Sri Lanka's War-Torn East Coast to Become a Heavy Mineral Mining Hub

---

Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Sri Lanka's government has approved a memorandum presented by the Ministry of Industrial Development to develop the exploration and mining industry on the country's east coast. The land from Naayaaru lagoon in Mullaitheevu to Nilaveli in Trincomalee district will be tapped for heavy minerals like rutile, ilmenite and zircon. Illeminite and rutile are major sources of titanium. Titanium, known for its strength and light weight, is used extensively in military aircrafts, jet engine components, submarines, rockets, armor plates and aircraft firewalls. Zircon is used in foundries, electrical equipment and ceramics.

Nilaveli has faced civilian casualties and collateral damage since the 1970s as a result of a violent campaign by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam against Sri Lanka's government, seeking an independent state. The mineral deposits in this region have been untapped for years. With the Tigers' recent withdrawal from this territory, the government is proposing to mine the mineral resources and provide economic development. There are plans to declare the region between Naayaaru and Nilaveli as a special economic and security zone. The prospecting, exploration and mining will be undertaken by Lanka Mineral Sands Limited (Rajagiriya, Sri Lanka). Established in 1960, Lanka Mineral is the country's premier heavy metals mining company. The government will invest in enhancing the production capacities and processing technologies. The company will eventually also manufacture value-added products like titanium slag, titanium sponge and ferro-titanium. The mining of heavy minerals on the east coast will be carried out as a joint venture with Stork Handelsges m.b.H (Linz, Austria).

Stork Handelsges started business operations in 1995 as an international trading company with interests in Ukraine, Russia and other Commonwealth of Independent States. The company exports equipment for the mining industry, power engineering and metallurgy plants, chemicals, food products and minerals to Europe, Japan, India and the U.S. Stork Handelsges works through a network of accredited agents and representatives in Mumbai, New York and Russia. The company is also a trading agent for JSC Uralredmet (Verkhnyaya Pyshma, Russia), which produces rare earth minerals and master alloys; JSC Avisma (Verkhnaya Salda, Russia), which manufactures titanium sponge; and JSC VSMPO (Verkhnaya Salda, Russia), a manufacturer of titanium rolled sheets. The Volnogorsk State Mining Metallurgical Plant (Vilnogirsk, Ukraine) also exports titanium-zirconium concentrate through Stork Handelsges.

Sri Lanka's beaches have some of the richest deposits of rare earth minerals in the world. It is estimated that the concentration of heavy minerals is about 60%-70% compared with the 5% concentration found in the sands of Australia, currently the world's largest heavy minerals producer. According to a recent survey conducted by the government, Sri Lanka's east coast has about 12 million tons of heavy mineral deposits. This island nation also has abundant resources of graphite, unexplored iron ore deposits, phosphate rock, quartz, limestone and calcite. But Sri Lanka's economy is dominated by the services sector, which contributes about 57% to the country's gross domestic product, while manufacturing and agriculture bring in 24% and 16%, respectively. The metals and mining sector contributes 2%-3%. Decades of fighting and hostilities in mineral-rich regions, the lack of advanced mineral processing technologies and the slumping economy have dented the development of Sri Lanka's metals and mining industry.

The recent announcement by the government has raised hopes of not only tapping the country's latent potential of minerals and metals but also resurrecting the image and economy of this war-torn country.

Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is a marketing information service specializing in industrial process, energy and financial related markets with products and services ranging from industry news, analytics, forecasting, plant and project databases, as well as multimedia services.