A team from Tronox recently visited Ivanhoe Central school as part of a trip to the Ivanhoe region.

Tronox are starting a new mineral sand mine 175km south –west of Ivanhoe. The heavy mineral concentrate from the mine (HMC) will be trucked to a new rail siding just outside of town, then transported to Broken Hill for further processing. Ivanhoe will be an important logistics hub for Atlas Campaspe, and there will be employment and business opportunities through their contractors during the construction and operational phases.

The school is excited to share the news that Ivanhoe Central School will be able to access funding from the Tronox School Partnership program. This annual program provides select schools within the Tronox communities access to funds to purchase STEM related equipment materials or learning resources. This year, the grant will go towards supplies for the schools Barrier Reef Trip.

Annette Elliott, Tronox Managing Director, was particularly impressed with the school farm and aquaponics system and wished that she could have taken some pumpkins home on the plane. The group also loved meeting Ricardo and the chickens!

What are mineral sands?

Mining the ancient coastline (yes, Ivanhoe used to be a beachside town!) using a shallow mining technique, Tronox scoops up the sand and processes it for mineral sands – rutile, ilmenite, leucoxene, and zircon. This Heavy Mineral Concentrate (HMC) is then taken to a processing plant, where they are separated by magnets and other techniques. Finally, the material is taken to a pigment plant, where is it treated with heat and chemicals to produce Titanium Dioxide pigment.

What is Titanium Dioxide?

TiO2 is a bright, white pigment that is used to add opacity (this means it is not see-through), brilliance and strength to durability to paints, plastics, paper, and other everyday products. You can find TiO2 in car parts, wiring, sunscreen, mobile phones, medical equipment, and even toothpaste! Zircon also end ups in plates, tiles and other ceramics. So you can find titanium dioxide products in nearly every room of your house!

To learn more about Tronox, check out www.tronox.com.

Source and Image Credits: Ivanhoe Central School’s Newsletter.