Varun Industries, which has diverse interest in steel ware, mining and oil and natural gas, has announced that its overseas subsidiary has discovered heavy mineral sand (HMS) at its mining blocks covering an area of 62.5 sq. km. at Belay and Anosy in Madagascar, Africa.

HMS is an important source of zirconium, titanium, thorium, tungsten, rare earth elements, the industrial minerals diamond, sapphire, garnet, and occasionally precious metals or gemstones.

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The total heavy mineral resources in the blocks allotted to the company is estimated at about 266.8 million tonnes (mt), which includes 221 mt of ilmenite, 1.84 mt of rutile, 1.84 mt of leucoxene, 9.2 mt of monazite, 18.4 mt zircon, 9.2 mt of garnet, 2.76 mt sillimanite and 9.2 mt of spinel, said the company in a press release on Tuesday.

These elements are widely used in a range of hardware including precision-guided weapons, lasers, radar, hybrid car, magnets for electric vehicle motors wind turbines, compact fluorescent light bulbs, flat panel display, iPads and a number of equipments in medical diagnostics, treatment and pharmaceuticals, paints, pigments, ceramics and abrasives etc.

Mr A.P. Dhurandhar, Vice-President (Exploration), Varun Industries, said “We expect the overall rare earth oxide (REO) demand to increase by 12.5 per cent by 2015. Besides, the acute shortage of supplies may prolong as the new mine developments will take at least five to ten years.”