Surveying work began almost immediately following the discovery, and the first tonnes of ore were extracted for pilot tests by the New Jersey Zinc company of Palmerton, Pennsylvania. Kennecott Copper joined forces with this company to gain expertise in ore concentration. On August 24, 1948, this partnership was made official with the founding of Quebec Iron and Titanium Corporation, later to become QIT-Fer et Titane.

QIT’s goal was ambitious: to extract iron and titanium dioxide from the ilmenite ore. It took almost three years to develop a reduction process using electricity – the first of its kind in the world. As a result, QIT was not only the first company to remove titanium dioxide from solid ilmenite, but also the inventor of a process to remove iron from ilmenite.