Appian invests in US mineral sands

Appian, the investment company which is making moves in the M&A space of late today announced yet another acquisition - this time in the mineral sands sector.Appian has bought, via its subsidiary Atlantic Strategic Minerals, what it calls a significant construction-ready mineral sands project from world leader and Australia-headquartered Iluka Resources. This ilmenite and zircon deposit however is in Virginia, US. It did not disclose the price, telling Mining Journal, that this was confidential. "This acquisition provides a significant opportunity, with some of the highest-grade mineral sands resources globally, strategically located close to end users in the US with significant infrastructure already in place," Michael Scherb, chief executive, Appian, said."Appian is well positioned, with its extensive mine development and operational expertise, to return these assets to production and maximize their potential. The transaction is also an excellent fit with our existing portfolio and focus, as we continue to invest in the global megatrends shaping society," he added.Iluka operated three deposits in Virginia; Old Hickory, Concord in Dinwiddie County and at the Brink operation in Greensville County.Appian highlighted the Concord concentrator plant as being part of the acquisition, as well as a mineral separation plant in Stony Creek. Aurelian Springs is highlighted as a future mine and concentrator."The project includes two mineral sands deposits, a wet concentration plant and a mineral separation plant," the company told Mining Journal."The two plants are currently in care and maintenance and will be refurbished prior to the commencement of mining. The mineralisation of the Hickory deposit consists of the zirconium-rich mineral zircon and titanium-rich mineral ilmenite, leucoxene, and rutile."The mines have been in production since 1997, according to the Virginia Department of Energy.Appian highlighted in a note to the market that it intends to supply domestic customers with the mineral sands but added that there is also a provision to sell the minsands back to Iluka."Appian plans to leverage its deep development and operational expertise to de-risk and restart the mining operations, with the refurbishment of two existing mineral concentrator plants and the development of mining infrastructure," the company added. Mineral sands investments This is the second investment the group has made in the minsands space. It acquired Australia's Kalba, which is now known as Gippsland Critical Minerals, in June 2020. Gippsland has two projects which contain heavy mineral sand, zircon, rutile and ilmenite.Fingerboards is at DFS stage and is expected to hold a 15 year LOM. It holds reserves of 1.73Mt at 1.2% Zr, 1.9% TiO2 and 0.1% REO. Total resources are at 910Mt of 0.7Zr, 1.2% TiO2, 0.1% REO.Glenaladale is at resource definition stage."With only two producing mineral sands mines in the US, Appian believes Atlantic Strategic Minerals will play a key role in the domestic supply of zircon and ilmenite," Appian told Mining Journal."Appian's mineral sands strategy intends to leverage synergies between Atlantic Strategic Minerals and Gippsland Critical Minerals, an existing portfolio company with one of the largest zircon and rare earths deposits globally located in Victoria, Australia," the company addedMineral sandsZircon is a mineral sand which is principally used in ceramics markets.According to the Zircon Industry Association, approximately 54% of zircon that is produced globally is used in fine ground form in the ceramics industry, in the production of ceramics bodies, glazes, enamels, frits and pigments. It is also used in advanced (technical) ceramics; so nanotubes, aerospace - this is usually after it has first been processed to create zirconia.Zircon is also used in glass applications, chemicals, refractories and foundries. Iluka put the US weighted zircon price at $2,062/t for the third quarter this year.Ilmenite meanwhile is processed to make TiO2 (titanium dioxide) a material which is added to paint for whitening. This means that the market is heavily contingent on the ebbs and flows of the construction market - and with global construction slowing, demand has also fallen since COVID-19. Downstream pigment prices in the US remain stable, however, according to Iluka and in China there have been three price increases in TiO2 in Q3 of this year.

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