Richards Bay Minerals (RBM) is a world leader in heavy mineral sands extraction and refining and South Africa's largest mining and beneficiation company

Richards Bay Minerals

Formed in 1976 to mine the vast mineral rich sands of the northern KwaZulu-Natal a province of South Africa, the mine produces predominantly rutile, zircon, titania slag, titanium dioxide feedstock and high purity iron.

Richard Bay Minerals Ownership
 
Rio Tinto, RBM"s managing company, holds 74% of RBM"s shares. Blue Horison, a B-BEEE consortium consisting of lead investors and the four host communities, owns a 24% stake while the remaining 2% is held in an employee trust.

RBM is a significant contributor to the economy of KwaZulu-Natal. RBM accounts for 50% of KwaZulu-Natal"s mining output and 3.3% of the national mining sector by value of output.

Producing Minerals and Metals essential for Modern Life
 
RBM currently has the capacity to produce approximately two million tonnes of product annually, including about 100,000 tonnes per year of rutile and 250,000 tonnes per year of zircon. Of this, 95% is exported, yielding a world market share of about 25% of titanium feedstock (titania slag and rutile), 33% of the world"s zircon output and 25% of the world"s high purity pig iron.

Beneficiation Process

RBM uses an ingenious system of ponds and floating dredges to mine the ore body, where heavy valuable minerals such as ilmenite, zircon and rutile are recovered from the sand.

The heavy mineral concentrate is then transported to the mineral separation plant (MSP).  Upon arrival at the mineral separation plant, located at the smelter site, the heavy mineral concentrate is reslurried and pumped into the feed preparation circuit.

The non-magnetic materials, including zircon and rutile, are concentrated for further processing in the dry mill. Roasting, smelting and slag and iron processes are used to extract final products.

Taking Our Product to Market
 
RBM is highly competitive in world markets thanks to Rio Tinto"s proprietary smelting technology and international marketing links through Rio Tinto Iron and Titanium. We have distributors in most economically active countries in the world and our close proximity to rail and harbour links makes the logistics of moving millions of tonnes of product throughout the world cost-effective.

At any one time, no fewer than 20 large ocean-going vessels are either at anchorage or on the high seas, transporting our products destined for customer markets across the globe.