Demand for sand
India is looking to purchase more rutile and ilmenite mineral sands from Sri Lanka, a media story said quoting Kerala state industries minister Elamaran Kareem.
Sri Lanka’s The Sunday Times newspaper in a Kerala dateline story said 2 state-run firms Kerala Minerals and Metals Ltd and Travancore Titanium Products Ltd was looking to introduce more mineral sands from Sri Lanka.
The newspaper story said there was not a sufficient amount of ilmenite to feed the packed capacity of the Titanium plant.
Ilemenite and rutile is used to create Titanium metal used in the aerospace industry, and Titanium dioxide pigment, used in paints.
China was the biggest buyer of Sri Lankan mineral sands in 2008, followed by India, according to data released by the island’s geological survey office.
Great mineral assets are sourced in the eastern coast of Sri Lanka, where a 30-year war ended this year. The sands are extracted by state-run Lanka Mineral Sands.
