JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) -The mineral-sands knowledge base inherited with the acquisition of Namakwa Sands from Anglo American has assisted in turning around Exxaro's once-struggling mineral-sands business, says Exxaro CFO executive GM Wim de Klerk.

Exxaro achieved record zircon production at a time of high zircon prices, and also record slag production at Namakwa.

De Klerk says that Exxaro obtained important technology that enabled it to modify its furnaces, which also saw record production from furnace 1 at KZN Sands.

De Klerk says that the mineral-sands industry is currently performing contracyclically as a result of being "starved of capital for many years".

Where projects were implemented, issues arose which prevented some of those projects from providing the required volumes of mineral-sands products. For example, there was a supply issue from Sierra Leone, where a newly commissioned floating dredge capsized, keeping 100 000 t of rutile units out of the market.

Simultaneously, unrelenting Chinese urbanisation steamed ahead, demanding paint, tiles and cladding, which make use of mineral-sands products.

Exxaro's titanium dioxide (TiO_²) business turned around in the 12 months to December, reinforcing the company's position as the world's third-largest TiO_² company after Rio Tinto and Iluka.

Exxaro is well represented through the TiO_² product range, Namakwa Sands providing good grades of zirconium, KZN Sands providing slag and the company's Australian business providing rutile and integration.

"We are a diversified player within mineral sands, which is another strength," De Klerk adds.

Exxaro CEO Sipho Nkosi tells Mining Weekly Online that the biggest challenge at KZN Sands was costs, but that was because the operation had not ramped up to nameplate capacity.

He says that it is now close to being there and Exxaro's engineering teams have carried out design changes that have resulted in improvements.

The market is also stable because of the under-spend in the mineral-sands industry.

The Australian dollar as well as the South African rand will play key roles going forward in ensuring that the operations remain profitable, Nkosi adds.

To view a video on the comments on Exxaro's mineral-sands business, go to www.miningweekly.com and click on ‘Multimedia' and then on ‘Video Clips'.

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