Material Insights · Understanding the Material World

Titanium and Zirconium

Ilmenite, rutile and zircon are separated from the same heavy mineral sands, so titanium and zirconium supply come from the same mines and countries even though their end markets, white pigment and ceramics, are quite different.

Titanium (commodity) and Zirconium (commodity): 4 relationships.

How they are linked

1. Mineral sands coproducts

Joint production · Strong · Heavy mineral sands → ilmenite, rutile and zircon

Titanium minerals and zircon are concentrated together in heavy mineral sands and separated at the same plants, so zircon is produced as a coproduct of titanium mining.

  • about 9.8 Mt world ilmenite and rutile output, 2025 estimate
  • about 1.2 Mt world zircon output, 2025 estimate

Titanium dominates by tonnage, but each mine's output of both is fixed by its ore. Because over 95% of US titanium concentrates go to TiO2 pigment while zircon's leading use is ceramics, demand for the two can diverge while supply cannot, which leaves one product in surplus when the other is tight.

Sources: USGS; USGS

2. Same producing countries

Geography and ownership · Strong · Australia, South Africa and Mozambique lead in both

Because both come from the same deposits, the same countries lead in both, and China is the largest buyer of both.

  • 780,000 t and 400,000 t Australia's ilmenite and zircon output, 2025 estimate
  • 1.3 Mt and 270,000 t South Africa's ilmenite and zircon output, 2025 estimate
  • 1.9 Mt and 160,000 t Mozambique's ilmenite and zircon output, 2025 estimate

China is also the leading producer and consumer of titanium concentrates and the leading importer of zircon, while Australia and South Africa are the leading zircon exporters. Senegal is also a sizeable zircon producer. A disruption in one of these countries affects the two markets together.

Sources: USGS; USGS

3. Indian plants recover both

Joint production · High in India · Indian beach sand complexes separate ilmenite, rutile and zircon together

India's state producers mine beach sands at a few coastal complexes and separate titanium minerals and zircon at the same plants.

  • 240,000 t India's ilmenite output, 2025 estimate
  • 15,600 t India's zircon output, 2019-20

IREL and Kerala's KMML recover zircon as a coproduct at Manavalakurichi in Tamil Nadu, Chavara in Kerala and the Orissa Sand Complex in Ganjam district, Odisha. India holds about 15 Mt of ilmenite reserves, yet it imported 94,839 t of zirconium ores and concentrates in 2021-22, about half of it from Australia, so domestic zircon output is well below need.

Sources: USGS; Indian Bureau of Mines

4. Beach sand mineral rules

Policy · High in India · Same Indian regulations govern both

In India ilmenite, rutile and zircon are regulated together as beach sand minerals, and because these sands also hold monazite they have been treated partly as atomic minerals.

  • 2019 offshore atomic mineral rights reserved for government companies
  • 2023 MMDR amendment took titanium and zirconium off the atomic minerals list

The 2019 notification barred anyone except the government or a government company from operating rights for atomic minerals offshore. The 2023 amendment to the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act removed lithium, beryllium, niobium, titanium, tantalum and zirconium from the atomic list, letting the centre auction them, which could open both titanium and zircon mining to private firms at the same time.

Sources: Indian Bureau of Mines; News On AIR (Prasar Bharati)

For investors

Key learnings

  1. Titanium and zircon supply come from the same mines, so a new mineral sands project adds to both markets at once.
  2. End markets differ, pigment for titanium and ceramics for zircon, so a mine's revenue mix shifts when one market weakens.
  3. Australia, South Africa and Mozambique lead in both, and China is the main buyer, so trade with China sets the tone for both.

What to track

  • Zircon and ilmenite prices: Show which coproduct is carrying mineral sands margins (Quarterly · producer reports such as Iluka and Tronox)
  • China imports of zircon and titanium concentrates: Main demand signal for both (Monthly · China customs)

For policymakers

Key learnings

  1. India's beach sands hold titanium, zircon and monazite together, so rules written for nuclear material shape the supply of ordinary industrial minerals.
  2. Removing titanium and zirconium from the atomic list in 2023 allows private investment, but monazite in the same sands still requires nuclear controls.
  3. India imports much of its zircon despite large sand resources, so faster beach sand development would cut imports of both minerals.

What to track

  • Auctions of beach sand and offshore mineral blocks: Progress in opening titanium and zircon mining (As held · Ministry of Mines)
  • India zirconium ore imports: Gap between domestic zircon output and demand (Yearly · Indian Bureau of Mines)

India

India produces ilmenite, rutile and zircon together at IREL and KMML beach sand complexes, about 240,000 t of ilmenite in 2025, but imported about 95,000 t of zirconium ores in 2021-22; the 2023 MMDR amendment took titanium and zirconium off the atomic minerals list.

Sources

  1. Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026: Titanium mineral concentrates, USGS (2026)
  2. Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026: Zirconium and hafnium, USGS (2026)
  3. Indian Minerals Yearbook 2022: Zircon, Indian Bureau of Mines (2024)
  4. New mineral regulation act aims to boost private investment and self-reliance in mining sector, News On AIR (Prasar Bharati) (2023)