Grade and Tonnage Distribution
Country | Production |
---|---|
Australia | 1,140 |
South Africa | 952 |
Canada | 809 |
China | 400 |
Norway | 380 |
United States | 300 |
Ukraine | 220 |
India | 200 |
Brazil | 130 |
Vietnam | 100 |
Mozambique | (750) |
Madagascar | (700) |
Senegal | (150) |
Other countries | 120 |
Total world | 4,800 |
The grade of a typical heavy mineral sand ore deposit is usually low. Within the 21st century, the lowest cut-off grades of heavy minerals, as a total heavy mineral (THM) concentrate from the bulk sand, in most ore deposits of this type is around 1% heavy minerals, although several are higher grade.
Of this total heavy mineral concentrate (THM), the components are typically
- Zircon, from 1% of THM to upwards of 50% of THM,
- Ilmenite, generally of 10% to 60% of THM
- Rutile, from 5% to 25% of THM
- Leucoxene, from 1% to 10% of THM
- Trash minerals, typically quartz, magnetite, garnet, chromite and kyanite, which usually account for the remaining bulk of the THM content
- Slimes, typically minerals as above and heavy clay minerals, too fine to be economically extracted.
Generally, as zircon is the most valuable component and a critical ore component, high-zircon sands are the most valuable. Thereafter, rutile, leucoxene and then ilmenite in terms of value given to the ore. As a generality, typically the valuable components of the THM concentrate rarely exceed 30%.
Being ancient stranded dune systems, the tonnage of most deposits is in excess of several tens of millions of tonnes to several hundred million tonnes. For example, the medium-sized Coburn mineral sands deposit, Western Australia, is 230 million tonnes at 1.1% heavy minerals, and is 13km long.
Read more about this topic: Heavy Mineral Sands Ore Deposits
Famous quotes containing the words grade and/or distribution:
“Life begins at sixat least in the minds of six-year-olds. . . . In kindergarten you are the baby. In first grade you put down the baby. . . . Every first grader knows in some osmotic way that this is real life. . . . First grade is the first step on the way to a place in the grown-up world.”
—Stella Chess (20th century)
“The question for the country now is how to secure a more equal distribution of property among the people. There can be no republican institutions with vast masses of property permanently in a few hands, and large masses of voters without property.... Let no man get by inheritance, or by will, more than will produce at four per cent interest an income ... of fifteen thousand dollars] per year, or an estate of five hundred thousand dollars.”
—Rutherford Birchard Hayes (18221893)