Editing Zirconium (section)

=== Occurrence ===
[[File:2005zirconium.PNG|thumb|Zirconium output in 2005]]
Zirconium is a by-product formed after mining and processing of the [[titanium]] minerals [[ilmenite]] and [[rutile]], as well as [[tin]] mining.<ref>{{cite web|last=Callaghan|first=R.|title=Zirconium and Hafnium Statistics and Information|publisher=US Geological Survey|date=2008-02-21|url=http://minerals.usgs.gov/minerals/pubs/commodity/zirconium/|access-date=2008-02-24}}</ref> From 2003 to 2007, while prices for the mineral zircon steadily increased from $360 to $840 per tonne, the price for unwrought zirconium metal decreased from $39,900 to $22,700 per ton. Zirconium metal is much more expensive than [[zircon]] because the reduction processes are costly.<ref name="usgs2008" />

Collected from coastal waters, zircon-bearing sand is purified by [[spiral separator#Wet Spiral Separators|spiral concentrators]] to separate lighter materials, which are then returned to the water because they are natural components of beach sand. Using [[magnetic separation]], the titanium ores [[ilmenite]] and [[rutile]] are removed.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Siddiqui |first1=A. S. |last2=Mohapatra |first2=A. K. |last3=Rao |first3=J. V. |date=2000 |title=Separation of beach sand minerals |url=https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/297712279.pdf |journal=Processing of Fines |location=India |volume=2 |pages=114–126 |isbn=81-87053-53-4}}</ref><!--Rutile is nonmagnetic, maybe has Fe impurities?-->

Most zircon is used directly in commercial applications, but a small percentage is converted to the metal. Most Zr metal is produced by the reduction of the [[zirconium(IV) chloride]] with [[magnesium]] metal in the [[Kroll process]].<ref name="CRC2008" /> The resulting metal is [[sintering|sintered]] until sufficiently ductile for metalworking.<ref name="madehow" />