JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) - Tiwest joint-venture (JV) partners Exxaro and Tronox announced on Wednesday that the venture had successfully commissioned the Tiwest Kwinana titanium dioxide (TiO2) pigment expansion project in Australia and would now start production and ramp-up of the expanded plant.

The expansion would increase the plant's production by about 40 000 t/y to a total capacity of about 150 000 t/y TiO2. The expanded plant was expected to ramp-up to planned-production levels by mid-2011.

Tiwest said that with the continued strong demand for pigment from Asia-Pacific, the expansion allowed the JV to further increase its presence in this fast growing market.

Exxaro CEO Sipho Nkosi said that the expansion, combined with the strong demand from the Asia-Pacific region, could potentially further increase the profitability of Exxaro's Australian mineral sands operations.

He noted that the expansion formed part of Exxaro's strategy of downstream value adding in the group's mineral sands operations.

Tronox CEO Dennis Wanlass congratulated the Kwinana management and employees in bringing the expansion on line safely and in time to meet the increasing demand. "This expansion, combined with recent changes to Tronox's production portfolio, positions Tronox as a pertinent supplier of chloride process TiO2."

The Tiwest JV is the world's largest integrated titanium minerals production and manufacturing company and includes the Cooljarloo mineral sands mine, the Chandala synthetic rutile plant and the Kwinana TiO2 pigment plant in Western Australia.

TiO2 pigment is an inorganic white pigment used in paint, coatings, plastics, paper and other everyday products.

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