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Canada: Rio Tinto – TiO2 feedstock
F O C US
O N
PIGMENTS
For this application, finely ground baryte (or haematite, magnetite, ilmenite, etc) is added to the drilling fluid (mainly water, with certain functional additives) in order to increase the density of fluid above the drill-bit and therefore minimise the risk of a “blow-out.” The American Petroleum Institute (API) sets technical criteria for baryte used in oil- and gas-drilling applications. Hitherto, the API set a minimum specific gravity of 4.2 for baryte designated as drilling-grade material. However, there is a growing shortage of 4.2 SG baryte available from deposits in Nevada, the main mining region in the US. MI-Swaco, the leading US producer, predicts that its mineable reserves of baryte from Nevada will be exhausted by the end of 2011. It has already been supplying 4.1 SG baryte to certain US customers and reports that they have been satisfied with the performance of this material for hydrocarbon drilling muds. In recognition of this, the API recently introduced another set of technical criteria, defining the 4.1 SG drilling-grade baryte, with a minimum specific gravity of 4.1 and a maximum abrasiveness index of 1.14 (compared against 0.89 for 4.2 SG baryte). However, some mineral traders and consultants argue that there is no global shortage of high-grade baryte, with sufficient material available from Chinese, Indian and Moroccan sources to cater for world demand, which is running at a lower level because of the steep swift decline in hydrocarbon drilling activity. Kent Exploration is about to commission a new baryte mine at Flagstaff, WA (in the US) supported by an offtake agreement with Matovich Mining Industries for 20,000 tonnes/y of 4.1 SG baryte at $40 per tonne. Meanwhile, higher-grade baryte is now quoted at: $62-64 per tonne, fob Morocco; $68-73 per tonne, fob Chennai (India); and $65-72 per tonne, fob China.
has announced a three month closure of its entire ilmenite mining and smelting operations at Lac Tio and Sorel (Quebec) respectively. The closure will be implemented on 12 July 2009, with the resumption of production scheduled for 8 September. The closure will cause a 17% cut in annual output. During 4Q 2009, QIT anticipates running its smelter at a rate significantly below capacity. So for full-year 2009, QIT’s TiO2 slag output is expected to be about 750,000 tonnes – compared against an estimated 1 M tonnes for full-year 2008.
Autonomous Region of north-central China. The complex will include units for producing TiO2 pigments, as well as polyvinyl chloride (PVC), methanol, acetic acid, vinyl acetate, polyvinyl alcohol, 1,4-butanediol and silicones. The company was recently created as a result of the acquisition of Ningxia Yinglite Power by China Guodian Corp, one of the country’s leading power generating companies.
TiO2 Worldwide Update, Jul/Aug 2009, 17 (4), 12
Mondo Minerals (of Amsterdam) has formed a joint venture with Haicheng Beihai Minerals to take over the latter company’s talc mining and processing operations in Liaoning province, effective mid-2009. This will enable Mondo to reduce its dependence on production from its Finnish talc mines (notably Sotkamo) in catering for customer requirements in China and elsewhere in Asia. Mondo’s contribution of state-of-the-art flotation knowhow will enable the Haicheng operation to improve product quality and reduce costs there. Haichang Beihei currently produces about 180,000 tonnes/y of talc. The joint venture is the first example of foreign direct investment in the Chinese talc mining industry. Mondo Minerals was created in 1998 as a result of the merger of Norwegian, Finnish and Dutch talc interests. The company is now owned by HgCapital (a private equity fund, based in London). Many of Mondo’s customers in the paper, paint, plastics or ceramics sectors have operations in the fast-growing Asian markets. Production facilities in China, based on indigenous resources, will enable Mondo to supply these customers with competitively priced talc pigments with a quality level that they are accustomed to.
Industrial Minerals, Apr 2009, (499), 6-7
PPCJ, Polymers, Paint, Colour Journal, May 2009, 199 (4536), 36
China: CMP/Tangshan Madison – calcined kaolin Tangshan Madison, a wholly-owned subsidiary within the China Mineral Processing Ltd (CMP) group, recently brought on-stream a calcined kaolin plant at its complex on the Konling Industrial Estate at Tangshan (Hebei province). The plant cost €150 M to build, but its capacity has not yet been revealed. CMP’s Snowhite range of highopacity white pigments are made by the rapid calcination of hard kaolin shipped in from deposits in central China. Prior to calcination, the crude kaolin is processed through a series of grinding and filtration cells, which can be calibrated to produce an accurately controlled particle size distribution. Snowhite pigments are easily dispersible in water-based paint and they possess excellent scrub resistance and good wet-film opacity. They offer paintmakers options for reducing specific gravity and TiO2 consumption. CMP is a European company formed in the early 1990s by a group of independent investors to develop the processing of Chinese minerals (fluorspar, bauxite, kaolin and refractories) for export.
