A significant mineral sands knowledge base has been inherited with the acquisition of Namakwa Sands from Anglo American, says Exxaro executive GM Wim de Klerk.

De Klerk, who is moving out of mineral sands to become the company’s new CFO, says that Exxaro obtained important technology that enabled it to modify both furnace 1 and furnace 2, which had led to record zircon production at a time of high zircon prices.

The reason why the mineral sands business is performing contracyclically and benefiting from buoyant prices is that it had been “starved of capital”.

At a time when the mining industry saw it fit to invest capital into coal and copper projects, inadequate investment was made in mineral sands projects. U

nrelenting Chinese urbanisation continues to steam ahead, demanding paint, tiles and cladding, which use mineral-sands-based products as feedstock.

This has led to a realisation of there being insufficient feedstock businesses in the world to meet demand.

Exxaro’s titanium dioxide (TiO2) business turned around in the 12 months to December, reinforcing the company’s position as the world’s third-largest TiO2 company after Rio Tinto and Iluka.

There is normally a lag of 18 months between the infra- structure cycle and the TiO2 cycle, which has allowed Exxaro’s mineral sands business to come to the fore.

Exxaro is also well diversified through the TiO2 product range, Namakwa Sands providing good grades of zirconium, KZN Sands providing slag and the company’s Australian business providing rutile and integration.

To watch a video on the commets on Exxaro's mineral sands business, click here.

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