Ilmenite – the titanium dioxide source

Ilmenite

• Named after it’s type locality, the Ilmensky Mountais in the Southern Urals (Russia)
• Most important titanium mineral; it is predominantly mined for titanium dioxide production
• Formula: FeTiO₃
• Space group: R-3 (No. 148)
• Crystal system: trigonal
• Crystal class: -3
• Lattice parameters: a = b = 5.0884 Å, c = 14.0855 Å, α = β = 90°, γ = 120°

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Picture by Modris Baum (Public Domain)

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Crystal structure (click on the picture to download the VESTA file):

(K. Momma and F. Izumi, “VESTA 3 for three-dimensional visualization of crystal, volumetric and morphology data,” J. Appl. Crystallogr., 44, 1272-1276 (2011).)

• FeO₆ distorted octahedra (brown)
• TiO₆ distorted octahedra (blue)
• Oxygen (red)
• The structure can be derived from the corundum (Al₂O₃) type: in corundum all cations are identical but in ilmenite Fe²⁺ and Ti⁴⁺ ions occupy alternating layers perpendicular to the c axis
• Within the alternating layers the FeO₆ / TiO₆ octahedra are edge-connected to give six-membered rings (the centre of the hexagons are unoccupied)

For a 3D interactive version, see here:

https://skfb.ly/6ps9E

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