Titanium occurs in the magnetic mineral ilmenite (FeTiO3), which is often found mixed with
sand. The ilmenite can be separated from the sand with magnets, and then the titanium can be
extracted using these reactions:
a. FeTiO3(s) + 3 Cl2(g) + 3C(s) → 3 CO(g) + FeCl2 (s) + TiCl4(g) (91% yield)
b. TiCl4(g) + 2 Mg(s) → 2 MgCl2(l) + Ti(s) (86% yield)
Suppose that a sand-ilmenite mixture contains 23.0 % ilmenite by mass, and that the above
yields are typical for the production facility. How much of the ilmenite/sand mixture needs to be
processed to obtain 1.0 kg of Ti metal?