Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, May 13, 1990 TAG: 9005090645
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: BUS-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: ED CONNER THE RICHMOND NEWS LEADER
DATELINE: EMPORIA LENGTH: Long
That product is titanium, a metallic chemical element which, geologists have discovered, lies in rich deposits under farmlands in Greensville and other Southside Virginia counties.
Titanium is used in paint pigments, steel alloys, and even in toothpaste and cosmetics. Industry experts say about 80 percent of the titanium used in this country is imported from Australia.
It comes as no surprise, then, that an Australian company is playing the major role in efforts to begin titanium mining in Greensville County.
Southeast TiSand Joint Venture, a company formed by Becker Minerals and Consolidated Rutile Ltd. of Australia, is finishing negotiations for mining leases in the county. About 3,000 acres have been leased so far, of which about 900 to 1,000 acres contain mineable titanium and other heavy minerals.
Southeast TiSand is focusing on an area around the intersection of Virginia routes 627 and 633, south of Fountaine Creek.
Another company, RGC (USA) Minerals of Green Cove, Fla., has signed leases to mine about 7,000 acres in a second rich deposit in southern Dinwiddie and western Sussex counties.
These deposits are part of a band of heavy minerals stretching 120 miles long and three to five miles wide in Virginia and North Carolina. The band may even extend into Maryland or South Carolina, geologists say.
The deposits were discovered in 1983 during a routine geologic mapping expedition by C.R. Berquist, a state geologist who teaches at the College of William and Mary. Titanium in the soil, which appears as small black specs in sand, caught Berquist's attention and he noted the minerals on his maps.
The matter was largely forgotten until four years later. While exploring off the Virginia coast for heavy minerals, Berquist found mineral characteristics that reminded him of the deposit in Greensville County. A comparison of samples from both areas revealed the Southside deposit had a much higher concentration of heavy minerals.
Berquist said the sand terraces containing titanium in Southside were created by wave action about three million years ago. Streams and rivers carried the heavy minerals from the Piedmont down to the ocean, which once covered the Tidewater area. Waves deposited the minerals back onto the beaches. When the ocean receded, the sand remained.
When Berquist published his findings in May 1988, the report triggered a rush by mining companies to do their own studies.
Industry spokesmen say about 3 percent titanium content is their usual standard for mining. The deposit in Greensville County ranges from 2 percent to 20 percent in most areas, but one field has been found to have 40 percent to 60 percent.
Roy McMillan, technical director for Southeast TiSand, said the deposits in Greensville County range from 10 to 50 feet deep in the ground. Southeast TiSand still is taking samples, carefully mapping where the richest concentrations are.
The potential income from mining is difficult to judge because none of those involved was willing to discuss the financial arrangements while leases still were being negotiated.
However, titanium ore usually sells for about $100 a ton, industry experts say. Some property owners hint that their potential profit may be in the millions of dollars.
Industry officials say land owners generally are paid a royalty based on the amount of minerals extracted from their property.
Southeast TiSand will be investing millions of dollars in mining equipment, according to McMillan. At least one mining operation and a separation plant are planned. The cost for those facilities could easily exceed $20 million, he said. A second mining operation would increase the cost even more.
In mining titanium, top soil is cleared from an area of about 20 acres to create a shallow pond. Dredges scoop the sand from the bottom of the pond, then pump it to shore. From there, trucks take the sand to the separation plant, where water and gravity are used to remove the heavy minerals. The leftover sand is carried back to the pond and replaced. As the pond expands at one end, it is filled at the other.
McMillan expects about 30 to 40 people to be employed at each mining operation. The separation plant would require another 30 to 35 workers.
About 5 percent of the total soil volume is removed by the mining. Industry experts say the topsoil is replaced, and the land can be used once more for farming or other purposes.
State officials say it is difficult to predict what environmental concerns the mining might pose because Southeast TiSand has not applied for any state permits yet.
Mike Abbott, public information officer for the Virginia Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy, said no similar mines are operating in the state, although there are small-scale sand and gravel dredging operations.
One concern of state officials and the mining companies is water, which is required in large volumes in the mining process. Abbott said his department will want to know what impact mining will have on surrounding wells, rivers and streams.
Southeast TiSand has hired several people to conduct water studies.
A crew from Bore & Core of Raleigh, N.C., is drilling shallow test wells to study the effect deep wells might have on property owners' wells. Also, a pair of Westinghouse geologists are doing electromagnetic surveys to find places water might collect in granite formations hundreds of feet below ground.
C. Wade Ferguson, a retired farmer and former chairman of the Greensville County Board of Supervisors, has served as a public relations director for Southeast TiSand and a liaison between the company and local property owners.
Ferguson said possible water sources for the mines could include deep wells and nearby Fountain Creek. Holding ponds that catch water in winter also are a possibility, depending on what the water study reveals, he said.
More than a dozen permits will have to be obtained, at both the state and federal levels, before mining can begin, according to McMillan. He hopes the company can begin the application process this fall. In the meantime, a small-scale test-mining operation has been in operation since mid-March. The experiment is being used to prove that the mining and land restoration procedures work, and the results will be used in some of the permit applications.
McMillan estimates mining could start in earnest within two years. The operation is expected to last 12 years.
by CNB