Aim-listed Bluejay Mining PLC (LON:JAY) is set to declare the discovery of the “world’s purest ilmenite deposit” in Greenland.
Ilmenite, a form of titanium-iron oxide, is the key ingredient in white paint. It is also increasingly used in 3D printers.
Mining minnow Bluejay will report that the resource at its Pituffik deposit is the purest in the world, with 23.6 million tonnes at 8.8pc ilmenite. Moreover, it has only conducted studies on 17pc of the resource, suggesting that the deposit could in fact be the biggest in the world.
Rod McIllree, Managing Director, said the project was being developed at the right time, because the ilmenite market was seeing “depleted supplies, lack of investment, and rising prices”.
Demand is rising in all key markets – from North America to China – and our project has the potential to displace existing supplies because of its purity, he said.
Ilmenite prices have doubled in the last 12 months, Mr McIllree added.
Bluejay plans to begin production next year, should the project pass a feasibility study. The company has the backing of the Greenland government, which has been looking at ways to tap the country’s mineral wealth and shore up its economy, which has been dependent on subsidies from Denmark for decades.
