An Indian firm, Narayan Titanium Industries Ltd., has proposed a US $300 million project of a titanium ore (ilmenite) processing plant in Pulmoddai, Trincomalee, the Sunday Times reported.
The plant would process the raw mineral ilmenite from Pulmoddai and Mullaitivu into the commercially lucrative pigment of Titanium Dioxide.
According to Sri Lanka's Geological Survey and Mines Bureau the beach sands of the North and East contain 6 - 8 million metric tons of ilmenite, with particularly high concentrations in Pulmoddai.
Currently the state owned company, Lanka Mineral Sands Ltd., harvests an estimated 100,000 tons of ilmenite per year. If this project goes ahead, the Indian firm, based in Mumbai would reportedly be given exclusive rights to buy the raw mineral at a mutually agreed price.
Investment Promotion Minister Lakshman Yapa Abeyawardana believes the project would create 1500 jobs and provide "strategic enterprise status", the Sunday Times reported.
This is not the first time such a project has been put forward. In 2012, LAUGFS Holdings Ltd and Sri Lanka's Institute of Nanotechnology (SLINTEC) signed an agreement to develop the island's first ever processing plant. A pilot plant was launched in August 2013.
Last year, the Chinese firm, China National Machinery & Equipment Import & Export Corp (CMEC) sought long term lease of over 500 acres of land in Pulmoddai in order to establish a processing plant.
Writing to the Sri Lankan President the Commercial Counsellor at the China's embassy said he would "strongly recommend CMEC for the development of the Project, and our Office will give its full support to CMEC in this regard." See here.
See here for 'Tussle for Ilmenite' written by the journalist Sivaram on the significance of ilmenite for the Sri Lankan government and the LTTE during the armed conflict. The article is believed to have been published between 1997-1998.
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