Ilmenite is a mineral that is primarily used to make synthetic TiO
2. As naturally occurring TiO
2, rutile and anatase are also widely distributed. For example, rutile is a "heavy mineral" in beach sand. Another ore is leucoxene, a fine-grained anatase created by ilmenite's natural alteration. Titanium dioxide can also be obtained through two other processes:
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Chloride process:
The ore is treated with chlorine and carbon in the chloride process, resulting in titanium tetrachloride, a volatile liquid that is further purified through distillation. In order to regenerate chlorine and create titanium dioxide, TiCl4 is treated with oxygen.
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Sulfate process:
Ilmenite is subjected to sulfuric acid treatment in the sulphate process in order to extract iron(II) sulphate pentahydrate. The resulting synthetic rutile is then subjected to additional processing in accordance with the requirements of the end user, such as pigment grade or not.