Iluka works to identify market opportunities for co-products produced as a necessary part of critical minerals mining and upgrading, as well as product reuse and recycling initiatives. Iluka has numerous co-products that generate revenue and limit waste production, handling and storage. These products include:

• activated carbon
• zircon-in-concentrate (ZIC)
• iron ore fines and iron man gypsum
• the aluminosilicate staurolite and
• rare earths

Rare earth-bearing minerals produced as a co-product of Iluka’s mineral sands processing activities are stockpiled at Iluka’s Eneabba operation in Western Australia. Iluka is currently constructing a rare earths refinery at Eneabba that will process these and other rare earth-bearing minerals into highly valuable rare earth oxides used in a range of clean energy and high-end technology solutions. The refinery design features a closed-circuit system to enable the re-use and recycling of the water and reagents required for processing and for the collection of by-products that can be sold to market.

Read more about the delivery of Iluka’s products and minerals in our Annual Report.

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Our products and co-products sold into global markets have associated Safety Data Sheets (SDS). The SDS contain product specification details, including chemical and radiological elements, and provide information on the possible hazards, safe storage, handling and disposal of those materials.

We actively support students in industry-related fields, providing scholarships, work experience opportunities and apprenticeships through a series of education partnerships and programs. We also actively support research and participation in industry stewardship initiatives, such as the Zircon Industry Association and the Rare Earths Industry Association.

Innovative processing and technology under development by Iluka aim to remove contaminants contained within zircon minerals at our Wimmera project. Removing the contaminants will ensure products continue to meet increasing regulatory requirements for transportation and for use in end markets. This technology could be applicable to other mineral sands deposits with similar contaminant issues.

Mineral sands, as with other mineral ores, mineral products and soils, contain natural occurring radioactive material (NORM). This is associated with low levels of naturally occurring uranium and thorium contained within the grains of the minerals we recover and return to the mine void.

While the level of NORM in most natural substances is low, any operation in which material containing radiation is extracted from the earth and processed can concentrate NORM in the mineral sands products, by-products and residue materials. For this reason, stringent, internationally-accepted radiation management standards are adopted to minimise the risk to human health and the environment.

Read more about Iluka’s approach to radiation management here.