Titanium, peace and Japanese interests 2005
Japan is a major consumer of Titanium ore found on the northeastern coast of Sri Lanka, from Kokkuthoduvai to Pulmoddai.
Titanium is a very expensive and much sought after metal in the modern world. Klaproth, the German scientist who discovered the metal named it after the Titans of Greek mythology the incarnation of natural strength. The aerospace industry finds it indispensable. Titanium alloys are essential for making planes, satellites, space craft etc., and titanium dioxide is the basis of the paint industry.
Titanium is three times stronger than steel, while weighing only 42% as much, making it an ideal strong, lightweight metal for structures such as airplanes and rockets. It is also chemically inert under normal conditions, enabling its use in medical implants such as pacemakers.
The beach sands of the coast between Mullaithivu and Trincomalee contain the richest titanuim ore in the world. The concentration is almost 54 percent .This is quite higher than the concentration found in deposits elsewhere in the world. The titanium ore is ilmenite. It is a by-product of the crude monazite sands on Sri Lanka northeastern coast. The titanium ore is washed ashore by tidal and wave action mainly on beaches of Pulmoddai .
Annually about fifty thousand tons of ilmenite are produced in Pulmoddai. The Japanese are the main buyers. They ship it directly from the northeast coast. The ilmenite bought by them goes chiefly to the production of titanium dioxide. An SLFP politician made an allegation in 1989 that a ton of the ore which at that time was fetching 120 US dollars in the world market was being sold at a mere 50 US dollars and that no tender procedure had been followed in the sales. Somebody, in between, was making a cool 2.5 million US dollars every year.
Exploration and development of titanium mineral deposits were on the rise in 1995. In South Africa, a new producer of titanium concentrates was expected to commission a titanium slag operation by year end. At full production, the operation was expected to produce 195,000 tons per year of slag. In Western Australia, plans were announced to proceed with the development of the Been up deposit. The deposit was reported to be 4% heavy mineral sands and low in impurities with the potential for 500,000 tons per year of ilmenite.
Domestic environmental problems related to ilmenite include (1) land use conflicts where heavy-mineral sands deposits exist principally along the Atlantic coast and (2) the potential for water pollution from pigment-producing processes. Solutions to the latter problem include the development of economic, environmentally acceptable processes for making synthetic rutile or titanium tetrachloride from lower grade ilmenites and the development of methods to recover and recycle spent sulfuric acid as well as to neutralize and control the effluents produced. The two U.S. producers using the sulfate process treated their spent acid effluent with calcium carbonate and lime, producing a gypsum by product.
It has been felt over the years that the country could make very substantial profits by setting up a titanium dioxide plant at Pulmoddai. A detailed proposal to this effect was submitted to the government in 1990.
A titanium dioxide plant would require a large supply of fresh water. The Yan Oya river which flows between Pumoddai and Thiriyai was considered an ideal source of supply. The LTTE which realised the importance of Pulmoddai in the mid eighties has systematically scuttled efforts by the government to secure the area. In fact some Tamil militants, particularly the EROS, were inclined at that time to see a sinister link between the establishment of the military cum settlement zone in Weli Oya and the titanium sands Eof Pulmoddai. Although they gave some credence to the theory that the government main aim at that time was to drive a wedge between the northern and eastern provinces to break the territorial contiguity of the Tamil separaists Eelam project, there was speculation among some of them at that time that something ulterior, business interests to be precise, was at stake.
The government attempt to isolate the hinterland of Pulmoddai with several strategically placed settlements and the progress of the Yan Oya irrigation scheme were seen as further confirmation of this belief.
The control of that part of the northeast coast between Kokkuthoduvai at the southern extreme of the Mullaithivu and Kuchchaveli in Trincomalee helped the government ship the ilmenite out of Pulmoddai safely.
The army presence in Kokkuthoduvai, Kokkilai, Pulmoddai, Thiriyai, Kallarawa and Pudavaikaddu, wittingly or unwittingly, insulated the titanium rich sands from the designs of the armed Tamil groups. The Navy also had a unit at Kuchchaveli.
In 1988, however, the LTTE blasted a pumping station on the Yan Oya river scheme. It also developed links with the Muslim population in Pulmoddai. In recent years the Tigers have stepped up attacks in and around Pulmoddai.
In fact, a suggestion that the plant should be built in the south and the ilmenite be shipped there was made in 1990 when the proposal to build the titanium dioxide plant was first placed before the UNP leadership. The security situation in Pumoddai and its hinterland was considered precarious even at that time despite the presence of the IPKF to the south and the army to the north and northwest. However, it was assumed at that time that the ilmenite could be safely shipped to the south mainly because the coast between Kokkilai and Kuchchaveli was dominated by the Army and Navy. Things have changed today. The LTTE dominates the sea in these parts. And the Japanese and MNCs have to do business.
