Tronox Holdings plc operates as a vertically integrated manufacturer of titanium dioxide (TiO2) pigment.
The company operates titanium-bearing mineral sand mines and beneficiation and smelting operations in Australia and South Africa to produce feedstock materials that can be processed into TiO2 for pigment, high purity titanium chemicals, including titanium tetrachloride, and ultrafine TiO2 used in certain specialty applications.
The company’s strategy is to be vertically integrated and produ...
Tronox Holdings plc operates as a vertically integrated manufacturer of titanium dioxide (TiO2) pigment.
The company operates titanium-bearing mineral sand mines and beneficiation and smelting operations in Australia and South Africa to produce feedstock materials that can be processed into TiO2 for pigment, high purity titanium chemicals, including titanium tetrachloride, and ultrafine TiO2 used in certain specialty applications.
The company’s strategy is to be vertically integrated and produce enough feedstock materials to be as self-sufficient as possible in the production of TiO2 at its nine pigment facilities located in the United States, Australia, Brazil, the U.K., France, the Netherlands, China and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). The mining, beneficiation and smelting of titanium bearing mineral sands also creates meaningful quantities of co-products including zircon, pig iron and the rare-earth bearing mineral, monazite, which it also supplies to customers around the world.
Principal Products
TiO2
TiO2 Pigment
TiO2 pigment is used in a wide range of products due to its ability to impart whiteness, brightness, and opacity. TiO2 pigment is used extensively in the manufacture of paint and other coatings, plastics and paper, and in a wide range of other applications. Moreover, it is a critical component of everyday consumer applications due to its superior ability to cover or mask other materials effectively and efficiently relative to alternative white pigments and extenders. TiO2 pigment is considered to be a quality of life product. At present, it is its belief that there is no effective substitute for TiO2 pigment because no other white pigment has the physical properties for achieving comparable opacity and brightness or can be incorporated as cost effectively.
Ultrafine Specialty TiO2
The company produces ultrafine TiO2 at its manufacturing facility in Thann, France. The company markets ultrafine TiO2 products under the CristalActiv trademark. Ultrafine TiO2 has highly catalytic properties due to the relatively high surface area of each TiO2 molecule. The principal use of ultrafine TiO2 products is in NOx emission control products utilized in stationary, mobile and marine applications.
Zircon
Zircon (ZrSiO4) is a co-product of mining mineral sands deposits for titanium feedstock. Zircon is used as an additive in ceramic glazes, which makes the ceramic glaze more water, chemical and abrasion resistant. It is also used for the production of zirconium metal and zirconium chemicals, in refractories, as molding sand in foundries, and for TV screen glass, where it adds its structural stability at high temperatures and resistance to abrasive and corrosive conditions. Zircon typically represents a relatively low proportion of the in-situ heavy mineral sands deposits the company mines, but has a relatively high value compared to other heavy mineral products. Refractories containing zircon are expensive and are only used in demanding, high-wear and corrosive applications in the glass, steel and cement industries.
Other Products
High Purity Pig Iron
During the process of smelting ilmenite at the company’s smelters to increase the concentration of titanium and produce titanium slag, high purity pig iron is produced as a co-product.
Monazite
Like zircon, monazite is a co-product of mining mineral sands deposits for titanium feedstock. Monazite is concentrated and processed to remove contaminants, such as uranium and thorium, before being separated into specific rare earth oxides (REOs) such as neodymium (Nd), praseodymium (Pr), terbium (Tb), and dysprosium (Dy). These REOs can then be metallized and formed into permanent magnets, particularly NdFeB magnets, that are needed to manufacture electric vehicle motors, wind turbines and other green economy applications.
Feedstock
Most TiO2 products are derived from three naturally occurring minerals which are commonly referred to as heavy minerals or mineral sands: ilmenite, leucoxene and rutile. Ilmenite, rutile, leucoxene, as well as titanium slag and synthetic rutile which are processed from ilmenite, are the primary feedstock materials that the company uses for the production of TiO2 pigment. Titanium slag is produced by smelting ilmenite in an electric arc furnace to separate titanium-oxide from the iron and other impurities.
