REGIONAL— A deposit of a mineral known as ilmenite, near Hoyt Lakes, could be the first of possibly more than a dozen small mines to take advantage of northeastern Minnesota’s mineral wealth. And a cooperative project between the Natural Resources Research Institute (NRRI), the IRRRB, and a Canadian company could help move such a mine closer to reality.

Ilmenite is a high value iron-titanium oxide ore used in the production of many valuable products— from paint pigment to jet engines. While mining companies have been aware of the region’s ilmenite deposits for more than 15 years, impurities in the northeastern Minnesota ore, particularly magnesium oxide, have made it difficult to devise a viable method of processing the material into a marketable product.

But a new process developed by a Canadian company, known as Process Research Ortech, Inc., appears capable of removing the magnesium and other impurities from the region’s ilmenite ore, which could clear the way to profitably develop the high-grade resource.

At their meeting last week, members of the IRRRB approved $300,000 in funding for NRRI, to be matched by the University of Minnesota-Duluth, to conduct pre-feasibility, pilot-scale tests in hopes of developing a bulk concentrate that could be used to test the Canadian company’s process.

If successful, says NRRI Director Rolf Weberg, the process would be a major breakthrough, one that could spark an entirely new mining industry in the region— one with significant upside potential for additional value-added processing. “It’s exciting,” said Weberg, “we’ve got a high degree of confidence that ilmenite could be important.”

Weberg cautions, however, that the development process is still “pretty upstream” and that it’s likely to be years before any mining could eventually start. “The question is, can you scale it up and say you can get a commercially valuable product? This is the next step in the process.” Even so, Weberg said NRRI is trying to compress the process as much as possible.

While the IRRRB and UMD funds will help move the research along, NRRI is seeking an additional $3.6 million from the Legislature this year, some of which could help fund a full feasibility study if the initial ilmenite testing goes well. That process would likely be run by the Department of Natural Resources, said Weberg, with some assistance from NRRI. Weberg estimates that process could take about two years to complete.

NRRI, according to Weberg, is seeking a continuing appropriation to focus research in three areas, including:

‰ increasing the efficiency of current mining operations.

‰ exploring diversification and ways to increase the amount of value-added opportunities.

‰ Building a portfolio of technologies for how to address sulfate contamination in water. “It’s a big statewide problem for wastewater treatment plans and iron mining,” Weberg said.

Focus on the Longnose Deposit

Of the 13 known ilmenite deposits, all of which are located in a 35-mile-long, roughly south to north alignment, running south of Aurora-Hoyt Lakes, the Longnose Deposit has been the subject of the most development interest to date. According to a 2012 technical report published by Cardero Resource Corp., the company that currently controls mineral leases at the site, the Longnose deposit is high grade, averaging 31.5 percent ilmenite content. That compares to copper-nickel deposits, such as PolyMet Mining’s NorthMet deposit, which average well under one percent copper and less than one-tenth of a percent nickel.

The ilmenite deposits are also quite small in scale, at least when compared to taconite operations, or proposed copper-nickel mines, in the area. The Longnose deposit, for example, at least as presently known, encompasses about 100 acres. It’s also close to the surface, beginning just 14 feet down, making it an optimal deposit for open pit mining. The deposits extends downwards about 150 meters, and current indicated estimates put the quantity of ore at 58.1 million tons, about one-fifth the known reserves at PolyMet Mining’s NorthMet deposit.

The production rate at Longnose would likely be significantly lower than the 32,000 tons per day, or roughly 11.8 million tons annually, estimated at the NorthMet deposit. Weberg estimated the Longnose deposit could take 15-20 years to mine. “It really depends on the rate of extraction and the ability to process,” he said.