ILMENITE

ILMENITE Property

Dielectric constant

6.0 - 7.0（0.0℃）

Hazard and Precautionary Statements (GHS)

ILMENITE Chemical Properties,Usage,Production

Chemical Properties

Ilmenite is one of the main titanium-bearing minerals. Tetragonal crystal system, crystals are rare, often irregular granular, scaly, plate or flake. The color is iron black or steel gray, streaks of steel gray or black, when containing hematite inclusions, brown or maroon. Metallic to semi-metallic luster, shell-like or sub-shell-like fracture. Brittle. Hardness 5-6, density 4.4-5 g/cm3, density increases as MgO content decreases or FeO content increases. Weakly magnetic. Solubility in hydrofluoric acid, slowly dissolved in hot hydrochloric acid. Dissolved in phosphoric acid and cooled and diluted, add sodium peroxide or hydrogen peroxide, the solution is yellow-brown or orange-yellow. Ilmenite can be produced in various types of rock, in the basal rock and acidic rock distribution is more widespread; produced in pegmatite, the particle size is larger, up to several centimeters. When the ore-bearing host rock is destroyed by weathering, ilmenite can be transferred to the sand ore.

Physical properties

Habit: tabullar, lamellar, massive.
Color: iron black.
Diaphaneity: opaque.
Luster: submetallic.
Streak: brownish black.
Fracture: subconchoidal.
Cleavage: none.
Chemical: insol. in HCl, or HNO3 but attacked by boiling H2SO4. Slightly antiferromagnetic with a specific magnetic susceptibility of +10^–6 m³.kg^–1. Nonfusible with a melting point of 1365–1470°C. Semiconductive with an electrical resistivity ranging from 0.001 to 4 Ω.m.
Deposits: massive hard rock hemo-ilmenite deposits in ultramafic igneous rocks (e.g., anorthosites, peridotites, gabbros, diorites, syenites) such as the large deposits of Allard lake (Québec, Canada) or Tellnes (Norway). Sedimentary deposits as heavy mineral sands in South Africa (Richards Bay), Australia, India and Brazil.

Uses

Titanium paints and enamel, source of titanium metal, welding rods, titanium alloys, ceramics.

Definition

Iron-black mineral, black to brownish-red streak, submetallic luster, resembles magnetite in appearance but is readily distinguished by feeble magnetic character, d 4.5–5, Mohs hardness 5–6.