Titanium Tetrachloride
The company sells titanium tetrachloride (TiCl4) from its facilities in Thann, France and Yanbu, KSA. At its Thann facility in France, the company produces TiCl4 dedicated for merchant market sales to customers for use mainly in the production of various types of pigments and catalyst products. At its Yanbu facility, the company produces excess TiCl4 which it both sells directly to a joint venture between Advanced Metal Industries Cluster and Toho Titanium Metal Co. Ltd. (ATTM) for use at ATTM's titanium sponge plant facility that is adjacent to its Yanbu facility and in the merchant market.
Mining and Beneficiation of Mineral Sands Deposits
The company’s operational mining and beneficiation of mineral sands deposits consist of the following:
KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) Sands operations located on the eastern coast of South Africa consisting of the Fairbreeze mine, a concentration plant, a mineral separation plant and two smelting furnaces that produce titanium slag;
The company’s Namakwa Sands operations located on the western coast of South Africa consisting of the Namakwa mine, two concentration plants, a mineral separation plant, as well as two smelting furnaces that produce titanium slag;
The company’s Northern Operations complex in Western Australia consisting of the Cooljarloo dredge mine and floating heavy mineral concentration plant and the Chandala metallurgical site which includes a mineral separation plant and a synthetic rutile plant that produces synthetic rutile;
Eastern Australia operations consisting of the Ginkgo mine, a floating heavy mineral concentration plant located there, the Atlas mine and a heavy mineral concentration plant located there and a mineral separation plant located at Broken Hill, New South Wales; and
Perth Basin operations in Western Australia consisting of the Wonnerup mine and a mineral separation plant.
Zircon and monazite are often, but not always, found in mineral sands deposits containing ilmenite. They are extracted, alongside ilmenite and rutile, as part of the initial mineral sands separation process.
After producing heavy mineral concentrate in the company’s wet concentrator plants, it separates the non-magnetic (rutile, zircon and monazite) and magnetic (ilmenite) fractions utilizing a variety of techniques. Through the separation process, the company produces zircon which is sold directly to customers, rutile and leucoxene which can immediately be used as feedstock material to make TiO2 pigment, and monazite which it sells in a relatively unconcentrated form but which it plans on further processing before sale to extract greater value.
Ilmenite is generally further refined for use in the company’s TiO2 pigment manufacturing processes. Depending on the characteristics of the ilmenite the company uses two fundamental processes to refine ilmenite. Both processes involve the removal of iron and other non-titanium material.
Titanium slag is made by smelting ilmenite in an electric arc furnace to separate titanium-oxide from the iron and other impurities. The result is two products: slag which contains 86% to 89% titanium dioxide and is considered a TiO2 feedstock material, and high purity pig iron which is ready for sale to end-use customers.
Synthetic rutile is made by reducing ilmenite in a rotary kiln, followed by leaching under various conditions to remove the iron from the reduced ilmenite grains. Activated carbon is a byproduct of this process. The company’s synthetic rutile has a titanium dioxide content of approximately 89% to 92% and is also considered a TiO2 feedstock material.
The company’s mining and beneficiation operations have an annual production capacity of approximately 832,000 metric tons (MT) of titanium feedstock, which consist of 182,000 MT of rutile and leucoxene, 240,000 MT of synthetic rutile and 410,000 MT of titanium slag. The company has the capability to produce approximately 297,000 MT of zircon and 250,000 MT of pig iron per year.
Production of TiO2 Pigment
TiO2 pigment is produced using a combination of processes involving the manufacture of base pigment particles through either the chloride or sulfate process followed by surface treatment, drying and milling (collectively known as finishing). Approximately 87% of the company’s TiO2 pigment production capacity is produced using the chloride process and approximately 13% of its TiO2 production capacity is produced using the sulfate process.
The company is unique in the degree to which it produces its own high-grade titanium feedstock. Other chemicals used in the production of TiO2 are purchased from various companies under short and long-term supply contracts.
