US Patent 7985389 Direct processing of ferrotitania ores and sands

A method for producing pig iron by direct processing of ferrotitania sands, by the steps of:(a) mixing carbonaceous reductant, a fluxing agent, and a binder with titanium-containing materials selected from iron sands, metallic oxides, and/or iron ore concentrates, to form a mixture;(b) forming agglomerates from the mixture(c) introducing the agglomerates to a melting furnace;(d) melting the agglomerates at a temperature of from 1500 to 1760 C and forming hot metal with a slag thereon;(e) removing the slag;(f) tapping the hot metal; and(g) recovering the titanium and vanadium values.