The public sector Kerala Minerals and Metals Limited started producing titanium sponge from its Titanium Sponge Plant (TSP) which was inaugurated in February this year by the Defence Minister A.K. Antony. Titanium sponge is the raw material for titanium metal.
The achievement has enabled India to become the 7th country in the world having the technology to produce titanium sponge. A statement from the KMML said that production started from September 6 and 3 metric tonnes of titanium sponge has been produced.
With technology from the Defence Research and Development Organisation, the TSP has the capacity to produce 500 metric tonnes of titanium sponge annually and the capacity will soon be enhanced to 1000 metric tonnes. Magnesium chloride is the by product from the TSP and KMML is preparing a project to separate magnesium and chlorine from the by product.
The technology for this is being provided by the Defence Metallurgical Research Laboratory and the funding from the Indian Space Research Organisation. With that the TSP’s cost of production is expected to considerably come down. The statement said that other research programmes undertaken by the KMML is also progressing.
This includes the novel “nano titanium pigment” which has tremendous scope in the market. Its market price is ten times the price of titanium pigment, one of the current products of KMML. The waste generated at the mineral separation unit of the KMML is also being put to use.
From the waste sand, the company has started producing sillimanite and zircon. This success story has enabled the mineral separation unit alone to make a profit of Rs. 25 crore since it started producing the two minerals. Prior to the production of these two minerals, the profit of the mineral separation unit stood at only Rs. 2 crore per anum.
Commencement of titanium sponge production has been lauded by the Industries Minister P.K. Kunhalikutty as a major achievement. He said that the achievement is the result of the team work and dedication on the part of the KMML employees. He said that he is hopeful the TSP will be able to soon produce the entire quantity of titanium sponge required by the country.
