Titanium feedstocks are used for the chemical production of titanium dioxide, a white pigment. Rio Tinto mines titanium minerals in Canada and South Africa, which it converts into feedstock using a proprietary smelting process.

Titanium dioxide pigments compete with a variety of white minerals such as kaolin, calcium carbonates, talc and wollastonite, in the production of paints, paper and plastics. Because of their good covering qualities and opacity, titanium pigments are located at the high quality end of the market.

Unlike metals, the use of titanium dioxide tends to be more heavily concentrated in economically developed parts of the world. Over the past 30 years, world demand for titanium pigments has grown at around three per cent a year, though over the past decade the rate has slowed to nearer 2.5 per cent a year.

Research programmes:

Ecological toxicity of metals

Toxicity to humans