China Chemical Reporter, 6 Mar 2009, 20 (7), 11
China: Mondo & Haicheng Beihai – talc
Press Release from: Mondo Minerals BV, Kajuitweg 8, NL-1041 AR Amsterdam (8 May 2009)
China: Panzhihua Dongfang – TiO2
PLANTS Canada: Rio Tinto – TiO2 feedstock QIT Fer & Titane (a wholly-owned subsidiary within the Rio Tinto group)
JULY 2009
China: Guodian Yinglite – TiO2 Guodian Yinglite Energy Chemical Co has drawn up a 12-year plan to establish a chemicals complex at Shizuishan in the Ningxia Hui
Panzhihua Dongfang Titanium Industry Co Ltd completed the commissioning phase of its 40,000 tonnes/y sulfate-route TiO2 pigment plant on 25 March 2009. Work on the plant, located at Panzhihua (Sichuan
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O N
PIGMENTS
For this application, finely ground baryte (or haematite, magnetite, ilmenite, etc) is added to the drilling fluid (mainly water, with certain functional additives) in order to increase the density of fluid above the drill-bit and therefore minimise the risk of a “blow-out.” The American Petroleum Institute (API) sets technical criteria for baryte used in oil- and gas-drilling applications. Hitherto, the API set a minimum specific gravity of 4.2 for baryte designated as drilling-grade material. However, there is a growing shortage of 4.2 SG baryte available from deposits in Nevada, the main mining region in the US. MI-Swaco, the leading US producer, predicts that its mineable reserves of baryte from Nevada will be exhausted by the end of 2011. It has already been supplying 4.1 SG baryte to certain US customers and reports that they have been satisfied with the performance of this material for hydrocarbon drilling muds. In recognition of this, the API recently introduced another set of technical criteria, defining the 4.1 SG drilling-grade baryte, with a minimum specific gravity of 4.1 and a maximum abrasiveness index of 1.14 (compared against 0.89 for 4.2 SG baryte). However, some mineral traders and consultants argue that there is no global shortage of high-grade baryte, with sufficient material available from Chinese, Indian and Moroccan sources to cater for world demand, which is running at a lower level because of the steep swift decline in hydrocarbon drilling activity. Kent Exploration is about to commission a new baryte mine at Flagstaff, WA (in the US) supported by an offtake agreement with Matovich Mining Industries for 20,000 tonnes/y of 4.1 SG baryte at $40 per tonne. Meanwhile, higher-grade baryte is now quoted at: $62-64 per tonne, fob Morocco; $68-73 per tonne, fob Chennai (India); and $65-72 per tonne, fob China.
has announced a three month closure of its entire ilmenite mining and smelting operations at Lac Tio and Sorel (Quebec) respectively. The closure will be implemented on 12 July 2009, with the resumption of production scheduled for 8 September. The closure will cause a 17% cut in annual output. During 4Q 2009, QIT anticipates running its smelter at a rate significantly below capacity. So for full-year 2009, QIT’s TiO2 slag output is expected to be about 750,000 tonnes – compared against an estimated 1 M tonnes for full-year 2008.
Autonomous Region of north-central China. The complex will include units for producing TiO2 pigments, as well as polyvinyl chloride (PVC), methanol, acetic acid, vinyl acetate, polyvinyl alcohol, 1,4-butanediol and silicones. The company was recently created as a result of the acquisition of Ningxia Yinglite Power by China Guodian Corp, one of the country’s leading power generating companies.
TiO2 Worldwide Update, Jul/Aug 2009, 17 (4), 12
Mondo Minerals (of Amsterdam) has formed a joint venture with Haicheng Beihai Minerals to take over the latter company’s talc mining and processing operations in Liaoning province, effective mid-2009. This will enable Mondo to reduce its dependence on production from its Finnish talc mines (notably Sotkamo) in catering for customer requirements in China and elsewhere in Asia. Mondo’s contribution of state-of-the-art flotation knowhow will enable the Haicheng operation to improve product quality and reduce costs there. Haichang Beihei currently produces about 180,000 tonnes/y of talc. The joint venture is the first example of foreign direct investment in the Chinese talc mining industry. Mondo Minerals was created in 1998 as a result of the merger of Norwegian, Finnish and Dutch talc interests. The company is now owned by HgCapital (a private equity fund, based in London). Many of Mondo’s customers in the paper, paint, plastics or ceramics sectors have operations in the fast-growing Asian markets. Production facilities in China, based on indigenous resources, will enable Mondo to supply these customers with competitively priced talc pigments with a quality level that they are accustomed to.
Industrial Minerals, Apr 2009, (499), 6-7
PPCJ, Polymers, Paint, Colour Journal, May 2009, 199 (4536), 36
China: CMP/Tangshan Madison – calcined kaolin Tangshan Madison, a wholly-owned subsidiary within the China Mineral Processing Ltd (CMP) group, recently brought on-stream a calcined kaolin plant at its complex on the Konling Industrial Estate at Tangshan (Hebei province). The plant cost €150 M to build, but its capacity has not yet been revealed. CMP’s Snowhite range of highopacity white pigments are made by the rapid calcination of hard kaolin shipped in from deposits in central China. Prior to calcination, the crude kaolin is processed through a series of grinding and filtration cells, which can be calibrated to produce an accurately controlled particle size distribution. Snowhite pigments are easily dispersible in water-based paint and they possess excellent scrub resistance and good wet-film opacity. They offer paintmakers options for reducing specific gravity and TiO2 consumption. CMP is a European company formed in the early 1990s by a group of independent investors to develop the processing of Chinese minerals (fluorspar, bauxite, kaolin and refractories) for export.
China Chemical Reporter, 6 Mar 2009, 20 (7), 11
China: Mondo & Haicheng Beihai – talc
Press Release from: Mondo Minerals BV, Kajuitweg 8, NL-1041 AR Amsterdam (8 May 2009)
China: Panzhihua Dongfang – TiO2
PLANTS Canada: Rio Tinto – TiO2 feedstock QIT Fer & Titane (a wholly-owned subsidiary within the Rio Tinto group)
JULY 2009
China: Guodian Yinglite – TiO2 Guodian Yinglite Energy Chemical Co has drawn up a 12-year plan to establish a chemicals complex at Shizuishan in the Ningxia Hui
Panzhihua Dongfang Titanium Industry Co Ltd completed the commissioning phase of its 40,000 tonnes/y sulfate-route TiO2 pigment plant on 25 March 2009. Work on the plant, located at Panzhihua (Sichuan
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