Opened 1976 Founded 2008 | Country South Africa Website rbm.co.za Parent organization Rio Tinto Group | |
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Products Titanium DioxidePig ironZircon Company Rio Tinto Group (74%)Blue Horizon Investments (24%)RBM permanent employees (2%) | ||
Richards Bay Minerals (RBM) is a South African mining company. RBM's principal product is titanium dioxide in the form of an 85% pure titanium dioxide slag; the company also produces the higher-purity 95% titanium dioxide product rutile as well as pig iron and zircon.
The company's principal operations are just north of Richards Bay in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, in a 2-kilometer wide by 17-kilometer long strip of mineral-rich sand dunes. RBM mines the using a dredge mining technique, extracting the titanium-iron ore ilmenite as well as rutile and zircon from the sand. This feedstock is then processed into RBM's product lines at a facility which sorts the various materials and processes them to varying degrees into marketable materials.
RBM is controlled by Rio Tinto which owns 74% of it. Blue Horizon Investments (24%) and RBM permanent employees (2%) also have an interest in the mine. Prior to 2012 BHP Billiton owned 37% but that interest was later purchased by Rio Tinto in February 2012.