The 10,000-tonne-per-year plant is expected to start operation in April 2009, said Director Vo Quang Hien of the Thua Thien-Hue Minerals Company.

This will be the second titanium slag factory to be built in the country after the first one which is located in central Binh Dinh province.

According to a survey by the Northern Central Geology Federation, Thua Thien-Hue province has a deposit of around 7 million tonnes of titanium ore, accounting for one-fourth of the country’s total reserves.