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Empire Metals Limited Announces Pitfield Product Development and Marketing Update
- EEE.L
- EPMLF
Empire Metals Limited / LON:EEE, OTCQX:EPMLF / Sector: Natural Resources
LONDON, UK /ACCESS Newswire/ September 24, 2026 /Empire Metals Limited, the AIM-quoted and OTCQX-traded exploration and development company, is pleased to announce the results from its recent titanium dioxide (“TiO2”) product development work. The programme has delivered an uncoated rutile pigment from mineral concentrates produced from the in-situ, high-grade weathered ore that extends across the Pitfield Titanium Project in Western Australia (“Pitfield” or the “Project”).
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Rutile pigment successfully produced from Pitfield’s anatase-rich in-situ weathered ores, indicating that the crystal form of the final pigment product is determined by processing conditions rather than by the titanium minerals present in the ore.
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Pitfield’s ores are naturally low in deleterious elements, in particular the radionuclides, so the raw pigment produced in the refining stage is well suited to the premium pigment market and as feedstock for titanium sponge metal production.
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Empire is now targeting a refined and coated rutile pigment, for the architectural coatings market, where current global weighted average prices are approximately US$3,250/tonne
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Architectural coatings are the largest single market sector for TiO2 pigment, consuming 2.3Mt annually, approximately 33% of global pigment production
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Independent benchmarking puts the costs of the final finishing stage, that is the conversion of raw pigment into coated rutile pigment, at approximately US$250 to US$320 per tonne for the sulphate pigment industry. This excludes all upstream mining and processing costs
Shaun Bunn, Managing Director, said:“The ability to use conventional process technologies to convert the titanium-rich minerals found within the in-situ weathered cap at Pitfield directly into high-value, rutile crystal pigments is an important technical milestone for the Company, and one that clearly sets Pitfield apart from the rest of the titanium industry.
“Taking advantage of the low levels of impurities naturally found within the Pitfield ores, in particular the absence of any radionuclides and low levels of other heavy metals, enables and streamlines the refining and subsequent finishing stages to achieve high-purity pigments. This is also notably less complicated than many of our peers.
“Having successfully developed a fully integrated processing flowsheet utilising beneficiation, leaching and refining processes to produce a high-grade rutile pigment product, the Company is now well placed to advance its product development work. This programme will look to produce coated rutile pigment suitable for the rapidly growing architectural coatings market, which is also the largest addressable market segment for TiO2.”
