The tsunami that hit south India in 2004 brought with it tons of titanium ore from the depths of the ocean.
Titanium is of great use in aeronautics, defence and atomic energy sectorsNEW DELHI: The tsunami that hit south India in 2004 brought with it tons of titanium ore from the depths of the ocean.
Titanium, a metal as strong as steel but much lighter, is resistant to extreme temperatures and corrosion. It is of great use in aeronautics, defence and atomic energy. India has 30% of the world’s reserves of titanium, said to be the metal of the future.
Prithviraj Chavan, minister of state in the prime minister’s office, said the tsunami enhanced nearly 0.46 million tones of llmenite and 0.03 million tones of rutile in the known deposits of Chavara, Kerala. Both are titanium ores.
Scientific reports say this could have happened “due to the churning on the deeper sediments of the onshore region or on the sediments entrapped in the near shelf region of the area, by the 6-metre-high tsunami waves”. The coastal segment, where a considerably rich beach “placer deposit” with 70% ilmenite is concentrated, was investigated to understand the impact of the tsunami.
A placer deposit consists of valuable mineral or gemstone that accumulates in weathered rocks, stream sediments or in beach deposits as a result of natural weathering and erosion.
Ores such as llmenite and rutile are known to exist at a depth of 10-15 metres on the seabed and the tsunami waves seem to have picked them up and dumped on the beach.
India is yet to begin exploitation of these reserves. The government has allocated Rs99.50 crore to set up a 500-ton -per-year titanium sponge plant at Kerala Minerals and Metals Limited (KMML), Kollam, based on the technology developed at Defence Metallurgical Research Laboratory (DMRL), Hyderabad.
The unit will make India the seventh country to produce titanium sponge. Only Japan, America, Russia, China, Kazakhstan and Ukraine have the technology at present.
Titanium sponge is the base material for the manufacture of titanium.
At KMML, it will be manufactured through a technology developed by DMRL. The beach sand mineral sector has been liberalised and the private sector is being encouraged to set up titanium extraction plants.
s_rajesh@dnaindia.net 
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