# Thorium: Extraction

How beach sands yield a radioactive by-product

Source page: https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/thorium/extraction/

What this tab covers How it is mined, drilled or grown, and processed into a tradeable form: the main methods compared, their unit economics, by-products, and the companies that do this work globally and in India.

The world's main thorium source is monazite, a rare-earth and thorium phosphate found in heavy-mineral beach and river sands. Thorium also occurs in carbonatites and veins, in minerals such as thorianite and thorite. Monazite is separated from ilmenite, rutile and zircon during mineral-sands mining, then cracked chemically to recover rare earths. Thorium ends up in the residue. About 95% of supply comes as a companion of mineral-sands mining. USGS says monazite would likely not be recovered for thorium alone.

Thorium is produced only because rare earths are. Its main source is monazite, a rare-earth and thorium phosphate found in heavy-mineral beach and river sands in India, Australia, Brazil, the US and parts of Africa and Southeast Asia. Monazite is separated during mineral-sand mining, then cracked to recover rare earths, leaving thorium in a residue. USGS says that without rare-earth demand, monazite would likely not be recovered for thorium. Only a small fraction of the thorium mined is refined and used; the rest is stored under radiation rules. India's IREL is one of the few companies that mines monazite at scale outside China's supply chain.

#### Methods compared

| Method | Share of supply | Typical scale | Recovery / efficiency | By-products | Unit cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| **Mineral-sand mining and monazite separation** | almost all thorium supply comes from monazite (USGS) | IREL up to about 4,100 t monazite a year; Manavalakurichi monazite separation capacity 6,000 t/yr, Chavara 240 t/yr (IBM 2022) | not published | ilmenite, rutile, zircon, sillimanite, garnet (main products) | not published |
| **Alkaline cracking of monazite (rare earths first, thorium residue)** | main processing route for monazite | OSCOM 10,000 t/yr monazite capacity; IREL rare-earth concentrate capacity 11,200 t (IBM 2022) | not published | rare-earth chloride (main product), trisodium phosphate, uranium | not published |
| **Thorium purification (solvent extraction to nuclear-grade oxide)** | small fraction of contained thorium (USGS) | US imports of thorium compounds 1,930-13,300 kg a year in 2022-2025e | not published | none of note | not published; US import unit values $26-29/kg from France (2021-2025) and $74/kg from India (2023) (USGS) |
| **Thorium in reactors (India's three-stage programme)** | not yet a commercial use | PFBR 500 MWe; India's nuclear capacity 8.78 GW, about 3.1% of electricity in 2024-25 (PIB) | not applicable | uranium-233 bred from thorium | not published |

#### How each method works
**Mineral-sand mining and monazite separation**

Sands are mined by dredge or dry methods and concentrated into heavy minerals on site. Dry plants then use magnetic and electrostatic separators to split ilmenite, rutile, zircon and monazite. India's 2019 rules for beach-sand minerals use a threshold of 250 ppm ThO2 for thorium (IBM 2022).

Uses existing mineral-sand mines, but monazite is radioactive and needs licensed handling.
 USGS MCS 2026; IBM Rare Earths 2022; Lok Sabha Unstarred Question 1788 (13 Dec 2023) **Alkaline cracking of monazite (rare earths first, thorium residue)**

Ground monazite is digested with hot caustic soda, which turns phosphate into trisodium phosphate and leaves rare-earth, thorium and uranium hydroxides. Acid leaching then dissolves rare earths selectively, leaving thorium-rich residue. IREL's OSCOM plant in Odisha makes mixed rare-earth chloride and recovers uranium as ammonium diuranate.

Proven process; thorium accumulates as a residue that must be stored and monitored.
 IBM Rare Earths 2022; Lok Sabha (Dec 2023) **Thorium purification (solvent extraction to nuclear-grade oxide)**

Thorium hydroxide residue is dissolved in nitric acid and purified by solvent extraction, then precipitated and calcined to thorium dioxide or kept as nitrate. Volumes are small and tied to research and fuel programmes.

Makes usable thorium; demand is too small to justify large plants.
 USGS MCS 2026, Thorium **Thorium in reactors (India's three-stage programme)**

Stage 1 pressurised heavy water reactors burn natural uranium and make plutonium. Stage 2 fast breeders, starting with the 500 MWe PFBR, use that plutonium and can breed uranium-233 from thorium blankets. Stage 3 reactors would run on thorium and uranium-233.

