Titanium Dioxide Pigment
Valuable titanium dioxide pigment, or TiO2, is Tiwest's most important product.
TiO2 is an unsurpassed whitener and opacifier which gives modern colours richness and depth.
Titanium dioxide is also used in paper, plastics, textiles, leather and inks to improve quality and colour. It protects materials from the weather, wear and ageing and because it is non-toxic to humans it is also used in food, sunscreen, toothpaste and other cosmetics.
Tiwest produces a range of grades of titanium dioxide pigment, suitable for a variety of end uses, at its Kwinana Pigment Plant to meet national and international market requirements. |
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Synthetic Rutile
Tiwest processes ilmenite into a rutile substitute by upgrading the titanium dioxide content of ilmenite to produce synthetic rutile.
This occurs through a process of reduction, aeration and acid leaching at the synthetic rutile plant located at Chandala.
Some synthetic rutile is exported overseas and the remainder is transferred to Tiwest's Kwinana Pigment Plant to be converted into titanium dioxide. |
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Zircon
Zircon is separated from heavy mineral concentrate in the Dry Mill located at Tiwest's Chandala operations.
Zircon's resistance to abrasion and high temperatures make it a key ingredient in a number of ceramic applications, such as glazes used in tiles and sanitary ware. It is also used in refractory applications to protect the interior of high temperature furnaces and for the casting of metals into various products.
Another important application is the production of a broad range of zirconia chemicals, which then in turn have a diverse range of end uses in ceramics, refractory, catalysts, coating and paper related products.
Some zircon is used as an x-ray filter for the front glass panels of cathode ray tube (CRT) and plasma based television and computer displays, and as a polishing agent in the production of silicon wafers for the manufacture of semiconductor components such as integrated circuits (computer chips). |
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Rutile
Rutile is also separated from heavy mineral concentrate in the Dry Mill located at Tiwest's Chandala operations.
Tiwest's rutile is predominantly used as a feedstock for the manufacture of Titanium Dioxide pigment and as an ingredient for the flux used in the production of stick and wire based welding electrodes. Other applications are the manufacture of asbestos free brake pads, ceramic glaze for roofing tiles and the production of ferrotitanium.
Rutile can also be a primary feedstock for the production of titanium metal, which is then used in a number of applications which make use of titanium's light weight, high strength and corrosion resistance, such as aircraft components and surgical implants. |
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Leucoxene
Leucoxene is separated from mineral concentrate at Chandala's Dry Mill and is recovered as separate lower and higher TiO2 containing fractions.
Leucoxene 77 (the larger volume, but with the lower TiO2 content of the two fractions) is used as a feedstock for the production of Titanium Dioxide pigment.
The higher TiO2 containing fraction, Leucoxene 92 is sold as an ingredient for the manufacture of welding electrode flux, and in a powdered form where it is used as a pigment and glaze material in the production of traditional roofing tiles in Japan. |
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Ilmenite
Ilmenite is highly magnetic and separates from other minerals on cross belt magnetic separators at Chandala.
Tiwest then processes ilmenite into synthetic rutile to be used as a feedstock for the production of titanium pigment.
Using the Improved Beecher Process (technology developed in Western Australia), Tiwest upgrades the titanium dioxide content in ilmenite from an average 61 per cent to at least 93 per cent in synthetic rutile. |
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Activated Carbon
When creating synthetic rutile, Tiwest uses coal to heat the ilmenite extracted from mineral sands. The result is a combination of reduced ilmenite and a residue called char.
Tiwest separates the char and packages it for sale as activated carbon.
Once considered waste, activated carbon now has many applications, from use in water and air filters, to its use in the decolourisation of olive oil and wine. |
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Staurolite
Similarly, staurolite is separated from heavy mineral concentrate in the Dry Mill at Chandala.
Staurolite is a relatively hard, inert mineral with similar properties to garnet, making it suitable as an abrasive sand blasting media. In this application it is directed at a metal surface using compressed air through a nozzle, so that the grains of staurolite cut through and remove any paint, rust or other residual coatings. The cleaned surface is then ready for painting or welding as part of industrial plant maintenance and construction activities.
The abrasive nature of staurolite allows it to be used as a cutting media for water jet cutting, where the mineral is sprayed in a fine jet of water at high pressure so that, for example, it cuts through a sheet of metal. The resulting edge is very smooth and the cutting itself can be moved via a robotic arm to follow a template or pattern. This allows the cutting of quite intricate shapes from sheets of glass, metal, plastic, stone or other materials. |
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