Top 10 Titanium Producing Countries In the World
Titanium has a metallic white colour and is shiny. Titanium is a metallic element that exists with several other mineral deposits and is widely distributed across the Earth's crust. Titanium is present in the Earth’s crust at a level of about 0.6% and is, therefore, the fourth most abundant structural metal after aluminium, iron and magnesium. Its raw material is present in the earth’s crust, in water, in rocks and stones, and in minerals. Titanium is recognized for its high strength to weight ratio and has a low density. Titanium has qualities like ductility, heat transference, extreme heat resistance, low density, strength, and high corrosion resistance. Titanium is well known for its corrosion resistance and its high strength-to-weight ratio. Titanium has a melting point of 3,034℉ and a boiling point of 6000℉. Titanium is obtained from various ores that occur naturally on the Earth. Titanium occurs primarily in the minerals anatase, brookite, ilmenite, leucoxene, perovskite, rutile, and sphene. Of these minerals, Ilmenite (FeTiO3) and rutile (TiO2) are the most important sources of titanium. Extracting titanium is difficult and expensive and the most efficient way to produce it is using the Kroll process.
World resources of anatase, ilmenite and rutile total more than 2 billion tonnes. Rutile and ilmenite are extracted from sands that may contain only a few per cent by weight of these minerals. The total world reserves of ilmenite are around 700 million tonnes while rutile reserves are around 48 million tonnes. Significant titanium-bearing ilmenite deposits exist in the east coast and west coast of Australia; Richards Bay in South Africa; the eastern coast of America; Kerala in India; the eastern coast and the southern coast of Brazil. China had the largest reserves of titanium minerals worldwide. China's entire reserves of titanium are found as ilmenite, and amount to approximately 230 million metric tons of titanium dioxide content. According to USGS, Ilmenite accounts for about 92% of the world’s consumption of titanium minerals. While rutile deposits are found in India, eastern coast and west coast of Australia; southwest coast of Serra Leone; Richards Bay in South Africa, Canada and China. Meanwhile, Australia, with 24 million tones rutile reserves—accounting for 50% of the world total—is now the country that is most abundant in terms of rutile reserves.
Titanium was the world's most traded product, with a total trade of $6.65B. The top exporters of Titanium were the United States, Russia, Japan, Germany, and China. Titanium has many different applications, especially those related to the aerospace industry, the marine industry, automotive manufacturing, surgery and dentistry, racing sports, jewellery making, and aquariums. Approximately 95% of titanium is consumed in the form of titanium dioxide which is used in white pigment in paints, paper, and plastics. The common compounds of titanium tetrachloride and titanium trichloride are used in smoke screens and the production of polypropylene. Titanium can be alloyed with many other elements, like iron, aluminium, and more. Because of its lightweight and ability to withstand extreme temperatures, titanium can be used to produce alloys for jet engines, spacecraft, jet engines, missiles, jewellery, mobile phones, cars, medical and dental implants and so much more.
World resources of anatase, ilmenite and rutile total more than 2 billion tonnes. Rutile and ilmenite are extracted from sands that may contain only a few per cent by weight of these minerals. The total world reserves of ilmenite are around 700 million tonnes while rutile reserves are around 48 million tonnes. Significant titanium-bearing ilmenite deposits exist in the east coast and west coast of Australia; Richards Bay in South Africa; the eastern coast of America; Kerala in India; the eastern coast and the southern coast of Brazil. China had the largest reserves of titanium minerals worldwide. China's entire reserves of titanium are found as ilmenite, and amount to approximately 230 million metric tons of titanium dioxide content. According to USGS, Ilmenite accounts for about 92% of the world’s consumption of titanium minerals. While rutile deposits are found in India, eastern coast and west coast of Australia; southwest coast of Serra Leone; Richards Bay in South Africa, Canada and China. Meanwhile, Australia, with 24 million tones rutile reserves—accounting for 50% of the world total—is now the country that is most abundant in terms of rutile reserves.
