Chemours Acquires Mining Operations of Southern Ionics Minerals

The Chemours Company (Chemours), Wilmington, Del., has acquired Southern Ionics Minerals, LLC (SIM), a minerals exploration, mining, and manufacturing company headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida. SIM was a wholly owned subsidiary of Southern Ionics Incorporated (SII), a privately held inorganic chemical manufacturer based in West Point, Mississippi.

Chemours, which was spun off from DuPont on July 1, 2015, is a global chemistry company with leading market positions in titanium technologies, fluoroproducts and chemical solutions. The newly acquired SIM mines and processes titanium and zirconium mineral sands from a similar geological formation as those produced by Chemours at the company’s existing mineral sands mine in Florida. This acquisition provides Chemours with tremendous flexibility and scalability to internally source ore, nearly doubling its capacity. The acquisition includes a mineral sands processing plant in Offerman, Georgia, an existing mine site in Charlton County Georgia, and administrative offices in Jacksonville, Florida.

Chemours has the unique capability of producing its Ti-Pure brand of titanium dioxide from a wide variety of ores. In acquiring the SIM assets, the company will have additional access to large, high-value ilmenite ore deposits to produce titanium dioxide pigments. Having access to these internally produced ores delivers advantages for the business and provides a stable and predictable cost structure for customers, supporting the company’s Ti-Pure Value Stabilization (TVS) strategy of investing in building capacity and product innovation, while fostering enduring, value-oriented customer relationships.