Production of acid soluble titania

摘要

Accordingly the present invention provides a process for producing acid soluble titania which process comprises the steps of: (i) adding a manganese or magnesium compound to a titaniferous mineral if the mineral does not contain sufficient manganese and magnesium to satisfy the following relationship: <IMAGE> where a represents the percentage by weight of MgO contained in the mineral, b represents the percentage by weight of MnO contained in the mineral, and d represents the percentage by weight of TiO2 contained in the mineral; (ii) heating the titaniferous mineral in the presence of a reductant at a temperature and for a time sufficient to permit contained iron to be reduced to its metallic form and contained titania to convert to an acid soluble form without significant accretion of the mineral occurring; (iii) cooling the product of step (ii); and (iv) subjecting the product of step (iii) to an aqueous chemical treatment to substantially remove iron from the mineral wherein the manganese or magnesium compound is an oxide or is capable of decomposing to an oxide under reaction conditions.