Cooljarloo exxaro

The Cooljarloo mineral sand mine that is owned by Tronox Limited, is located 170 kilometres north of Perth in the Gingin to Lancelin region. The mine extracts titanium mineral deposits from the ancient former shoreline in the Gingin, Lancelin region.

Cooljarloo Sand Contains Many Important Heavy Minerals
The mineral sands at Cooljarloo consist of grains of heavy minerals
comprising leucoxene, rutile, zircon and ilmenite that were deposited along the ancient shoreline many thousands of years ago where they were broken down over the centuries as a result of wave and wind action. The owner of the Cooljarloo Mine, Tronox Limited, produce over 770,000 tonnes of heavy mineral concentrate annually from strand lines using dry mining and dredging techniques:

- Dry mining of mineral sands at the Cooljarloo Mine is carried out by using earthmoving machinery to extract the ore which is found above the water table. It is then taken to a land based concentrator where the minerals are separated with the use of a hopper and conveyor system.

- Dredging for mineral sands requires the use of two big floating dredges in an artificial pond where a pump sucks the slurry from the bottom of the pond, in a slurry form. It then takes it to a floating concentrator where the heavy minerals are separated from the sand and clay with the use of a series of gravity spirals.

As mining continues at Cooljarloo, the rejected sand that has had the heavy minerals removed, along with the overburden, is returned to where it was removed and arranged to have it appear as it was before mining took place at the site. Top soil is then placed over the clay and waste sand and seeded for rehabilitation.

Road Trains Take the Concentrate From Cooljarloo to the Chandala Processing Plant
The heavy mineral concentrate from the Cooljarloo Mine is taken from the site by side tipping triple trailer road trains to the company's Chandala processing plant where it is separated and processed.

Cooljarloo Mine Acquired by Tronox from Exxaro Mineral Sands
Tronox Limited acquired the Cooljarloo mineral sand mine from Exxaro Mineral Sands, an acquisition that made it one of the worlds leading producers of titanium dioxide (TiO2) and titanium. The company now produces enough titanium feedstock itself to meet all its titanium dioxide demands. Reasonably priced and high quality titanium dioxide is in demand worldwide as it is used in the manufacturing of plastics, coatings and paints. Tronox has 1,000 customers globally in more than 90 countries. Tronox deals directly with its own customers.

Tronox Produces all its own Titanium Dioxide Needs From the Cooljarloo Mine
Tronox uses the titanium mined at the Cooljarloo mine as basic feedstock for its own pigment production and as it believes there will be a world shortage of the mineral over the coming years it has now protected itself against rising costs in the future. It is the only titanium dioxide pigment manufacturer in the world to be able to produce 100 percent of its own titanium needs. This means it can now guarantee long term supply of its products to its customers, something its competitors can not do.
†