660 



UNITED STATES MINERAL RESOURCES 



being investigated (Lynd, 1972). In Brazil, a deposit 

 of beach sand was mined for ilmenite in southern 

 Bahia (Roy, 1970b). 



Other secondary titanium occurrences are con- 

 centrations of titanium dioxide in residual deposits 

 formed by lateritic weathering of titaniferous rocks, 

 many in areas having tropical climates. Titanium 

 in the common rock-forming silicate minerals is 

 hydrolyzed upon weathering and carried into the 

 hydrolyzates (bauxites and other laterites) where 

 it forms oxide minerals (Rankama and Sahama, 

 1950). Goldschmidt (1954) stated that the com- 

 pounds in which this titanium occurs are not known 

 but that the titanium may be present as amorphous 

 or finely crystalline titanium dioxide. These later- 

 itic deposits are not of commercial value at present 

 but are widespread in Hawaii and elsewhere. A 

 major nontropical occurrence is found in the later- 

 itic ferruginous bauxites from the Columbia River 

 Basalt in Oregon, which contain 3.5 million short 

 tons of TiO, (Herz, 1969). 



RESOURCES 



IDENTIFIED TITANIUM RESOURCES 



The identified titanium resources in the United 

 States, in terms of contained TiOo, are about 298 

 million short tons. The distribution of these re- 

 sources by States is shown in table 140. 



Table 140. — Identified titanium resources, in thousands of 

 short to7is, in the United States 



I NA, not available. Data from Herz ( 1969 ) ; Hillhouse ( I960) ; Peterson 

 (1966); Stamper (1970) J 



State TiOa 



Alabama 143 



Alaska 127,000 



Arkansas 70 



California 840 



Colorado 673 



Florida 20,615 



Georgia NA 



Hawaii 51,434 



Idaho 315 



Minnesota 14,414 



Montana 270 



New Jersey 12,500 



New Mexico 609 



New York 23,960 



North Carolina 71 



Oklahoma 4,941 



Oregon 3,500 



Rhode Island 686 



South Carolina 2,716 



Utah 188 



Virginia 12,000 



Washington 890 



Wyoming 20,000 



Total 297,835 



The data given in this tabulation are only an 

 approximation, because the source material upon 



which the estimates are based is incomplete and 

 some of the data have not been corrected for 

 amounts depleted by mining. 



In the States of Florida, Georgia, New Jersey, 

 New York, Virginia, North Carolina, and South 

 Carolina, where secondary or primary deposits have 

 been mined for titanium minerals, identified re- 

 sources are estimated to be about 72 million tons 

 of contained TiOz. Titanium reserves in the United 

 States were estimated by the U.S. Bureau of Mines 

 in 1970 (Stamper, 1970) to be about 25.5 milHon 

 short tons of TiOs, most of which is in ilmenite. 

 Reserves of rutile included in this figure were re- 

 ported to be 500,000 tons, but inasmuch as rutile 

 production in the United States has virtually ceased, 

 this rutile may be more realistically considered to 

 be only a conditional resource. 



The identified titanium resources of the world, 

 in terms of TiO^, are about 2,000 million short tons. 

 Distribution of these resources is listed in table 141. 



Table 141. — Identified titanium resources, in thousands of 

 short tons, of the world 



[Identified resources: Specific, identified mineral deposits that may or 

 may not be evaluated as to extent and grade, and whose contained min- 

 erals may or may not be profitably recoverable with existing: technology 

 and economic conditions. Data from Herz (1969): Hillhouse (1960); 

 Lawthers (1964, 1967); Peterson (1966); Stamper (1970); United Nations 

 (1970); U.S. Bur. Mines "Mineral Trade Notes, 1950-70," "Minerals 

 Yearbooks, 1960-70," and "Commodity Data Summaries, 1972;" Williams 

 (1966)] 



Continent and country TiOs 



North America: 



United States 297,835 



Canada 397,374 



Mexico 4,812 



Costa Rica 1,390 



Total 701,411 



South America: 



Argentina 3,114 



Brazil 4,525 



Guyana 18,548 



Uruguay 912 



Total 27,099 



Australia and New Zealand : 



Australia 15,068 



New Zealand 42,130 



Total 57,198 



Europe : 



Finland 6,750 



France 3,208 



Norway 43,836 



Sweden 24,728 



U.S.S.R. 73,404 



Total 151,926 



Africa: 



Angola 331 



Dahomey 15 



Madagascar (Malagasy Republic) 1,045 



Mauritania 144 



Mozambique 5,884 



Senegal 3,440 



Sierra Leone 2,490 