Titanium was the world's most traded product, with a total trade of $6.65B. The top exporters of Titanium were the United States, Russia, Japan, Germany, and China. Titanium has many different applications, especially those related to the aerospace industry, the marine industry, automotive manufacturing, surgery and dentistry, racing sports, jewellery making, and aquariums. Approximately 95% of titanium is consumed in the form of titanium dioxide which is used in white pigment in paints, paper, and plastics. The common compounds of titanium tetrachloride and titanium trichloride are used in smoke screens and the production of polypropylene. Titanium can be alloyed with many other elements, like iron, aluminium, and more. Because of its lightweight and ability to withstand extreme temperatures, titanium can be used to produce alloys for jet engines, spacecraft, jet engines, missiles, jewellery, mobile phones, cars, medical and dental implants and so much more.
Scroll through to see all Top 10 Titanium Producing Countries In the World :-
10. Ukraine :-
Ukrainian Chemical Products is the largest titanium dioxide producer in Eastern Europe, with about a 2% share of the world market. Ukrainian Chemical Products' annual production capacity is 110K tonnes of titanium dioxide. Ukrainian Chemical Products is the main supplier of titanium dioxide on the domestic market. About 90% of its titanium dioxide is exported to more than 60 countries around the world. The largest markets, besides Ukraine, are Germany, Turley, Russia, and the USA. There is a plan to increase the overall production capacity to 950K tonnes of sulphuric acid by producing sulphuric acid. China was the largest importer of Ukrainian titanium iron ores (24.4%). Russia ranked second (15.3%), and Turkey ranked third (14.5%).
QIT Madagascar Minerals is a mining company located in the Fort-Dauphin region of southeastern Madagascar. After roughly 20 years of exploration, the company began production of the titanium dioxide ore, ilmenite. The mine is 80% owned by QIT-Fer et Titane, a wholly owned subsidiary of the mining giant Rio Tinto Group; the remaining 20% is owned by the government of Madagascar. Titanium minerals production reached 211 kt in 2015 in Madagascar, according to the National Statistical Office.
Mozambique produced nearly 500 thousand metric tons of titanium in 2019. Moma, one of the world’s biggest titanium mineral deposits, is located 160km from the city of Nampula in Mozambique, Africa. Moma contains several sand deposits, which include Namalope, Congolone, Nataka, Pilivili, Mualadi, Mpitini, Marrua, and Quinga North and South. It is owned and operated by Kenmare Resources. The purpose of the project is the mining, concentration and separation of mineral sands containing ilmenite - main product - rutile and zircon - by-products -, used primarily in the paint industry, as titanium oxide pigments. The production and shipping of some 660 000 t/year of ilmenite, zircon and rutile are of a world scale in terms of the titanium industry.
In 2020, Canada was the leading producer of titanium in both North and South America. The country's titanium mine production reached 504,000 metric tons. Canada provided 37% of the titanium dioxide used in the United States. QIT-Fer et Titane operates an ilmenite mine located near Havre-Saint-Pierre, Quebec. QIT also operates a metallurgical complex to process the ilmenite ore into titanium slag in nearby Tracy, Quebec. Rio Tinto Fer et Titane has been processing ore from northern Quebec for more than 70 years. It is a world-leading producer of high-grade titanium dioxide feedstock.
In 2019, the total production volume of titanium in South Africa reached around 970 thousand metric tons. South Africa is the second largest producer of titanium-bearing minerals in the world after Australia, accounting for about 22 per cent of 61 Mt global production. South Africa has some of the largest reserves of titanium-bearing minerals, such as ilmenite, primarily comprised of iron oxide and titanium dioxide. South Africa is one of the largest producers of titanium-bearing slag globally.
In South Africa, titanium economic minerals, ilmenite and rutile, are produced from the extensive beach placer deposits located along the eastern, southern and northeastern coasts with minute deposits along the west coast, north of Cape Town. Titanium minerals are recovered at three major mines namely, Richard’s Bay Minerals’ Tisand (Pty) Ltd and Exxaro’s Hillendale and Namakwa Sands mines.
