A worker poses with a handful of nickel ore at the nickel mining factory of PT Vale Tbk, near Sorowako, Indonesia's Sulawesi island, January 8, 2014.
IN PHOTO: A worker poses with a handful of nickel ore at the nickel mining factory of PT Vale Tbk, near Sorowako, Indonesia's Sulawesi island, January 8, 2014. Indonesia's ban on exports of key mineral ores - unless they are processed in the country - risks backfiring as weaker commodity prices mean it is not cost-effective to invest in expensive smelters and refineries. Picture taken January 8, 2014. REUTERS/Yusuf Ahmad

Junior exploration mining company Vior has announced the commencement of its 2015 exploration field program for rutile on its Foothills project located in St. Urbain area, 100 kilometres east of Quebec City. The whole program is estimated to last several weeks and is expected to be repeated during the summer.

Various exploration surveys have been carried out in the previous year, which defined two streaks of ilmenite blocks that contain up to 45 percent rutile and 57.6 percent titanium content. This new exploration field program will now consist of ground follow-up, which includes mapping and sampling on magnetic targets generated from a magnetic survey done by Novatem Inc. earlier this year.

Vior has defined more than 200 magnetic anomalies compiled and grouped into 16 distinctive swarms according to their spatial orientations and geological features. These swarms of magnetic anomalies might correspond to outcropping zones of rutile-rich ilmenite cumulates, and the company is planning to survey and visit them during the campaign. In fact, many of these swarms are found up-ice or near rutile-rich ilmenite block trains identified on the project, yielding 42.1 percent to 57.6 percent titanium content. However, additional well-targeted exploration work is still required over the contact zone to funnel down the source of the rutile-bearing blocks.

Most of the rutile and ilmenite that Vior will be producing in the future will be processed into non-toxic white titanium dioxide pigment for use in the manufacture of plastics, paints, textiles, ceramics, cosmetics and paper. In addition, rutile is also used for producing titanium metal that will be applied to aircrafts, space crafts, motor vehicles, surgical implants, and even desalination plants.

Another company that is into the rutile mining game is White Mountain Titanium Corporation (OTCQB: WMTM), a Chilean miner that has recently received its Environmental Impact Statement from Chilean authorities, which provided it with full environmental approval to proceed with its flagship Cerro Blanco titanium project.

White Mountain Titanium's Cerro Blanco property consists of 41 registered mining exploitation concessions and 34 mining exploration concessions over more than 17,000 hectares of mineral sand. Nine prospects have already been identified along a four-kilometre strike length, with three of these prospects containing grades of up to six percent titanium dioxide. With a rutile resource estimated at 112 million tonnes at 1.73 percent titanium dioxide, White Mountain Titanium is poised to develop one of the largest primary rutile mines in the world. The company is expected to complete a final bankable feasibility study within the next 12 months.

Just like Vior, White Mountain Titanium is also planning to contribute its rutile resources to the paints and pigments industry. The forecast for the price of rutile on the market is estimated between US$1,100 and US$1,500 [$1,400 to $1,900] per tonne from 2015 to 2017.

Contact the writer: a.lu@ibtimes.com.au

RELATED STORIES