Could tap India's huge thorium resource; the full cycle is decades from commercial scale.
 PIB factsheet (7 Apr 2026); NucNet (Apr 2026) Unit economics are indicative ranges from the sources named; costs vary widely by deposit, region and year.

#### By-product supply

Companionality is about 95%: thorium comes from monazite in mineral sands mined for titanium, zircon and rare earths (Nassar et al. 2015). Supply is set by rare-earth and mineral-sand economics, not by any thorium price. Far more thorium is mined than used, so stored residues grow each year (Nassar et al.; Pitron 2020). If thorium reactors become commercial, the first supply would come from these stockpiles rather than new mines.

#### Share produced as a by-product
 About 95% of primary supply comes as a by-product of mineral sands (monazite) (Nassar, Graedel & Harper 2015, approximate).

#### Who does it: global

| Company | Country | Activity | Volume | Year | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| **Solvay (La Rochelle rare-earth plant)** Pitron reports thousands of tonnes of thorium stored at the plant; exact volume not published. France supplied 51% of US thorium compound imports in 2021-24 (USGS). | France | rare-earth separation; long-term storage of thorium from monazite processing | not published | 2020 | Pitron, The Rare Metals War (2020) |
| **Chinese monazite importers and rare-earth processors** China is the leading monazite importer; company names and thorium volumes not published. | China | processing imported monazite from Nigeria, Madagascar, Thailand and Indonesia | not published | 2025 | [USGS MCS 2026](https://www.usgs.gov/centers/nmic/thorium-statistics-and-information) |
| **Shanghai Institute of Applied Physics (Chinese Academy of Sciences)** Research programme; thorium volumes not published. | China | experimental thorium molten-salt reactor programme (Wuwei, Gansu) | not published | 2025 | [USGS MCS 2026 (China among countries with thorium R&D)](https://www.usgs.gov/centers/nmic/thorium-statistics-and-information) |

#### Who does it: India

| Company | Country | Activity | Volume | Year | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| **IREL (India) Ltd** FY2025-26: record mineral production of over 6 lakh t and total income above Rs 2,000 crore (PSU Connect, Oct 2026). Thorium output not published; IREL holds a large stockpile of impure thorium hydroxide (IBM 2022). | India | beach-sand mining, monazite separation and processing (Manavalakurichi, Chavara, OSCOM), rare-earth refining (Aluva) | 4,100 t monazite a year (capacity from three leases; reported domestic production around 4,100 t) | 2023 | [Lok Sabha Unstarred Question 1788 (13 Dec 2023)](https://eparlib.nic.in/bitstream/123456789/2970627/1/AU1788.pdf) |
| **BHAVINI (Bharatiya Nabhikiya Vidyut Nigam)** | India | built and operates the 500 MWe Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor, Kalpakkam (stage 2) | 500 MWe (first criticality 6 Apr 2026) | 2026 | [PIB factsheet (7 Apr 2026)](https://www.pib.gov.in/FactsheetDetails.aspx?id=150617) |
| **Kerala Minerals and Metals (KMML), Chavara** | India | mineral-sand processing with monazite separation | 240 t/yr monazite separation capacity | 2022 | [IBM Rare Earths 2022](https://ibm.gov.in/writereaddata/files/17125771666613da8e2e6a6Rare_Earths_2022.pdf) |

India holds the world's largest identified thorium resource, about 850,000 t (World Nuclear Association via USGS), in 13.15 Mt of monazite (Jan 2026). Monazite mining and processing are reserved for state entities, chiefly IREL under the Department of Atomic Energy. India supplied 47% of US thorium compound imports in 2021-24 (USGS). The PFBR's criticality in April 2026 moves India into stage 2 of the programme that is meant to end in thorium-fuelled reactors.

## Other sections

- [Summary](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/thorium/index.md)
- [Overview](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/thorium/overview/index.md)
- [Correlation](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/thorium/correlation/index.md)
- [Production](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/thorium/production/index.md)
- [Stocks](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/thorium/stocks/index.md)
- [Cycles](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/thorium/cycles/index.md)
- [Trading](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/thorium/trading/index.md)
- [Movement](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/thorium/movement/index.md)
- [Criticality](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/thorium/criticality/index.md)
- [Characteristics](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/thorium/characteristics/index.md)
- [Emissions](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/thorium/emissions/index.md)
- [Relationships](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/thorium/links/index.md)