Skip to content
ARAMAromatics & Minerals
Quote basket, 0 itemsCart, 0 items
File:Ilmenite-173863.jpg

Reference specimen · Modris Baum, Public domain

Tech & industrial metals

Sample data

Titanium Minerals (Ilmenite, Rutile) Ti

Titanium minerals come from heavy-mineral beach and dune sands. Ilmenite and rutile feed titanium dioxide (TiO2) pigment, the white in paint, plastics and paper, which takes about 90% of demand. They also feed titanium metal for aerospace and medical uses, and welding-rod coatings. Africa is a major producer: Mozambique (Moma), South Africa (Richards Bay), Senegal (Grande Côte), Kenya (Kwale), Madagascar (QMM) and Sierra Leone, home of Sierra Rutile, one of the world's largest natural rutile deposits.

Availability
Contract
African sources
Mozambique · South Africa · Senegal · Kenya · Madagascar · Sierra Leone
Traded as
Ilmenite concentrate · Natural rutile · Leucoxene
HS codes
2614.00 · 2620.99

Current offers

Verified companies only

Volumes, origins and terms are shown to verified companies. Availability for everyone else: Contract. Verify your company or submit a request.

What is traded

  • Ilmenite concentrate (FeTiO3)

    Unit: t · HS 2614.00

    ~45–60% TiO2; sulphate-grade vs chloride-grade (higher TiO2, low Cr/Ca/Mg)

  • Natural rutile

    Unit: t · HS 2620.99

    ~94–96% TiO2 (premium; chloride pigment, titanium sponge, welding)

  • Leucoxene (~70–90% TiO2)

    Unit: t

  • Titanium slag / synthetic rutile

    Unit: t

    upgraded products (e.g. Richards Bay chloride slag ~85% TiO2)

Uses

  • TiO2 pigment (paint, plastics, paper) ~90%
  • Titanium sponge/metal (aerospace, medical)
  • Welding-rod flux (rutile)
  • Ceramics

ARAM sourcing assessment

Steady industrial demand with established producers; opportunity with smaller rutile/ilmenite projects and traders. Listing status: Contract.

On the ground · Titanium Minerals (Ilmenite, Rutile)

The mines behind the supply.

The mines and districts that define supply, with their operators. They are shown for geographic context: third-party operations, not ARAM sites, and not the source of any particular lot. Ownership and status as publicly reported in 2026.

Mozambique

No freely licensed photograph

Producing mine

Mozambique

Moma

Operated by Kenmare Resources

A dredge-mined heavy-mineral-sands operation on the Nampula coast producing ilmenite, zircon and rutile.

South Africa

No freely licensed photograph

Producing mine and smelter

South Africa

Richards Bay Minerals

Operated by Rio Tinto

Dune mining and smelting on the KwaZulu-Natal coast producing titanium slag, zircon and rutile.

Senegal

No freely licensed photograph

Producing mine

Senegal

Grande Côte

Operated by Eramet

A mobile dredge mine on Senegal's Atlantic coast north of Dakar — the world's fourth-largest zircon producer.

Reference specimens

  • Modris Baum, Public domain

  • Mx. Granger, CC0

  • Robert M. Lavinsky, CC BY-SA 3.0

  • The original uploader was Walkerma at English Wikipedia., Public domain

Reference specimens of the ore minerals and products, from public collections. They illustrate the material, not a specific ARAM lot or source.

Related minerals

File:Pezzottaïte, amazonite, zircon 1.jpeg

Tech & industrial metals

Zircon Zr

Zircon (ZrSiO4) is the co-product of titanium mineral sands. It is mainly used in ceramic tiles and sanitaryware as an opacifier, and also in foundry sands, refractories, zirconium chemicals, and zirconium metal for nuclear fuel cladding. African mineral-sands operations are major zircon suppliers. Senegal's Grande Côte is the world's #4 producer.

Supply
Contract
Assay
Independent — required
Origin
Verified per offer
Request supply
File:Polycrystalline-germanium.jpg#07

Tech & industrial metals

Germanium Ge

Germanium is a minor metal used in fibre optics, infrared optics (night vision, thermal imaging for defence), satellite solar cells and semiconductors. China dominates supply and has restricted exports since August 2023, tightening further in 2024. The DRC's Big Hill tailings in Lubumbashi, historic slag and tailings from Gécamines' zinc-copper operations, are now one of the very few new non-Chinese sources: STL processes them and Umicore refines the concentrate in Belgium.

Supply
Contract (limited) + Pipeline
Assay
Independent — required
Origin
Verified per offer
Request supply
File:Vanadinite Mibladen MNHN Minéralogie.jpg

Tech & industrial metals

Vanadium V

About 90% of vanadium is used to strengthen steel (ferrovanadium in rebar and high-strength low-alloy steel). The rest goes into titanium alloys for aerospace and into electrolyte for vanadium redox flow batteries (VRFB), which store grid-scale energy. South Africa's Bushveld titanomagnetite is one of the four big sources, with China, Russia and Brazil. Several South African plants have closed or cut output, so supply is concentrated.

Supply
Contract / Spot
Assay
Independent — required
Origin
Verified per offer
Request supply
File:Chromite (GeoDIL number - 1396).jpg

Tech & industrial metals

Chrome (Chromite) Cr

Chromite ore is smelted into ferrochrome, which makes stainless steel stainless. South Africa's Bushveld Complex holds more than 80% of the world's chromite reserves and is the dominant exporter of chrome ore, mostly to China. A large share comes as UG2 chrome concentrate recovered from platinum-mine tailings. Zimbabwe's Great Dyke is the #2 African source, and Zimbabwe bans raw chrome ore exports to force local ferrochrome smelting.

Supply
Spot + Contract (ferrochrome only from Zimbabwe)
Assay
Independent — required
Origin
Verified per offer
Request supply
Request supply