioxide and 11,642 t/y of titanium dioxide over the 36-year mine life.

Scott Honan, NioCorp COO, said: “After witnessing testing at NRRI, I was impressed with how the HPGR was able to handle the Elk Creek ore quickly and efficiently, with minimal noise and dust.

“We look forward to completing this phase of the test work and moving on to look at further improvements to the existing flowsheet, including our new emphasis around the rare earths.”

Argex Titanium and China’s ECEC sign engineering agreement

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Argex Titanium says it has signed a long term strategic cooperation agreement with East China Engineering Science and Technology Co, located in Hefei, China, to provide access to engineering skills to address the rapidly expanding Chinese demand for titanium dioxide (TiO2).

ECEC is, according to Argex, one of the largest engineering procurement and construction (EPC) companies in China and has built over 2,000 plants across a range of chemical products. “It also specialises in bringing new innovation to market with its strong and very large engineering capabilities,” Argex said.

ECEC has built more than 30 TiO2 plants in China over the past decades and is an expert in the construction of commercial technology for the manufacture of TiO2, according to the Toronto-listed company. It has also built paint production plants in China for one of the world largest paint manufacturer from Japan, it said.

“ECEC has reviewed numerous novel TiO2 production technologies and, after studying Argex, has concluded that it is now at the stage of full commercial deployment at a large scale,” Argex said.

Argex, meanwhile, intends to become a low-cost producer of TiO2 and other valuable by-products through an advanced proprietary chemical process. High-grade purity TiO2 will be produced at its facilities, serving major markets in North America and abroad, it says.

The agreement terms include a 15-year time commitment, a division of responsibility between Argex and ECEC, and a commitment to use Argex technology in China as well as other countries in which ECEC is active.

“The partners will offer EPC services to clients wishing to expand existing facilities or to construct ‘greenfield’ new plants,” Argex said. ECEC will provide marketing services in China and in other Asia countries, in addition to providing the basic engineering design based on the ore selection of a specific client. ECEC will, meanwhile, provide detail engineering and EPC contract bidding.

“The partnership with ECEC also brings ECEC’s long standing, project financing relationships with both domestic and international financial institutions,” Argex said. “ECEC sees in Argex the right partner, both, to transform the domestic TiO2 production capacity in China into environmentally-friendly and lower-cost production and also a technology partner to allow it to expand rapidly into various international markets. ECEC has built various plants across different countries in offering a full spectrum solution, bringing EPC services and financing as one full package.”

ECEC will immediately start work on three projects in parallel, the design and bidding for Argex technology centre in Quebec (pictured), Canada; a 25,000 t/y plant in China and a project in Vietnam.

“This represents an immediate financial benefit to Argex as ECEC will work on detailed engineering for all three projects in parallel, thanks to their strong and vast expertise and workforce,” Argex said.

ECEC will introduce Argex to TiO2 manufacturers in China which will become licensees for the Argex technology, according to the company.

Mazen Alnaimi, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Argex, said: “We are very happy to have formed this long-term partnership for the commercial application of our technology. ECEC is a very qualified and respected contractor with tremendous experience in the construction of TiO2 plants in China.

“The growth potential in the country for TiO2 projects is very exciting and we know the Chinese government is regulating legacy technology out of existence, leading to many revamps or replacements of existing facilities.

“We look forward to a mutually beneficial relationship with ECEC for years into the future and combined success in establishing the Argex technology as the preferred method of expansion in the Chinese market and throughout Asia.”