Ilmenite is a titanium-iron oxide mineral with the idealized formula FeTiO

It is a weakly magnetic black or steel-gray solid. Ilmenite is the most important ore of titanium and the main source of titanium dioxide, which is used in paints, printing inks, fabrics, plastics, paper, sunscreen, food and cosmetics.

Ilmenite is a heavy (specific gravity 4.7), moderately hard (Mohs hardness 5.6 to 6), opaque black mineral with a sub-metallic lustre.It is almost always massive, with thick tabular crystals being quite rare. It shows no discernible cleavage, breaking instead with a conchoidal to uneven fracture.

Ilmenite crystallizes in the trigonal system with space group R3. The ilmenite crystal structure consists of an ordered derivative of the corundum structure; in corundum all cations are identical but in ilmenite Fe2+ and Ti4+ ions occupy alternating layers perpendicular to the trigonal c axis.

Pure ilmenite is paramagnetic (showing only very weak attraction to a magnet), but ilmenite forms solid solutions with hematite that are weakly ferromagnetic and so are noticeably attracted to a magnet. Natural deposits of ilmenite usually contain intergrown or exsolved magnetite that also contribute to its ferromagnetism.

Ilmenite (FeTiO3) is the chief ore widely used in

• Manufacture of Titanium di-oxide which is used as pigment in paint, paper, plastics, rubber and pharma industry.
• Welding electrodes
• Processing of Graded Steel
• The manufacture of high quality Photo grey sun glasses
• Manufacturing of titanium metal
• Coatings and lining for blast furnace hearth

Ilmenite is the most important ore of titanium and the main source of titanium dioxide, which is used in paints, printing inks, fabrics, plastics, paper, sunscreen, food and cosmetics.

The important advantage of ilmenite is the low price in combination with having a reasonably high reactivity towards syngas and showing good fluidization.