Mineral Sands

Australia is a major world producer of heavy mineral sands, producing approximately 15% of the world’s ilmenite, 50% of the world’s rutile (USGS 2018) and 38% of the world’s zircon concentrates. The mineral sand industry consists of two major products, titanium oxides (in the form of rutile, ilmenite and leucoxene) and zircon. The concentration of mineral sands is typically performed in two stages, wet and dry processing. Wet processing utilises the sizing and gravity differentiation between heavy minerals (HM), clay and quartz to produce a HM concentrate. Dry processing involves the separation of the HM concentrate into products by exploiting the magnetic and electrostatic properties of the minerals of interest.

Titanium oxides are predominantly used as pigment feedstocks, as well as in specialist applications including welding electrodes and titanium metal. Zircon products are primarily used in the manufacturing of tiles and ceramics.

Range of Capabilities:

  • Metallurgical testplans
  • Project management
  • Metallurgical summary reports
  • Flowsheets
  • Mass balances
  • P&IDs
  • Vendor evaluation
  • Project implementation
  • Engineering studies
  • Environmental studies
  • Process description/Equipment lists
  • Detailed design
mineral sands

Please send through your enquiry today via email to info@metsengineering.com and we will call you to discuss your project.

Project Experience:

ClientProjectService
GMA GarnetConfidentialConfidential
Tronox CatabyConfidentialConfidential
Cable Sands BunburyConfidentialConfidential
Kalimantan Mineral SandsConfidentialFeasibility Study
Astron-Victorian Mineral SandsDonald ProjectConfidential
Australian ZirconMurray BasinConfidential
TTRIron Sands NZConfidential
ConfidentialZUPZircon Due Diligence
ConfidentialRadioactivityZircon Testwork
Sembriu Mineral SandsKalimantanFeasibility Study
ConfidentialConfidentialSynthetic Rutile Consulting
TNGConfidentialConfidential
ArchipelagoVietnam Mineral SandsConfidential
TIWESTConfidentialConsulting Work
CrystalConfidentialConsulting Work
MZIConfidentialConfidential
MZIPilot PlantDesign & Operation
ConfidentialZirconConfidential

Sharing Our Knowledge:

Mineral Processing Course

We offer a course that gives participants in-depth knowledge of the broader aspects of mineral processing. A wide range of topics is covered and participants will gain an understanding of the fundamental unit processes, equipment and flowsheets as well as physical and chemical mineral processing principles. Read more about our course here.