Norway's titanium mine production reached 220,000 metric tons in 2020. That year, Norway was the second-largest mine producer of titanium in Europe. Titanium deposits in Norway are of three major types: igneous, metasomatic and metamorphic. The igneous deposits are composed of ilmenite, magnetite and apatite in various proportions. The major Ti ore type is the rutile-bearing eclogites in western Norway. The third Ti ore type is the Proterozoic rutile-bearing, scapolitised and albitised rocks in the Bamble region of South Norway.
The Egersund province in southernmost Norway has the Tellnes ilmenite deposit which is in operation, as well as large volumes of other low-grade ilmenite ores. Tellnes has an annual production of approximately 550,000 t. ilmenite is 6-7 % of the total mine production of Ti minerals in the world, and Tellnes alone has approximately 12 % of the world’s resources of ilmenite. The Norwegian Ti slag producer, Tinfos Titanium and Iron is producing Ti slag based on ilmenite from Tellnes as well as imported ilmenite.
Brazil's mine production of titanium amounted to 60,000 metric tons in 2020. The Cumuruxatiba Beach Titanium Mine is near Itamaraju, Brazil. The ore mined is composed of ilmenite. The host rock in this area is sand & gravel from the Holocene epoch 11,784 years ago to the present. ParaÃba Mine is located in Northeastern Brazil, in the municipality of Mataraca, about 1,100 km from the Bahia plant, to which it ships the minerals to be transformed into the TiO2 pigment. The mining operation occupies 1,050 hectares and comprises a floating plant and dredge, which perform the extraction of the ilmenite and zirconite, rutile and cyanite. Brazil Minerals, Inc. is an exploration project in the western part of the state of Minas Gerais in Brazil.
India accounts for 21 per cent of the global deposits along its 7,000-km coastline. India is endowed with large resources of heavy minerals which occur mainly along the Saurashtra coast, Gujarat in the west to the Digha coast, and West Bengal in the east. Heavy mineral sands comprise a group of seven minerals, viz, ilmenite, leucoxene, rutile, zircon, sillimanite, garnet and monazite. Ilmenite and rutile are the two chief minerals of titanium. Titanium dioxide occurs in polymorphic forms such as rutile, anatase and brookite.
These minerals are concentrated in five well-defined zones that include 22 km between Neendakara and Kayamkulam, Kollam district, Kerala, Throughout 6 km from the mouth of River Valliyar to Colachal, Manavalakurichi and a little beyond in Kanyakumari district, Tamil Nadu, On Chatrapur coast stretching to about 18 km between Rushikulya river mouth and Gopalpur lighthouse with an average width of 1.4 km in Ganjam district, Odisha and Brahmagiri deposit stretches for 30 km from Girala nala to Village Bhabunia with an average width of 1.91 km in Puri district
In 2020, Australia produced 1.12 million metric tons of titanium from mines. Australia accounts for around 13% of the global production of ilmenite. In Australia, Victoria hosts the greatest share of known rutile resources with just over 50% while Western Australia hosts just under 50% of known ilmenite resources. Internationally, Australia hosts around 40% of global rutile resources.
Rutile and ilmenite are found in mineral sand deposits along beaches and dunes on the east, west and southern coastlines of Australia. Mineral sand deposits occur along the coast of eastern Australia from central New South Wales to Cape York in Queensland. Large relic or old beach deposits are found as far inland as Ouyen in Victoria that include Women, Bondi, Kulwin deposits and southwestern New South Wales which include Ginkgo, and Snapper deposits. Deposits also exist in the Eucla Basin around the Great Australian Bight in South Australia and Western Australia.
