Iron Sand Deposits, page-17

You blokes are having yourselves on. The magnetite sands in NZ, Fiji, Indon, Philippines is all titano-vanadium-magnetite as it is sourced from volcanic rocks. Very few steel mills around the world take this stuff, and those that do (eg, Glenbrook (NZ) or Panzihua (China)) were specifically built to exploit resources found locally - ie, they do not need to import iron ore feed.

Contrary to some belief out there, titanium and vanadium are NOT credits but contaminants. Even though these elements are often added in the steel making process, it is done so at a different stage. All Ti-V- magnetite steel mills are small and rarely very economic. That's because the process required to get the Ti and V out is not amenable to the more usually economic (large scale) blast furnace route. Glenbrook, eg, is a direct reduction plant. While it can make a saleable high V grade slag (that it sells into China), their high Ti slag is just waste, unsellable because of its relatively low grade (~21 - 25% TiO2) but also because of the relatively inert compound that is produced as a result.

Beach sand mining has been banned in NZ, the Philippines, and Indon, so that only ocean operations are allowed, but even that has not been tested by the environmental agencies. Typically, these deposits are close in to the coast, so beach stripping can occur even if mining in deeper water.

The economic attraction of sand mining certainly exists - no blasting, crushing, or grinding. But on the other side of the ledger is the price reduction received from this type of ore, its typically small resource size, and its typical chemical variability. Magnetite sand miners will only ever be bit players in the industry and likely the first victims of any price weakness.

Proceed with caution!