titanium..what is the best way to extract titanium from sand/?

Question

i have found titanium in a gravel pit that i own and i'm looking for the best way to extract it from sand

Answer 1

I doubt you've found titanium, as titanium as an element is not found in nature. It's more likely you've found a titanium-bearing mineral such as ilmenite (FeTiO3) or rutile (TiO2).

Both ilmenite and rutile are heavy, resistant minerals that can be separated from your gravel by placer washing - the same as gold is recovered from gravel. A good placer concentrate produced by gravity separation in a "washing plant" can contain various heavy minerals such as magnetite, garnet, gold, scheelite (tungsten), cassiterite (tin), and possibly diamonds - in addition to ilmenite and rutile.

The only mineral that is sufficiently magnetic to be separated by magnetic separation is magnetite.

Titanium metal is recovered from ilmenite and rutile by reducing titanium tetrachloride with magnesium. That is a complex expensive process that is unlikely to be economic. However, separating the heavy minerals from the gravel is a simple and cheap process, and the "heavies" could be sold at a profit - depending on the concentration, their metallurgy, environmental considerations, power costs, labour costs, distance to a titanium recovery plant, etc.

Good luck!

Answer 2

You need to separate out the rutile from the sand. You may be able to use gravity separation, but then to convert the oxide to the pure metal is a complicated process. I suggest contacting a geologist specializing in ore recovery to see if it is even economical to try.

Answer 3

Probably not enough to commercially extract it. Hire a geologist to confirm.

Answer 4

im pretty sure the melting point would be different, but doing it that way would be a ton of work, and probably dangerous

Answer 5

Possibly a magnet?

Answer 6

!!!