Excellent article from the other board- a must read18 Feb 2026 07:18
Major titanium deposit developer Empire Metals is moving forward with continuous piloting to prove that low-temperature, atmospheric leaching technology is the optimal method for converting its high-grade titanium ore initially to a high-grade pigment product before moving to a feasibility study in 2026, Managing Director Shaun Bunn said in an interview with Platts, part of S&P Global Energy.
Empire Metals is focused on commercializing the Pitfield Titanium Project in Western Australia, where it has held the exploration license in a joint venture since 2022, and serves as manager and operator.
Although the company is in the early stages of its discovery-to-production journey, it has already developed a flow sheet and has produced test samples with 99.25% purity titanium dioxide suitable for titanium sponge metal or pigment feedstock.
Share of output to feed metal production
"There's no substitution for the titanium dioxide pigment. It's the whitest and brightest of all, with numerous applications including plastics, paper, paints, and other chemical uses," Bunn said.
"So, it's not a small market; it's a $24 billion market, with 9 million metric tons of contained TiO2 traded around the world, and you've got a growth factor linked to GDP, but sitting above its average, so close to 4%."
With annual global consumption growth nearing 360,000-400,000 mt, Empire Metals views this volume as a logical first-stage production target. Part of its future feedstock output, however, will be sent to a titanium metal-producing partner.
Titanium, which is half the weight of steel, yet equally as strong, is used in aircraft and aerospace applications and is listed among Australia's critical minerals, according to Bunn.
Due to sanctions, a significant portion of the titanium metal supply from Russia and Ukrainian ilmenite, which supported Russian production, is diminishing. Aside from Japanese production, Western end-users may increasingly depend on China to fill this gap.
Empire Metals' value proposition is based on offering a better alternative to 90% of the current supply, which comes from ilmenite deposits. The type and purity of the Pitfield ore endow it with a fivefold better grade compared to mineral sand in situ. Extracting will be much less polluting due to free-digging methods, resulting in negligible mining costs. Converting the ore into pigment is also expected to be lower in cost and environmental impact, as Pitfield minerals are anatase and rutile, not ilmenite, Bunn said.
The Pitfield project has a maiden JORC Mineral Resource Estimate of 2.2 billion mt of ore, grading 5.1% TiO₂, which equates to 113 million mt of contained TiO₂.
Differences from ilmenite treatment
While the company will need to concentrate its ore, the processing method differs significantly from that of ilmenite, which is refractory, difficult to crack and loaded with iron inclusions. The quality of the Pitfield ore allows for atmospheric leaching, le
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