By Northeastern Herald
Titanium is a very expensive and much sought after metal in the modern world. Klaproth, the German scientist who discovered the metal named it after the Titans of Greek mythology the incarnation of natural strength. The aerospace industry finds it indispensable. Titanium alloys are essential for making planes, satellites, space craft etc., and titanium dioxide is the basis of the paint industry.
Titanium is three times stronger than steel, while weighing only 42% as much, making it an ideal strong, lightweight metal for structures such as airplanes and rockets. It is also chemically inert under normal conditions, enabling its use in medical implants such as pacemakers.
The beach sands of the coast between Mullaithivu and Trincomalee contain the richest titanuim ore in the world. The concentration is almost 54 percent .This is quite higher than the concentration found in deposits elsewhere in the world. The titanium ore is ilmenite. It is a by-product of the crude monazite sands on Sri Lanka northeastern coast. The titanium ore is washed ashore by tidal and wave action mainly on beaches of Pulmoddai .
Annually about fifty thousand tons of ilmenite are produced in Pulmoddai. The Japanese are the main buyers. They ship it directly from the northeast coast. The ilmenite bought by them goes chiefly to the production of titanium dioxide. An SLFP politician made an allegation in 1989 that a ton of the ore which at that time was fetching 120 US dollars in the world market was being sold at a mere 50 US dollars and that no tender procedure had been followed in the sales. Somebody, in between, was making a cool 2.5 million US dollars every year.
Exploration and development of titanium mineral deposits were on the rise in 1995. In South Africa, a new producer of titanium concentrates was expected to commission a titanium slag operation by year end. At full production, the operation was expected to produce 195,000 tons per year of slag. In Western Australia, plans were announced to proceed with the development of the Been up deposit. The deposit was reported to be 4% heavy mineral sands and low in impurities with the potential for 500,000 tons per year of ilmenite.
Domestic environmental problems related to ilmenite include (1) land use conflicts where heavy-mineral sands deposits exist principally along the Atlantic coast and (2) the potential for water pollution from pigment-producing processes. Solutions to the latter problem include the development of economic, environmentally acceptable processes for making synthetic rutile or titanium tetrachloride from lower grade ilmenites and the development of methods to recover and recycle spent sulfuric acid as well as to neutralize and control the effluents produced. The two U.S. producers using the sulfate process treated their spent acid effluent with calcium carbonate and lime, producing a gypsum by product.
It has been felt over the years that the country could make very substantial profits by setting up a titanium dioxide plant at Pulmoddai. A detailed proposal to this effect was submitted to the government in 1990.
A titanium dioxide plant would require a large supply of fresh water. The Yan Oya river which flows between Pumoddai and Thiriyai was considered an ideal source of supply. The LTTE which realised the importance of Pulmoddai in the mid eighties has systematically scuttled efforts by the government to secure the area. In fact some Tamil militants, particularly the EROS, were inclined at that time to see a sinister link between the establishment of the military cum settlement zone in Weli Oya and the titanium sands Eof Pulmoddai. Although they gave some credence to the theory that the government main aim at that time was to drive a wedge between the northern and eastern provinces to break the territorial contiguity of the Tamil separaists Eelam project, there was speculation among some of them at that time that something ulterior, business interests to be precise, was at stake.
The government attempt to isolate the hinterland of Pulmoddai with several strategically placed settlements and the progress of the Yan Oya irrigation scheme were seen as further confirmation of this belief.
The control of that part of the northeast coast between Kokkuthoduvai at the southern extreme of the Mullaithivu and Kuchchaveli in Trincomalee helped the government ship the ilmenite out of Pulmoddai safely.
The army presence in Kokkuthoduvai, Kokkilai, Pulmoddai, Thiriyai, Kallarawa and Pudavaikaddu, wittingly or unwittingly, insulated the titanium rich sands from the designs of the armed Tamil groups. The Navy also had a unit at Kuchchaveli.
In 1988, however, the LTTE blasted a pumping station on the Yan Oya river scheme. It also developed links with the Muslim population in Pulmoddai. In recent years the Tigers have stepped up attacks in and around Pulmoddai.
In fact, a suggestion that the plant should be built in the south and the ilmenite be shipped there was made in 1990 when the proposal to build the titanium dioxide plant was first placed before the UNP leadership. The security situation in Pumoddai and its hinterland was considered precarious even at that time despite the presence of the IPKF to the south and the army to the north and northwest. However, it was assumed at that time that the ilmenite could be safely shipped to the south mainly because the coast between Kokkilai and Kuchchaveli was dominated by the Army and Navy. Things have changed today. The LTTE dominates the sea in these parts. And the Japanese and MNCs have to do business.
By Northeastern Herald
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