Introduction

Cost issues related to integrated steel mill operations and unavailability of high grade raw materials with high concentrations of iron has sparked interest in the use of other potential sources of iron bearing materials once regarded as uneconomical for the present day integrated steel mill operations. In particular, iron ores consisting of significant TiO2 such as ilmenite is comparatively abundant in Australia and other parts of the world. These ores due to the high TiO2 content may result in significant issues such as lower reduction degree of the ore,[1–4] variations in the liquidus temperature of the slag,[5–7] reduced refining capacity of the slag,[8–10] and slag viscosity deviations from optimum processing conditions.