Research And Development

Summary: - 

Australia is a leading manufacturer of following equipments: -

1. Ilmenite (20 per cent of world production in 2006),

2. Rutile (44 per cent) and

3. Synthetic rutile (86 per cent)


Most of the Australia's exports of these possessions were valued at $0.7 billion in 2006-07. In Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics rutile and synthetic rutile are used to manufacture titanium tetrachloride (TiCl4), a key input in the titanium metal industry.

The main objective of Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics in this study is to inspect the function of government in sustaining these: -

1. A titanium metal research & development (R&D) project and

2. The potential development of a titanium metal industry in Australia.

Under the light metals flagship, The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO) has introduced a progression, called TIRO, to generate titanium powder. The next step in the project is a pilot plant to test and debug the TIRO procedure. The plant is likely to be positioned in Western Australia in close immediacy to key source deposits and associated with processing facilities.

The approach taken in this study is to current information that will support the Australian Government in its estimation of whether to hold up the TIRO/CSIRO R&D project to the pilot plant stage. An economic measurement of the pilot plant project cannot offer the Australian Government with an explicit policy suggestion since the final estimation of policy alternative relies to a few extent on the individual judgment of the government. Should the government make a decision to spend in the TIRO pilot plant project, this is expected to improve prediction for the improvement of a titanium metal industry in Australia through the commercialization of the TIRO process or, if this technology confirm to be not feasible, by introduce a victorious technology.