lluka Resources Limited (Iluka) is primarily an international mineral sands company with expertise in exploration, project development, mining operations, processing, marketing and rehabilitation.
Its core objective is to deliver sustainable value by leveraging the company’s expertise and over 60 years of mineral sands industry experience.
The company is the largest producer of zircon and rutile globally and a major producer of synthetic rutile. Iluka’s products are used in an increasing array of applications including home, workplace, medical, lifestyle and industrial uses.
With over 3,000 employees, the company has operations and projects in Australia and Sierra Leone and a globally integrated marketing network.
Iluka conducts international exploration activities and is actively engaged in the rehabilitation of previous operations in the United States, Australia and Sierra Leone.
Listed on the Australian Securities Exchange and headquartered in Perth, the company has a royalty business with a world-class cornerstone royalty asset over iron ore sales revenues from tenements of BHP’s Mining Area C (MAC) province in the north west of Western Australia.
The Iluka Plan
The Iluka Plan outlines our values, purpose, core and strategic direction.
Iluka is involved in all of the main stages of the mineral sands process, from resource development through to delivery of products to customers.
1 Geological setting
Mineral sands are heavy minerals found in sediments on, or near to the surface of ancient beach, dune or river systems. Mineral sands include minerals such as rutile, ilmenite, zircon and monazite.
2 Mining approach
Mineral sands mining involves both dry mining and wet (dredge or hydraulic) operations. Mining unit plants and wet concentrator plants separate and concentrate the heavy mineral sands from waste material.
3 Mineral seperation
The heavy mineral concentrate is transported from the mine to a mineral separation plant for final product processing. The plant separates the heavy minerals zircon, rutile and ilmenite from each other in multiple stages by magnetic, electrostatic and gravity separation.
4 Synthetic rutile
Iluka also produces synthetic rutile from ilmenite that is upgraded by high temperature chemical processes.
5 Rehabilitation
As mining progresses, the mining pit is backfilled and covered with stockpiled soils that were removed at the start of the mining process. Rehabilitation is progressively undertaken to return land to a form similar to its pre-mining state and suitable for various uses including agricultural, pastoral and native vegetation.
6 Marketing
Iluka transports the final products of zircon, rutile, synthetic rutile and ilmenite to customers around the world.
Production activity
The following chart shows Iluka’s production activities for 2019 and expected activities for 2020 as at the date of this report.
Iluka is a global supplier of zircon and titanium dioxide products, distributing to a variety of customers, reflecting the diverse end uses of mineral sands products. Iluka also markets a number of other products derived from the synthetic rutile process, including co-products activated carbon and iron concentrate, supporting the responsible reuse of our products by leveraging the full life cycle of our materials across the value chain.
Through its sales and marketing network, Iluka supplies its products to more than 220 direct customers with sales in 29 countries.
Iluka is the world’s largest producer of natural rutile and a major producer of synthetic rutile, which is an upgraded form of ilmenite. Collectively, these products are referred to as high-grade titanium dioxide (TiO2) feedstocks, owing to their high titanium content.
Natural rutile is produced from our operations in Sierra Leone and Australia.
Synthetic rutile is produced by upgrading ilmenite through the Becher
process at the company's operations in South West Western Australia.
Ilmenite is produced from our operations in Sierra Leone and Australia.
End use application
Around 90 per cent of TiO2 globally is used as a pigment in the manufacture of paint, plastic, paper and fibre. By using TiO2, high standards of brilliance, colour strength and opacity can be achieved with fewer resources. For example, with TiO2 in a paint formulation, a smaller quantity of paint is required for a given coverage. It also provides resistance and protection from weathering, heat and light helping prolong the life of products. Titanium minerals are also used to produce titanium metal which has a diverse range of applications including medical implants.
A small, fast growing component of TiO2 demand is in the nanomaterials sector where many unique properties of titanium dioxide are utilised in applications such as dye-sensitised solar cells, water purification, cancer treatment and noise absorption.
Iluka is the world’s largest producer of zircon. Our product range includes a range of zircon of differing qualities and specifications to target specific intermediate and end market sectors. This is consistent with Iluka’s approach to utilise its well-developed logistics and distribution capability to efficiently deliver ‘fit for purpose’ products to a wide range of customers around the world.
End use application
Zircon is an opaque, hard wearing mineral with unique heat, water and chemical resistance and stability properties. Over half of all zircon is used in the production of ceramics where it provides whiteness, strength and corrosion resistance. Primary uses include ceramic floor and wall tiles with others including sinks, sanitary ware and tableware. Refractory linings and foundry castings also utilise zircon in their manufacturing to provide chemical and corrosion resistance.
Specialty applications of zircon and its derivatives include use in the industrial and electronics industries, including nuclear fuel rods, catalytic fuel converters, water and air purification systems, electronics componentry and fibre optics.
Iluka extracts and markets activated carbon and iron concentrate, which are produced as part of the synthetic rutile process.
The company also has a burgeoning interest in monazite, from which rare earth elements are derived. Certain rare earths are considered a critical input across a number of evolving markets, including permanent magnets used in electric cars, wind turbines and electronics.
Activated carbon
High quality activated carbon is recovered as a co-product of synthetic rutile production in the South West of Western Australia. It is halal, kosher and National Sanitation Foundation (NSF) certified, uses include water treatment.
Iron concentrate
Iron oxide, consisting primarily of magnetite is produced as a co-product of synthetic rutile production in the South West of Western Australia and is supplied in bulk from Australia.