Zirconium: social and political problems

What problems does it cause between people, and who carries them?

Mineral sand mines need large areas of coast. At Grande Côte in Senegal, farmers say the mine took their land. The company says it pays five times the national rate and rehouses people. In South Africa, a zircon miner sued its critics for defamation.

Last updated 10 October 2026.

Conflict and disputes

Defamation suits in South Africa. Mineral Sands Resources owns the Tormin mine on the west coast of South Africa. In 2021, Tormin produced 13,700 tonnes of concentrate that was 72% zircon¹.

In January 2017, two environmental lawyers and a community activist spoke about the Tormin mine in a lecture at the University of Cape Town². Mineral Sands and one of its directors then sued them for R1.25 million in damages for defamation². Mineral Commodities, the company named by USGS at Tormin, sued other critics of its plans to mine on the Wild Coast². In total, the three suits asked for R14.25 million².

The defendants said that the suits were an abuse of process, made to silence their opposition to the mining². The companies said that this defense looked only at their motives and not at the merits of their claims. They called it legally unsound².

In November 2022, the Constitutional Court ruled that a defense against SLAPP suits (lawsuits against public participation) exists in South African law². The court also found that the defendants in these cases had not proven all the requirements for this defense².

Security. In 2021, Richards Bay Minerals in South Africa stopped production for part of the year because of safety and security concerns around the mine¹.

Workers and communities

Grande Côte, Senegal. Eramet began mining zircon and titanium minerals on the coast of Senegal in 2014³. A large dredge moves along the fertile coastal strip³. AFP reported in 2025 that thousands of farmers and their families had been displaced over ten years³.

The company says it has built 586 houses and community buildings for 3,142 people³. It says it pays five times the national rate for land, 12,190 to 15,240 euros per hectare³. Farmers say that the rates come from guidelines of the 1970s and do not replace the lost income³.

The managing director of the mining company says that nearly 2,000 people work at the mine and its plants, and that 97% are Senegalese³.

Moma, Mozambique. In 2010, a settling pond at the Moma mine broke its wall. Water, sand and clay flooded a nearby village. One person died, and there was much damage to property⁴.

Who gains and who loses

At Grande Côte, the company says that the project gave Senegal 149 million euros in 2023³. It says that it paid 25 million euros in taxes and dividends on a turnover of 215 million euros³.

The local mayor, Gora Gaye, says that the hollows between the dunes once grew 80% of Senegal’s fresh vegetables³. AFP gives this as his figure. Local people say that the land is returned to the state after mining, not to them³.

Public debate

In 2025, the mayor asked the state to stop the mining until there are serious studies of the damage³. The managing director of the mining company said that there is no need for a pause³. He said that a pause would put 2,000 people out of work³. The company planned to increase the capacity of the dredge by more than a fifth from 2026³.

Sources

1
U.S. Geological Survey (Joseph Gambogi), 2025. Zirconium and Hafnium, in Minerals Yearbook 2021 , Text pp. 86.1-86.6: uses, prices, world review by country.

Uses of zircon, zirconia and the metal, prices in 2021, Chinese imports, and output of the main producers.
- In 2021, Mineral Commodities Ltd. (MCL) produced 13,700 t of mixed heavy-mineral concentrate, containing primarily zircon (72%) and rutile (19%), at its Tormin mining operations in Western Cape Province.
- Production of heavy minerals from the Richards Bay mining operations was suspended temporarily for a portion of the year because of safety and security concerns surrounding the mine.
2
Columbia University, Global Freedom of Expression, 2023. Mineral Sands Resources (Pty) Ltd v. Reddell; Mineral Commodities Limited v. Dlamini; Mineral Commodities Limited v. Clarke , Case summary and outcome; Facts; Decision overview.

Summary of the Constitutional Court decision of 14 November 2022 on defamation suits by the owners of the Tormin mine, with the arguments of both sides.
- On January 25, 2017, Christine Reddell, Tracey Davies (both environmental attorneys) and Davine Cloete (a community activist), presented a lecture at the University of Cape Town in which they discussed the operations at the Tormin Mine
- Mineral Sands and one of its directors issued summons, seeking damages of R1 250 000
- On July 18, 2016, Mineral Commodities and its then CEO served summons on Clarke for defamation
- In total, the damages sought in the three suits amounted to R14,25 million
- The defendants filed a special plea arguing that the mining companies’ filing of the suits was an abuse of process, designed to silence their opposition to the companies’ mining activities
- the defendants were relying exclusively on the companies’ motives in bringing the defamation suits rather than on the merits of the defamation claims which, they submitted, was
- legally unsound
- The Constitutional Court of South Africa ruled that a SLAPP suit defense exists in South African law as part of the broad category of abuse of process.
- the Court found that the defendants in this case had not proven all the requirements for a successful SLAPP suit defence
3
Agence France-Presse, published by France 24, 2025. Giant mine machine swallowing up Senegal's fertile coast .

The Grande Côte zircon mine in Senegal, the views of local people, the mayor and the company, and statements of the president. Read with Firecrawl; the site refused a script.
- began mining in 2014
- has been swallowing acre after acre of the fertile coastal strip
- Thousands of farmers and their families have been displaced over the past decade
- A total of 586 houses and community infrastructures (a health centre, school and mosques…) have been built
- serving 3,142 people
- five times more … for the loss of their land than national guidelines, paying out 12,190 to 15,240 euros ($16,575) per hectare
- Farmers say the compensation for the land is based on guidelines dating from the 1970s and does not make up for the irredeemable loss of revenue from their once-fertile fields.
- Nearly 2,000 people work in the mine and the separation factories, 97 percent of them Senegalese
- generating 149 million euros for Senegal in 2023
- 25 million euros in taxes and dividends … on their 215-million-euros turnover
- which produced until recently 80 percent of the fresh vegetables eaten in Senegal
- But locals complain that the land is not … to them but to the Senegalese state
- stop the mining for the moment so serious studies can be carried out on the damage being done
- no need for a moratorium
- would mean putting 2,000 people out of work and end the economic benefits for the state of Senegal
- EGC hopes to increase the dredger’s capacity by more than a fifth to 8,500 tonnes an hour from 2026
4
U.S. Geological Survey (James V. Jones III, Nadine M. Piatak and George M. Bedinger), 2017. Zirconium and Hafnium, chapter V of Critical Mineral Resources of the United States (Professional Paper 1802) , Pp. V1-V26: summary, uses, supply and demand, geology, deposit types, resources, environmental considerations.

Crustal abundance, deposit types, Kovdor, Trail Ridge, metal production, recycling, prices in 2011 and 2012, health and environment.
- In 2010, a settling pond at the Moma heavy-mineral sands mine in Mozambique breached its retaining wall and released water, sand, and clay that flooded a nearby village, causing one fatality and extensive damage to property