concentration of radioactive elements in
the waste or byproduct streams.
Monazite and xenotime, both rare-earth,
thorium phosphates, are the usual
minerals of consequence because 100%
separation of a heavy-minerals deposit is
impossible to obtain within economic
considerations.  Monazite inclusions
within the zircon grains and/or ionic
substitutionofuranium, thorium, radium,
and/or actinium for the zirconium and/or
hafnium within the mineral lattice result
in some radioactive contamination.
Monazite processing to obtain rare-earth
elements results in a relatively large
production of a byproduct, thorium
nitrate. Because demand for thorium is
greater than that for rare earths, excess
thorium has been placed in low-level
storage sites such as those in Barnwell,
SC, and Hanford, WA. Processing of
zircon and the titanium minerals are
much less of a problem because of lower
concentrations in the bulk product.
However, some concentration does occur
in the zirconium chemical and metal
industries. These industries have been
adhering to Federal code in the handling,
storage, and disposal of the byproduct
"source material."  Generally, if the
combined weight of uranium and thorium
exceeds  0.05 %, the  materials  are
considered to be sources for these
radinjartive  Alem en ts  IDomestic


A ALUUMA, &I V V0 V01VOUVAL.  He ago 01rk
requirements  for  licensing  source
material, definitions, exemptions, and
other pertinent information is found in the
Code of Federal Regulations, Energy, 10,
Part 40 (1OCFR40).
Japan enacted strict importation and
industrial guidelines on June 6, 1991, as
a result of the July 1990 finding of
radiation levels originating from titanium
dioxide pigment plant wastes dumped in
the Okayama Prefecture. Basically, the
policy addresses the following key areas:
protection of residential areas near plants
and dump sites, air quality, strict
continent of ore     and  processing
wastes, and limits on the allowable dose
rates exhibited by ores.
Production
Domestic production and consumption


of zircon concentrates were withheld to
avoid disclosing company proprietary
data. Milled zircon production increased
4% during 1993, while zirconium oxide
production increased 5%. (See table 1.)
U.S. mine producers of zircon in 1993
were RGC (USA) Mineral Sands, Inc.
and E. I. du Pont de Nemours & Co. (Du
Pont). Both producers mined heavy-
mineral sand deposits in Florida.
Countless other end products also were
produced from zircon.  High-volume
production included refractory bricks and
shapes,  alumina-zirconia  abrasives,
foundry sands and investment castings,
milled and micronized zircon, zirconium
chemicals, and zirconia.  Zirconium
chemicals and zirconia are further used to
produce many other products in a wide
range of applications. Examples of high-
value production are cubic zirconia,
technical zirconia ceramics, superalloy
castings, zirconia textile refractories, and
specialty chemicals.
In 1993, Du Pont began dredging and
mineral separation operations at its
Maxville site in Florida. The new dredge
was reported to have extended the mine
life to the year 2010. The startup of
dredging operations at Maxville coincided
with a partial shutdown of the company's
nearby Highland operations.'
Markets and Prices
Published prices for zircon- and zircon
oxide-related products varied considerably
by product type. The domestic list price
for standard- and premium-grade zircon
were unchanged, while the price for
imported grades of zircon increased
slightly.  The published price for
imported   baddeleyite  concentrate
containing 99 % + ZrO2 decreased 17 %,
and prices for zircon oxides were
unchanged.    Published  prices  for
zirconium and hafnium metal products
were unchanged compared to those of
1992. (See table 2.)
Foreign Trade
In 1993, the United States was a net
importer of zirconium ores and
concentrates with 99% of the imports


originating in Australia and the Republic
of South Africa.   According to the
Bureau of Census, imports of zirconium
ores and concentrates increased 87 %
compared with those in 1992. Exports
under the same classification increased
29 %. (See tables 3 and 4.)
World Review
Austmia. -Australia continued to lead
the world in the production of zircon
concentrates.  In 1993, production of
zircon by Australian producers was
estimated to be 409,000 tons. Increased
production corresponded to a similar
increase in exports.
ISK Mineral Sands was reported to
have exhausted its Waroona mineral sands
deposit near Perth, Australia. Owing to
poor market conditions in the titanium
minerals market, ISK delayed the
development of its Damdanup heavy-
mineral deposit near Bunbury, Western
Australia.  The delay in developing
Damdanup resulted in the closure of
ISK's Picton mineral separation plant.2
Cana&.-Tiomin Resources Inc.
announced the completion of pilot plant
gravity separation testing on heavy-
mineral   concentrate  produced  at
Natashquan, Quebec.     Tiomin  has
contracted Mineral Deposits Ltd. to
establish a design for a production-scale
plant and produce a capital cost estimate.3
South Afica, Republic of.-As part
of a major corporate restructuring, the
South African conglomerate Gencor
increased its interest in Richards Bay
Minerals (RBM) from 25 % to 50 %. The
remaining 50% interest was held by RTZ
Corp. RBM operates Tisand Ltd., a
heavy-mineral producer of ilmenite,
rutile, and zircon, and Richards Bay Iron
and Titanium Co., the world's largest
producer of titanium slag.4 At yearend,
RBM awaited a decision by the South
African Government for the approval of
the development of the Lake St. Lucia
heavy-mineral deposit. Reserves at St.
Lucia were estimated to be 276 million
tons containing 9.74 million tons of


RCONIUM AND HAFNIUM-1993








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