Tapira

Plant in Minas Gerais, Brazil with commodity Titanium
Sections on this page
  1. Identification information
  2. Geographic coordinates
  3. Site location context
  4. Geographic areas
  5. Commodities
  6. Nearby scientific data
  7. Economic information about the deposit and operations
  8. Ownership information
  9. Reserves and resources
  10. Links to other databases
  11. Bibliographic references
  12. General comments
  13. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10182815
MAS/MILS ID 3510230118
Record type Site
Current site name Tapira
Alternate or previous names Tapira Salitre

Geographic coordinates

Point of reference Ore Body
Geographic coordinates: -46.83231, -19.86421 (WGS84)
Location accuracy 10000(meters)

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Minas Gerais(province)

Brazil(country)

South America(continent)

Land(continent)

Geographic areas

Country State
Brazil Minas Gerais

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Titanium Critical Primary

Nearby scientific data

Ore Body (1) -46.83231, -19.86421

Economic information

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Operation type Surface
Development status Plant
Commodity type Metallic
Significant Yes
Discovery year 1971
Mining method Strip-Level
Year of first production 1982
Plant type Beneficiation (Mill)
Plant subcategory Electrostatic-Magnetic
Milling method Flotation

Ownership information

  • Type Owner-Operator
    Owner Cvrd
    Interest 100
    Home office Brazil

Reserves and resources

  • Type In-situ
    Estimate year 1987
    Demonstrated 202818238mt ore
    Total resources 202818238mt ore
    Commodity Subtype Grade units Group Importance Year
    Titanium TiO2 16.05 wt-pct Titanium Major 1987

Comments on the reserve resource information

  • INCLUDES SALITRE ALSO. NEVER EVALUATED FOR TIO2 UNDER KAISER (TIO2) CONTRACT. SOME DATA COLLECTED UNDER THE ZWI P2O5 CONTRACT. NOW BEING DEVELOPED AS A MAJOR ANATASE PROPERTY. SITE VISITED IN 7/88.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    INDUSTRIAL MINERALS, FEBRUARY, 1992

  • Deposit

    DEPT OF STATE TELEGRAM, JANUARY, 1991

  • Deposit

    INDUSTRIAL MINERALS, NOVEMBER, 1989

  • Deposit

    INDUSTRIAL MINERALS, AUGUST, 1989

  • Deposit

    MINING JOURNAL, JUNE 16, 1989

  • Deposit

    PAPER BY TEIXEIRA, NOVEMBER 25, 1987

  • Deposit

    PEFR BY RF, DECEMBER, 1988

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit THIS IS A COMBINED TITANIUM:PHOSPHATE PROPERTY. THE OVERBURDEN FOR THE PHOSPHATE MINE IS ACTUALLY THE TITANIUM MATERIAL, WHICH IS STOCKPILED AS FEED FOR THE TITANIUM RECOVERY OPERATION. THE TITANIUM MINERAL IS "ANATASE", ALSO KNOWN AS "OCTAHEDRITE". WHICH IS A VARIETY OF RUTILE. THE MINERALIZATION AT THE MINE OCCURS AS LAYERED ZONES DUE TO WEATHERING OF PYROXENITES IN A VOLCANIC PLUG. THE TOP ZONE (0-20 METERS) IS A LATERITIC SOIL, DEVOID OF ORE VALUES. THE NEXT ZONE (20-60 METERS) CONTAINS > 15% TIO2 AND < 5% P2O5. THE THIRD ZONE (60-75 METERS) IS TRANSITIONAL. THE FOURTH ZONE (75-155 METERS) IS THE PHOSPHATE ORE. UNWEATHERED ROCK UNDER- LIES THE PHOSPHATE. PRODUCTION IN 1988-1990 IS ABOUT 6,500,000 MTPY OF PHOSPHATE ORE AND 3,500,000 MTPY OF STRIPPED TITANIUM ORE. A NEW PLANT FOR PROCESSING THE ANATASE IS TO BE BUILT, WHICH WILL ACCEPT 2,000,000 MTPY OF FEED AT 22% TIO2 AND OUTPUT 200,000 MTPY OF ANATASE CONCENTRATE GRADING 90% TIO2, WITH A RECOVERY FACTOR OF 40.91%. OPERATING COSTS IN 1988$US PER MT OF ORE ARE: MINE- $4.47; MILL- $2.64; G&A- $3.90; CONC TRANSPORT- $2.00; FOR A TOTAL OF $13.00/MT OF ORE. THIS IS EQUAL TO $26 MILLION PER YEAR, OR $130.00 PER MT OF CONCENTRATE. CAPITAL COSTS IN 1988$USMILLIONS ARE: PREDEVELOPMENT- $3.0; EQUIPMENT (BRAZIL)- $63.0; EQUIPMENT (IMPORTED)- $1.5; FREIGHT/ TAX/INSURANCE- $14.0; CONSTRUCTION/INSTALLATION- $29.0; ENGINEERING/MANAGEMENT- $15.0; FOR A SUBTOTAL OF $125.5. THIS WITH A 10% CONTINGENCY ADDS UP TO $138.00 MILLION. WORKING CAPITAL FOR 3 MONTHS AMOUNTS TO $6.5 MILLION. TOTAL PROJECT CAPITAL, EXCLUSIVE OF FINANCING, WOULD BE $145.5 MILLION. RARE EARTHS OCCUR IN THE TITANIUM ORE AS 0.03% REO, MAINLY OF THE YTTRIUM VARIETY. RECOVERY OF REO IN THE MILL IS A MOOT POINT FOR THE PRESENT, BUT THERE COULD BE ABOUT 600 MTPY OF REO IN CONCENTRATE.

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 27-DEC-94 Unknown U.S. Bureau of Mines

Beyond USGS

Supplemental information added by qvyshift.com. Not part of the original USGS MRDS record.