Empire Metals has announced the successful development of a high-purity titanium dioxide (TiO₂) product, achieving a 99.25% assay through conventional processes.
This breakthrough is expected to be suitable for high-quality titanium sponge metal or high-grade titanium dioxide pigment production.
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The high-purity TiO₂ product, developed from the Pitfield project in Western Australia, contains negligible levels of impurities.
The project features a significant gravity and magnetics anomaly. It has shown better continuity in grades of in-situ mineralised beds, the company said.
The Pitfield project is strategically located and benefits from existing infrastructure connections including access to port, power and gas pipelines, as well as proximity to a planned green energy hydrogen fuel hub.
Empire Metals has delivered bulk samples from Pitfield’s weathered cap to a metallurgical laboratory to produce multiple finished product samples for marketing.
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By GlobalDataThe Pitfield titanium project is notable for its scale, with an exploration target declared in 2024, estimating a substantial quantity of TiO₂-rich mineralisation.
The company is now focused on accelerating the economic development of Pitfield to capitalise on the deposit’s full value potential.
Empire Metals managing director Shaun Bunn said: “We have achieved an extraordinary outcome from our most recent product development test work, which has delivered an exceptional high-grade, high-purity TiO₂ product that should be ideal for either titanium sponge metal or high-quality TiO₂ pigment production.
“It is remarkable that our technical team has so rapidly produced a high-purity TiO₂ product. We believe this not only highlights the effectiveness of our processing approach but also underscores the potential value of our product.
“Metallurgical testing and process optimisation continues, and with the availability of the 70 tonnes of bulk sample collected in February we will now be able to significantly scale up the test work and produce a variety of final product samples to share with prospective downstream end-users.”
The company’s vision is to produce a high-value titanium metal or pigment-quality product from Pitfield.
Empire Metals also operates additional exploration projects in Australia and precious metals projects in Austria.
