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 Titanium Corporation's mission is to develop and build a commercial process that will maximize the inherent value existing in the waste material currently being deposited in mined oil sands tailings. The project has progressed to developing new technology that would integrate the recovery of minerals and bitumen from fresh oil sands tailings.
Initially working with deposited, dry oil sands tailings, Titanium Corporation commissioned a pilot research facility at the Saskatchewan Research Council in Regina, Saskatchewan in 2004 for flow sheet development test work. Encouraging results were achieved and the Company moved ahead developing technology to process fresh tailings directly from the oil sands tailings pipeline.
In 2005, Titanium Corporation commissioned and operated a Bulk Sampling pilot plant that was connected to the fresh oil sands tailings pipeline on-site in Fort McMurray. The Bulk Sampling plant produced washed sands containing heavy minerals, some of which were further processed at the Company's Regina pilot facility.
Titanium Corporation has assessed the mineral content in both deposited tailings and fresh pipeline tailings. This included analysis of fresh tailings on a daily basis which identified a relatively constant proportion of zircon and higher levels of associated hydrocarbons (i.e. bitumen) compared with the material in the deposited tailings. These findings necessitated changes to the process flow sheet design which were then tested by the operation of another on-site modular pilot facility ("2006 Pilot") during September-October 2006.
The 2006 Pilot was constructed in Australia and shipped to Fort McMurray for commissioning during the summer of 2006. It was built on time and on budget and was designed to remove bitumen from the heavy minerals and concentrate the minerals. The 2006 Pilot achieved high recoveries of a heavy mineral concentrate (98-99%) and valuable experience was gained in the removal and recovery of bitumen from the tailings stream.
Results to date have shown that the removal of both bitumen and minerals represents an expanded opportunity for the Company. Further work is required in this area and Titanium Corporation is redoubling its efforts to conduct the necessary research, development and pilot testing work. For more information please refer to Titanium Corporation's latest MD & A found under the 'Financial Statements' section of the menu item 'Investors' on our website.
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