RE: Prospector7 Jul 2024 09:03
Not sure if this is the message from Prospector.
One of the problems is that people are often confused about what would be required when separating and refining a non-refractory ore. The key word here is "non-refractory" meaning it is not resistant to being altered, and as SB has said, it is basically soil and therefore much easier to separate than hard rock or mineral sands. Separation of titanium minerals from gang materials is not the difficult part. If you think about the typical sedimentary copper deposit, then you will get some idea. So, it will likely be some form of wet gravity separation followed by acid leaching steps. We also have the benefit of being able to skip the crushing step that many ores need to go through first. The more complicated part might be the final refinement to high value and high purity products, and I only say might. Don't get unique mineral combination or assemblage confused with a requirement for a unique processing. Almost all mineral extraction of this type around the world requires testing and optimisation of gravity separation and acid leaching to optimise recovery from the ore.