Patent ID: 7985389

Claim:
A process for producing pig iron by direct processing of ferrotitania ores and sands, comprising the steps of: (a) mixing: I. materials selected from the group comprising: titania-containing iron sands, metallic oxides, and/or iron ore concentrates; ii. carbonaceous reductant; iii. fluxing agent; and iv. a binder to form a mixture; (b) forming agglomerates from said mixture; (c) introducing said agglomerates to a melting furnace; (d) melting the agglomerates at a temperature of from 1500 to 1760C and forming hot titanium-containing metal with a slag thereon; (e) removing the slag; (f) tapping the hot metal; (g) treating the tapped hot metal by oxidation to form TiO 2 , and to form V 2 O 5 when vanadium values are present therein; (h) recovering V 2 O 5 and TiO 2 by quenching and grinding the tapped metal, then separating the V 2 O 5 and TiO 2 by high intensity electrostatic separation; and (i) recovering the titanium values.