Titanium Possible From Taranaki Ironsand

Chronicle (Levin), 1 April 1949, Page 6

Titanium Possible From Taranaki Ironsand

. Received Thursday, 8.50 . p.m. ' • LONDON, March 31.The possibility o'f extraeting important quantities of titanium from Taranaki ironsands as part of a general scheme for obtaining„ iron by applying modern electrical smelting methods to these deposits is understood . vo be receiving close attention m the JOommion. A test furnace is already being constructed by the Department of Scienfific and Industrial Research in New Zealand and is expected to provide valiiabie data upon the techni.cal problems connected with the extrhction of both iron and titanium from- the f sands. ; Titanium is'a metal now being- exten--sively used in the preparation.of alloys, and is becoming increasingly important in the manufacture of aircraft parts and other machinery and materials in whieh strength allied with lightness is of particular importance. Titanium is only half the weight of steel and. only 40 per cent. heavier than aluminuim. , At least oue alloy of which it is base possesses greater strength than steel. It is also non-corrosive and in the form of titanium oxide is an xmportiknt ingredient in the preparation. of -new types of legdless paints, of rubber goods and of oosmeties. \\\' . Surveys, it is understood, ' have i.al-; , ready shown that titanium 'exists in a constant ratio of oue to teh througliout Taranaki ironsand deposits, and it - is expected that tests will/ provide rich titanium slag from which it Will be possible to obtain as higli as 3.7.per-cent. of pure metal. ; * " * ' ' The United States and Ruasia/both produce titanium. in considerable quantities land the developnient of the New Zealand deposits is, therefore, regarded , as of particular importance not oiily to the Dominion but also to the. whole Commonwealth. .