Rio Tinto’s new ilmenite project in Madagascar is on track to produce by the end of this year. Ilmenite is a source of titanium dioxide, a white pigment used in paper, plastics, and for titanium metal. The project is about 91% complete overall and the first production of ilmenite is expected by the end of the year. While the initial output will be lower, the mine is expected to produce 750,000tns of ilmenite by 2011-2012, at the end of the first phase of the project, and eventually reach an output of up to 2.4 million tonnes.
