Rutile [SEP] named after
Natural rutile may contain up to 10% iron and significant amounts of niobium and tantalum. Rutile derives its name from the Latin "rutilus", red, in reference to the deep red color observed in some specimens when viewed by transmitted light. Rutile was first described in 1803 by Abraham Gottlob Werner.
Occurrence.
Rutile is a common accessory mineral in high-temperature and high-pressure metamorphic rocks and in igneous rocks.
Thermodynamically, rutile is the most stable polymorph of TiO at all temperatures, exhibiting lower
Becher process
The Becher Process is an industrial process used to upgrade ilmenite to synthetic rutile.
The mineral, ilmenite, contains 55-65% titanium as TiO, the rest being iron oxide. The Becher process removes the iron oxide, leaving a residue of synthetic rutile, which is more than 90% TiO.
History.
This technology was developed in the early 1960s in Western Australia by a joint initiative between industry and government. The process was named after Robert Gordon Becher, who while working at the Western