China was the country producing the largest volume of titanium minerals globally in 2020. Chinese mine production of ilmenite reached about 2.3 million metric tons of titanium dioxide. China has the world’s largest titanium reserves, with 20 million tonnes--accounting for 29% of the world's total reserves. Ilmenite is the principal source of titanium in China with rutile making up very little of the total. Although titanium resources are abundant in China, the grade is not sufficient to produce high-grade titanium concentrates.
China has found titanium resources across 108 minefields in 21 provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities. Panxi in Sichuan and Chengdu in Hebe have most of the nation’s total primary reserves. Titanium placer deposits are also distributed in Hainan, Yunnan, Guangdong and Guangxi provinces. Sichuan province is the main titanium-producing area in the country. In China, Sichuan province, Hainan and Hebei are the main titanium concentrates producers. Henan, Hubei and Shanxi provinces have limited rutile reserves.
9. Madagascar :-
QIT Madagascar Minerals is a mining company located in the Fort-Dauphin region of southeastern Madagascar. After roughly 20 years of exploration, the company began production of the titanium dioxide ore, ilmenite. The mine is 80% owned by QIT-Fer et Titane, a wholly owned subsidiary of the mining giant Rio Tinto Group; the remaining 20% is owned by the government of Madagascar. Titanium minerals production reached 211 kt in 2015 in Madagascar, according to the National Statistical Office.
8. Mozambique :-
Mozambique produced nearly 500 thousand metric tons of titanium in 2019. Moma, one of the world’s biggest titanium mineral deposits, is located 160km from the city of Nampula in Mozambique, Africa. Moma contains several sand deposits, which include Namalope, Congolone, Nataka, Pilivili, Mualadi, Mpitini, Marrua, and Quinga North and South. It is owned and operated by Kenmare Resources. The purpose of the project is the mining, concentration and separation of mineral sands containing ilmenite - main product - rutile and zircon - by-products -, used primarily in the paint industry, as titanium oxide pigments. The production and shipping of some 660 000 t/year of ilmenite, zircon and rutile are of a world scale in terms of the titanium industry.
7. Canada :-
In 2020, Canada was the leading producer of titanium in both North and South America. The country's titanium mine production reached 504,000 metric tons. Canada provided 37% of the titanium dioxide used in the United States. QIT-Fer et Titane operates an ilmenite mine located near Havre-Saint-Pierre, Quebec. QIT also operates a metallurgical complex to process the ilmenite ore into titanium slag in nearby Tracy, Quebec. Rio Tinto Fer et Titane has been processing ore from northern Quebec for more than 70 years. It is a world-leading producer of high-grade titanium dioxide feedstock.
6. South Africa :-
In 2019, the total production volume of titanium in South Africa reached around 970 thousand metric tons. South Africa is the second largest producer of titanium-bearing minerals in the world after Australia, accounting for about 22 per cent of 61 Mt global production. South Africa has some of the largest reserves of titanium-bearing minerals, such as ilmenite, primarily comprised of iron oxide and titanium dioxide. South Africa is one of the largest producers of titanium-bearing slag globally.
In South Africa, titanium economic minerals, ilmenite and rutile, are produced from the extensive beach placer deposits located along the eastern, southern and northeastern coasts with minute deposits along the west coast, north of Cape Town. Titanium minerals are recovered at three major mines namely, Richard’s Bay Minerals’ Tisand (Pty) Ltd and Exxaro’s Hillendale and Namakwa Sands mines.
5. Norway :-
Norway's titanium mine production reached 220,000 metric tons in 2020. That year, Norway was the second-largest mine producer of titanium in Europe. Titanium deposits in Norway are of three major types: igneous, metasomatic and metamorphic. The igneous deposits are composed of ilmenite, magnetite and apatite in various proportions. The major Ti ore type is the rutile-bearing eclogites in western Norway. The third Ti ore type is the Proterozoic rutile-bearing, scapolitised and albitised rocks in the Bamble region of South Norway.