Marketing of TiO2
The company supplies and markets TiO2 under the brand name TIONA and CristalActiv to approximately 1,200 customers in approximately 120 countries, including market leaders in each of the key end-use markets for TiO2, and it has supplied each of top ten customers with TiO2 for more than 10 years.
The company sells its products through both a direct sales force and third-party agents and distributors. The company’s direct sales, marketing and technical service organizations execute its sales and marketing strategy on a global basis. Due to the technical requirements of TiO2 applications, the company’s technical service organization and direct sales offices are supported by a regional customer service staff located in each of its major geographic markets.
The company’s sales and marketing strategy focuses on aligning itself with customers growing faster than the market and effective customer management through the development and maintenance of strong relationships. The company develops customer relationships and manage customer contact across multiple contact points within the organization including its sales, technical service and marketing, research and development, and customer service teams.
Pigment Operations
The company’s pigment production facilities utilize the titanium mineral feedstock from its mining and processing operations to produce TiO2 pigment products.
Vertical Integration
Tronox is the world's leading vertically integrated manufacturer of TiO2 pigment. The company produces the majority of its internal TiO2 pigment feedstock requirements internally at its mine and mineral processing facilities. The company’s supply chain consists of mining operations in South Africa and Australia, separation and upgrading facilities located near its mines where it separates and processes raw ore and then upgrade the titanium content of the raw ore to produce specialized chloride TiO2 feedstock materials (titanium slag and synthetic rutile) and nine TiO2 pigment production facilities located on six continents. The internal TiO2 feedstocks the company produces include titanium slag, synthetic rutile, natural rutile, leucoxene, chloride ilmenite and sulfate ilmenite.
As part of its TiO2 value chain, the company explores, acquires, mines and processes heavy mineral sands to produce Heavy Mineral Concentrate (HMC) from which the Valuable Heavy Mineral (VHM) titanium and zircon products are made. HMC is produced from heavy mineral sands primarily through spiral gravity concentration at its mines. Mined material is transported to the company’s nearby integrated mineral separation plants (MSP) to separate and concentrate VHMs by gravity, magnetic and electrostatic techniques. The three titanium feedstocks which result from the MSP process (natural rutile, leucoxene and ilmenite) are each handled differently. Natural rutile and leucoxene are ordinarily shipped from the MSP to one of the company’s TiO2 pigment production facilities. Depending on the TiO2 content of mined ilmenite, the company either uses it directly to produce TiO2 pigment or it upgrades it to produce titanium slag at its two South African smelter operations and synthetic rutile (SR) at its Chandala metallurgical complex in Western Australia. The company’s internally sourced titanium mineral products provide a secure, long-term supply of high-grade feedstock for its TiO2 pigment manufacturing facilities.
In 2023, the company produced concentrates of ilmenite, rutile, leucoxene, and zircon from five operations: Namakwa Sands, Western Cape, South Africa; KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) Sands, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa; Northern Operations, Western Australia; Southern Operations, Western Australia; and astern Operations, Murray Basin, New South Wales, Australia.
Ilmenite from the company’s Namakwa and KZN Sands mines in South Africa is converted to titanium slag at its smelters at Saldanha Bay, Western Cape and Empangeni, KwaZulu-Natal, respectively. Ilmenite from its Cooljarloo mine in Western Australia is converted to SR at its Chandala metallurgical complex which is most commonly used as feedstock to its TiO2 pigment plants at Kwinana and Kemerton, both of which are south of Perth in Western Australia.
Mining Operations
Tronox owns and operates six mining and mineral processing operations, each including one or more heavy mineral sand (“HMS”) mines producing HMC which is separated into valuable co-products, primarily zircon and TiO2 feedstocks --- ilmenite, natural rutile or leucoxene --- in a dedicated mineral separation plant.
