Ilmenite vs Rutile
Ilmenite and Rutile are genuine alternatives to one another — a choice somebody actually makes — and differ on 5 measured properties, crystal system most clearly.
Ilmenite vs Rutile
Ilmenite
FeTiO3
Iron titanium oxide — the abundant titanium ore, lower grade than rutile and the source of most titanium actually produced.
Rutile
TiO2
The richest natural form of titanium dioxide — the preferred feed for titanium metal and white pigment, and scarce enough that most producers use ilmenite instead.
| Property | Ilmenite | Rutile |
|---|---|---|
| Crystal system Categorical values can be listed side by side but not ordered or subtracted. | trigonal | tetragonal |
| Density | 4.7–4.79 g/cm³ higher | 4.23–4.29 g/cm³ |
| Lustre Categorical values can be listed side by side but not ordered or subtracted. | metallic to submetallic | adamantine to submetallic |
| Mohs hardness Mohs hardness is an ordinal scale: values can be ranked, but differences and ratios between them are not meaningful. | 5–6 | 6–6.5 higher |
| Refractive index Only one of the two has a figure we can stand behind, so there is nothing to compare. | Not known | 2.61–2.9 |
| Streak Categorical values can be listed side by side but not ordered or subtracted. | black | pale brown |