The Egersund province in southernmost Norway has the Tellnes ilmenite deposit which is in operation, as well as large volumes of other low-grade ilmenite ores. Tellnes has an annual production of approximately 550,000 t. ilmenite is 6-7 % of the total mine production of Ti minerals in the world, and Tellnes alone has approximately 12 % of the world’s resources of ilmenite. The Norwegian Ti slag producer, Tinfos Titanium and Iron is producing Ti slag based on ilmenite from Tellnes as well as imported ilmenite.
4. Brazil :-
Brazil's mine production of titanium amounted to 60,000 metric tons in 2020. The Cumuruxatiba Beach Titanium Mine is near Itamaraju, Brazil. The ore mined is composed of ilmenite. The host rock in this area is sand & gravel from the Holocene epoch 11,784 years ago to the present. ParaÃba Mine is located in Northeastern Brazil, in the municipality of Mataraca, about 1,100 km from the Bahia plant, to which it ships the minerals to be transformed into the TiO2 pigment. The mining operation occupies 1,050 hectares and comprises a floating plant and dredge, which perform the extraction of the ilmenite and zirconite, rutile and cyanite. Brazil Minerals, Inc. is an exploration project in the western part of the state of Minas Gerais in Brazil.
3. India :-
India accounts for 21 per cent of the global deposits along its 7,000-km coastline. India is endowed with large resources of heavy minerals which occur mainly along the Saurashtra coast, Gujarat in the west to the Digha coast, and West Bengal in the east. Heavy mineral sands comprise a group of seven minerals, viz, ilmenite, leucoxene, rutile, zircon, sillimanite, garnet and monazite. Ilmenite and rutile are the two chief minerals of titanium. Titanium dioxide occurs in polymorphic forms such as rutile, anatase and brookite.
These minerals are concentrated in five well-defined zones that include 22 km between Neendakara and Kayamkulam, Kollam district, Kerala, Throughout 6 km from the mouth of River Valliyar to Colachal, Manavalakurichi and a little beyond in Kanyakumari district, Tamil Nadu, On Chatrapur coast stretching to about 18 km between Rushikulya river mouth and Gopalpur lighthouse with an average width of 1.4 km in Ganjam district, Odisha and Brahmagiri deposit stretches for 30 km from Girala nala to Village Bhabunia with an average width of 1.91 km in Puri district
2. Australia :-
In 2020, Australia produced 1.12 million metric tons of titanium from mines. Australia accounts for around 13% of the global production of ilmenite. In Australia, Victoria hosts the greatest share of known rutile resources with just over 50% while Western Australia hosts just under 50% of known ilmenite resources. Internationally, Australia hosts around 40% of global rutile resources.
Rutile and ilmenite are found in mineral sand deposits along beaches and dunes on the east, west and southern coastlines of Australia. Mineral sand deposits occur along the coast of eastern Australia from central New South Wales to Cape York in Queensland. Large relic or old beach deposits are found as far inland as Ouyen in Victoria that include Women, Bondi, Kulwin deposits and southwestern New South Wales which include Ginkgo, and Snapper deposits. Deposits also exist in the Eucla Basin around the Great Australian Bight in South Australia and Western Australia.
1. China :-
China was the country producing the largest volume of titanium minerals globally in 2020. Chinese mine production of ilmenite reached about 2.3 million metric tons of titanium dioxide. China has the world’s largest titanium reserves, with 20 million tonnes--accounting for 29% of the world's total reserves. Ilmenite is the principal source of titanium in China with rutile making up very little of the total. Although titanium resources are abundant in China, the grade is not sufficient to produce high-grade titanium concentrates.
China has found titanium resources across 108 minefields in 21 provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities. Panxi in Sichuan and Chengdu in Hebe have most of the nation’s total primary reserves. Titanium placer deposits are also distributed in Hainan, Yunnan, Guangdong and Guangxi provinces. Sichuan province is the main titanium-producing area in the country. In China, Sichuan province, Hainan and Hebei are the main titanium concentrates producers. Henan, Hubei and Shanxi provinces have limited rutile reserves.
0 Comments