Industrial Minerals


Pilot plant to start at “world’s biggest” titanium deposit

29 September 2011

by Mark Watts

CIC Resources eyes up to 400,000 tpa output for full-scale Paraguay ilmenite project

Keywords: ilmenite, titanium dioxide, TiO2, titanium, CIC Resources, Mintek, Paraguay

     
     
   Paraguay has no major operational mines  
     

CIC Resources is preparing to start up a pilot separation plant at its Paraná ilmenite deposit in Paraguay, which it says is the largest proven titanium minerals resource in the world.

Located in the Alto Paraná and Canindeyu provinces of eastern Paraguay, the project is on track to become the first major mine in the landlocked South American country.

David Lowell, the Vancouver-based company’s president and CEO, told IM that the pilot plant was due to start up by the end of September.

The mineral separation facility will produce a 100-tonne ilmenite concentrate sample to be tested by Mintek in South Africa, which will be used in the Paraná project’s feasibility study.

The 185,000 hectare (1,850km2) deposit was discovered during a bauxite exploration programme CIC...