JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – The construction of the first phase of the Nyanza Light Metals plant to advance ilmenite up the value curve in the form of titanium dioxide (TiO₂) pigment has begun at the Richards Bay Industrial Development Zone (RBIDZ) in South Africa’s KwaZulu-Natal province.

Nyanza CEO Donovan Chimhandamba confirmed this to Mining Weekly on Thursday, June 25 at the Coatings for Africa show in the Sandton Convention Centre, where Nyanza is exhibiting. (Also watch attached Creamer Media video interview.)

Foundation piling works are in progress and the targeted date for the start of TiO₂ production is the end of 2029.

The plant will process ilmenite produced from the mining of heavy mineral sands to produce the many-times-higher-priced TiO₂ pigment for industrial coatings, architectural paints, paper and plastics.

A multi-phase industrial platform linking titanium beneficiation with downstream battery materials production is part of the overall design.

Nyanza has an engineering, procurement, construction and operations management contract with East China Engineering Science and Technology Company, a subsidiary of China National Chemical Engineering Group Company.

Firm offtake agreements are already in place.

The $870-million first phase TiO₂ project is being financed by Afreximbank and African Finance Corporation (AFC), together with pan-African and local development finance institutions.

An estimated 3 000 people are expected to be employed at the peak of Phase 1 construction and 850 permanent jobs created. The second phase is expected to generate 2 000 construction jobs and 600 permanent jobs.

A Phase 2 battery materials and advanced chemical project is planned as part of a $750-million downstream expansion.

Fully integrated with Phase 1, the second phase project will make use of process by-products. Planned is the production of lithium iron phosphate, zirconium oxychloride, and fumed silica. It is being designed as a closed-loop, high-value industrial materials platform.

The Phase 2 project has entered bankable feasibility study phase, which is expected to be completed in 2028 and advanced with the same engineering, procurement and construction contractor.

Project development and financing leadership will be by Afreximbank and AFC acting as co-mandated lead arrangers.

The project will be co-developed by Afreximbank, AFC and South Africa’s State-owned Industrial Development Corporation, with support from the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition and the RBIDZ.

The overall strategic positioning of the initiative is designed to advance titanium beneficiation and value addition, downstream expansion into battery materials, export diversification and industrial deepening.

Its integration of mineral beneficiation with battery materials production is described by Nyanza as positioning South Africa within global energy transition, AI compute and advanced manufacturing value chains.

The vision is to link titanium resources to downstream applications in energy storage, electric mobility, advanced materials, AI and computing supply chains. (Also watch attached Creamer Media video.)