In South Africa, the Namakwa Sands operations include two open-pit mines at Brand-se-Baai, each with a dedicated primary gravity concentration plant and a secondary concentration plant (SCP) that processes the HMC from both primary plants. Products from the SCP are further processed to finished mineral products at a nearby MSP in Koekenaap. Ilmenite product is further processed into titanium slag and pig iron at a two-furnace smelter at Saldanha, Western Cape, South Africa which is two hundred kilometers south of Koekenaap. The KZN operations have an open pit hydraulic mine at Fairbreeze with a primary gravity concentration plant, a MSP at nearby Empangeni alongside a two-furnace smelter complex, and export facilities at the port of Richards Bay.
In Australia, the Northern Operations consist of the Cooljarloo dredge mine and floating primary gravity concentration plant, and the Chandala metallurgical complex, consisting of a mineral separation plant and SR plant. The Southern Operations consist of a dry open pit mine and primary concentration at Wonnerup and a mineral separation plant at Bunbury.
The Eastern Operations in the Murray Basin of Australia includes one operating dredge mine at Ginkgo which is supplemented by a dry open pit mine at Crayfish, a dry open pit mine at Atlas Campaspe and a mineral separation plant at Broken Hill, NSW. The Snapper mine ceased production in April 2022 after 12 years of production. The Gingko and Crayfish mines are expected to be mined until mid-2024. Construction at Atlas commenced in 2022 and ramped up to full production in the first quarter of 2023. The Atlas Campaspe mine is abundant in natural rutile and high value zircon and will be a significant source of high-grade ilmenite suitable for direct use or upgraded feedstock production.
Mineral Properties
Mining and Mineral Tenure
K Subpart 1300 requires the company to describe its rights to access and mine the minerals it reports as reserves and to disclose any change in mineral tenure of material significance. The company’s heavy mineral exploration and mining activities in South Africa and Australia are regulated by the South African Department of Mineral Resources, the Western Australia Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety and the New South Wales Department of Planning, Industry and Environment. All exploration and mining activities are subject to multiple levels of environmental regulatory review, including approvals of environmental plans and public comment periods as pre-conditions to granting of mineral tenure.
Mineral Tenure - South Africa
The company’s two South African mineral sand mining processing chains are operated by Namakwa Sands and KZN Sands, both indirect, wholly-owned subsidiaries of Tronox Holdings plc. The South African Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE) is the regulatory administrator of mineral rights in South Africa, subject to the provisions of the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act (MPRDA), No. 28 of 2004, as amended in 2016.
On the Western Cape of South Africa, Tronox holds mining rights over an area of 19,205 hectares (47,457 acres) and surface rights totaling 17,111 hectares (43,542 acres) at the active mining site near Brand-se-Baai, commonly referred to as the company’s Namakwa Sands operation. On the Eastern coast of South Africa, Tronox controls mining and prospecting rights covering approximately 4,041 hectares (9,986 acres) at KZN, where surface access rights are either owned directly by KZN Sands or secured by agreements with Mondi Ltd. A further 4,790 hectares (11,836 acres) of prospecting rights are held by a direct, wholly-owned subsidiary of KZN Sands at the nearby Port Durnford and Waterloo project areas which the company is in the process of converting into a mining right.
Mineral Tenure - Australia
The company’s Australian mineral properties are divided into the Northern and Southern Operations on the Swan Coastal Plain of Western Australia and the Eastern Operations in the Murray Basin of New South Wales and Victoria. Mining tenements in Australia are managed at the State or Territorial level. In Western Australia, Mining Leases, Exploration Licenses and Retention Licenses are granted and administered by the Western Australian Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety, and in New South Wales by the NSW Department of Planning, Industry and Environment, under the authority of the Western Australian Mining Act 1978 and the New South Wales Mining Act 1992, respectively. Principal environmental authorities are the Western Australian Department of Water and Environmental Regulation and the NSW Environment Protection Authority.
