Flotation of Titanium Minerals

Although there are approximately 70 known titanium minerals , only a few are of any economic value, some of which includes ilmenite, rutile, perovskite, titano-magnetite, to name a few. Titanium minerals can be found in two major types of deposits, hard rock deposits and sand deposits. About 95% of the worlds’ titanium is recovered from these deposits. This chapter discusses the flotation properties and commercial beneficiation plant practices for each of the titanium minerals, including ilmenite, rutile and perovskite. This chapter also discusses a newly developed process for beneficiation of perovskite ores, which can achieve concentrate grades of 48% TiO 2 at a recovery of 75–85%. Various rutile–zircon separation methods are also described, as well as the reverse zircon flotation method used in the only operating plant where rutile is produced from fine mineral sand. New technology for recovery of rutile from hard rock ores has been confirmed and is now available. These technologies are described in detail in this chapter.