When Base Titanium – the Australian mining company – set up shop in Kwale County, Kenya, it all looked rosy and promising.

Thousands of households would be relocated and compensated…

Thousands of locals would get jobs…

Opportunities would flourish and open up Kenya’s South Coast.

To some extent this is true.

Kenya’s treasury has been a great beneficiary of this endeavor.

But things haven’t been so rosy for the locals in Kwale.

Several jobs have been threatened and it looks like things might not go the way we expected after all.

Remember that titanium is a mineral whose deposits reduce as the mining continues.

As citizens, we might not be privy to the amount of the titanium deposits but one things for sure…

At some point, they will reduce to a level that’s not economically feasible to exploit.

Which leads me to the question….

Is mining and exporting semi refined titanium ore the best we can do?

Is this the most efficient way of generating income from a resource that has many technological uses? (and we shall expound on them in a moment…)

This is the story of mineral rich African nations such as DRC, Nigeria etc.

Nations with vast mineral deposits yet their exploitation is left in the hands of western companies which leave the locals worse than before…

Perhaps governments like Kenya need to explore other possibilities of adding value to minerals like titanium to create employment and improve people’s lives.

And this possible venture has a time limit attached to it…

It’s possible as long as the mineral deposits are worth exploiting. 

So what industrial possibilities exist with regard to titanium?

BATTERIES

The world is moving towards electric vehicles.

It’s a slow move in our part of the world but it’s happening.

Just picture the several hybrid vehicles we spot on our streets.

These vehicles tell us a story…

That using fossil fuels alone to drive vehicles isn’t that cool.

They inform us that electric vehicles are the in thing.

Besides hybrid vehicles, we have electric car startups such as Roam and Basigo setting up shop around.

These developments tell us that sooner rather than later, many internal combustion engines will be replaced with lithium ion batteries which are used to drive electric vehicles.

But where does titanium feature in this regard?

Well one of the most important component of the lithium battery is the cathode which is made up of metals such as cobalt, manganese, vanadium and – yeah you guessed it – titanium.

Interestingly, there’s a tonne of research going on with respect to cathode materials and titanium is one of those metals at the centre of things.

So titanium could play a bigger role in the battery of the future.

But batteries aren’t the only concerned area on the energy front.

SEMICONDUCTORS

Semiconductors run our computers and other portable electronics.

In today’s digital world, nations capable of manufacturing computer based semiconductors gain a unique economic footing as is the case for Taiwan, Korea and Japan.

Traditionally, compounds of gallium, germanium and arsenic have been used in the semiconductor industry.

But because these substances are rare, they are being replaced by the more available titanium dioxide or TiO2.

Titanium dioxide is a compound of titanium with oxygen – and at times occurs naturally in different forms called ‘phases’.

It’s interesting to toy with the idea of a nation like Kenya setting up a semiconductor factory based on titanium dioxide but its a possibility given that the mineral is buried in our soil.

But of course there must be geopolitical and local interests at play making this more of a pipe dream.

Titanium dioxide isn’t just useful in the semiconductor industry.

SOLAR CELLS, WATER TREATMEMT, COSMETICS, PAINTS AND PIGMENTS

There are many possible uses of titanium in industry and manufacturing especially in the form of titanium dioxide.

It could be applied in generating energy from the sun through dye-sensitised solar cells – though its still experimental.

Another application is in water disinfection and treatment.

But titanium dioxide applications could be as wide as our imagination.

Take time to read the ingredients of your favorite lotion and you just might stumble on it.

Apparently, TiO2 is good at blocking harmful UV radiation which could damage our skins and so is used in sun screen creams.

Also because it’s white pigmentation is so intense, it is applied in white paints at varying levels.

IN CONCLUSION

Titanium is an asset our nation is holding for future generations.

But it need not be confined to extraction alone.

Beyond mining, titanium based value addition industries could propel our nation’s economy in ways not imagined before.

Just think of the jobs that could be created by battery manufacturing plants or paint factories or semiconductor plants or water filter manufacturers if set up in our backyards.

Think about the foreign exchange these industries could deliver through manufacturing for export?

Of course most of what’s mentioned above requires policy change followed by big push investment.

But there’s a place for researchers and innovators in science and technology to exploit the uses of titanium to prove a point.

Research in battery technology, semiconductors, water treatment, paints must be relevant in targetting the use of titanium.

That way, more interest will be generated at the policy level to bring meaningful change that impacts people’s lives.

Otherwise, titanium could just remain one of those minerals mined from an African country, exported in raw form and used to manufacture sophisticated products that enrich people abroad.

And while this is happening, the displaced peasant farmer in Kwale uses their compensation money to take their kids to school and ultimately end up unemployed – yet employment opportunities could have been created.