At the Northern Operations in Western Australia, Tronox controls mining leases, exploration and other licenses and rights covering a total 50,838 hectares (125,623 acres). Mining and Public Environmental Review plans are approved for the Cooljarloo mine and approval to extend the environmental plans for Dongara were recently approved. Environmental Protection Agency approval of Cooljarloo West has also been approved. The main Cooljarloo deposit covers 9,744 hectares (24,078 acres). The company holds 14 mining leases at the Dongara project. Three older mining leases are held at the company’s Jurien property, the site of a former heavy minerals open pit mine operated by another party in the 1970’s.
Tronox holds mining and exploration licenses totaling 533,500 hectares (1,318,307 acres) in the South Perth Basin and Murray Basin heavy mineral provinces of Australia.
The Southern Operations in the southwest of Western Australia comprises 29 mining leases, 3 exploration licenses, 3 retention licenses, 2 general purpose leases and 2 miscellaneous licenses totaling 9,100 hectares.
Tronox holds 5 mining leases, 16 exploration licenses and 2 retention licenses in the company’s Eastern Operations in the Murray Basin of New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia. The tenements cover approximately 524,400 hectares (2,025 sq miles). Three mining leases west of Pooncarie, NSW cover approximately 6,720 hectares (16,605 acres) surrounding its active mines at Ginkgo, Crayfish and rehabilitation site at Snapper. One mining lease of 2,330 hectares is at the Atlas Campaspe mining project in NSW.
Mineral Sands - South Africa and Australia
HMS deposits are natural concentrations of granular minerals of high density (conventionally above about 2.85 gm/cm3). Titanium-rich HMS deposit source rocks are typically granitic and/or high-grade metamorphic crystalline rocks.
Research and Development
The company’s research and development costs were $12 million during 2023.
Patents, Trademarks, Trade Secrets and Other Intellectual Property Rights
As of December 31, 2023, the company held 90 patents and 6 patent applications in the U.S., and approximately 600 in foreign counterparts, including both issued patents and pending patent applications. The company’s U.S. patents have expiration dates ranging through 2043. Additionally, the company has 11 trademark registrations in the U.S. and 3 trademark applications in the U.S., as well as 312 trademark counterpart registrations and applications in foreign jurisdictions. At Namakwa Sands, the company relies on intellectual property for its smelting technology, which was granted to it in perpetuity by Anglo American South Africa Limited for use on a worldwide basis, pursuant to a non-exclusive license.
Competition
The company faces competition from global competitors with headquarters in Europe, the United States and China, including Chemours, LB Group, Kronos Worldwide Inc., INEOS, and Venator.
Environmental, Health and Safety Authorizations
In South Africa, the primary legislative enactments with which the company’s mines are required to comply are the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act (MPRDA) which governs the acquisition and retention of prospecting and mining rights. In addition, the Mine Health and Safety Act governs the manner in which mining must be conducted from a health and safety perspective, while the National Environmental Management Act (and its subsidiary legislation) provides the underlying framework with respect to environmental rules and regulation for which the company’s operations must comply.
The company’s key exploration and mining operations are regulated by the Mining Act 1978 (WA), the Mining Act 1992 (NSW) and their related regulations.
In Western Australia, State Agreements are contracts between the State and the proponents of major resources projects within Western Australia, and are intended to foster resource development and related infrastructure investments. These agreements are approved and ratified by the Parliament of Western Australia. The State Agreement relevant to the development of certain of the company’s Western Australian operations is the agreement authorized by the Mineral Sands (Cooljarloo) Mining and Processing Agreement Act 1988 (WA). This agreement concluded in March 2020 and Tronox's rights and obligations are covered by the Western Australian Mining Act.
Regulation of Finished Product Manufacturing
At many of the company’s operations, it also complies with worldwide, voluntary standards developed by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), a nongovernmental organization that promotes the development of standards and serves as a bridging organization for quality and environmental standards, such as ISO 9002 for quality management and ISO 14001 for environmental management.
The company is obliged to comply with the regulation of chemical substances and inventories under the Toxic Substances Control Act in the United States and the Registration, Evaluation and Authorization of Chemicals (REACH) regulation in Europe, as well as a growing list of analogous regimes in other parts of the world, including China, South Korea and Taiwan.
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