Concord Heavy-Mineral Sands Mine

The Concord heavy-mineral-sands mine of Iluka Resources in south-central Virginia. The mine excavates sand-silt deposits that contain about 4 percent heavy minerals, which were deposited along a shoreline that existed here between 3.5 and 3.0 million years ago. These ores are processed at nearby separation plants to recover the heavy minerals. The principal products are the titanium-rich minerals ilmenite, leucoxene, and rutile, and the zirconium-rich mineral zircon.