Illmite Available In Abundance But Largely Overlooked, Says VV Mineral V Subramaniam

India enjoys an advantage of mineral resources but counter-productive measures need to be taken. India has ilmenite reserves of 348 million tones, which is almost 25% of global reserves. Yet, India only account for 6% of world’s ilmenite production. m

Ilmenite is used in its natural form as well as to manufacture titanium slag and synthetic rutile products. Titanium dioxide exhibits great characteristics and can be used in different industries such as paints and coatings, plastics, paper, ink, fibre etc.

“However, Indian ilmenite posses low titanium dioxide percentage as compared to reserves in the USA and Australia,” says V Subramaniam of VV Minerals India. This in turn affects production costs and global competitive edge for Indian mining companies.ilmenite

India also faces a technological barrier that discourages the adoption of the slag route for ilmenite upgradation. About 40-45% of processed ilmenite produced can be utilized while the remaining is exported.

“The 10% export duty on unprocessed ilmenite and 5% on upgraded ilmenite hampers the state of Indian mining industry on a global scale,” says V Subramaniam.

US and European manufacturers prefer ilmenite with more than 55% titanium dioxide which precludes Indian imports. Hence, most Indian ilmenite is exported to China. “In these circumstances, the export duty only harms our chances of competing globally,” adds V Subramaniam. m

There is also a chance of Chinese manufactures shifting to exporters from South Africa, Sri Lanka and other countries for similar ilmenite grades at far more competitive rates.

“Private companies should be encouraged to recover their capital investments and build facilities that can add real value,” says V Subramaniam. VV Mineral V Subramaniam insists that the export duty should be done away with in interest of good business and benefit the country as a whole.

V.V. MINERAL m

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