The Lac Tio deposit, discovered by Kennco Explorations, Limited in 1946, is the most important ilmenite occurrence in the Allard Lake district and represents the largest body of titanium ore of its type now known in the world. Exploration of this deposit by diamond drilling and surface work has indicated at least 125,000,000 tons of ore in a tabular body 3,600 feet long and 3,400 feet wide, occupying an areal extent of 134 acres.

Excellent possibilities exist for materially increasing this tonnage by lateral exploration of the ore body itself, and by the development of several satellite deposits.An airborne magnetometer survey over approximately 1,000 square miles of the anorthosite mass revealed no previously undiscovered deposits, but served as an excellent means of screening large areas of relatively inaccessible country. Strong negative anomalies were obtained from deposits of massive ilmenite, while in most cases positive anomalies were registered over areas of disseminated ilmenite.

A key factor in the development of the ilmenite reduction process was the need to refine the ore before smelting. In 1954, the Ore Pretreatment Plant was built. The new plant crushed the ore into smaller pieces to remove more gangue, and then roasted it in rotary furnaces to reduce the sulphur content.

In 1982, the company added a magnetic separation process to improve the refining process further. The result was a richer titanium slag, with nearly ten per cent higher levels of iron andtitanium oxides.