Jetpack maker Martin Aircraft welcomed a delegation to its titanium 3D printing facilities in Tauranga, according to a report on New Zealand Herald. 3D printing is a method of forming titanium components by piling layers upon layers of titanium powder and fortifying them with lasers.

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The report revealed chairman Jon Mayson hosted the tour, which include Kuang-Chi Science (KCS) founder and chairman Dr. Ruopeng Liu, KCS co-founder Weizi Huang, investment manager Henry Zhang, and Martin Aircraft's chief executive Peter Coker. KCS is a technology company that places its portfolio in "disruptive technologies."

Mayson told The Herald that they invited their investors to tour the premises "to explore potential areas of future collaboration for both Martin Aircraft and for KCS."

Liu, a specialist on metamaterials, said he's optimistic about the rise of titanium 3D printing in the country. "In terms of applications, there is a new era of building things," Dr. Liu said. "Manufacturing used to be about chopping away, but the technology here is all about adding - it's a type of metamaterial. I think it's the trend for the industry. We can see the potential that people can print almost anything."

Elsewhere, the titanium market has been making a lot of progress. In a recent report on Aerospace Technology, U.K.-based GKN Aerospace announced its use of titanium powder in additive manufacturing for aerospace parts. Titanium additive manufacturing is a form of large-scale 3D printing, which currently finds use in the health care field. General Electric is one of the early adopters of 3D printing, which is being applied by its aerospace parts division.  

This indeed bodes well for titanium miners as demand picks up. Projects like White Mountain Corporation's (OTCQB:WMTM) Cerro Blanco in the Atacama region in Chile could benefit from this rise in demand. The project is set to produce 112 million tons of rutile, with a projected annual output equating to 80,000 tons. The company said it expects to produce over 130,000 tons of rutile onwards during its fourth year of production.

British-Australian firm Rio Tinto plc noted that the Chinese demand for titanium dioxide feedstock may reach 1.3 million tonnes in 2025, according to The South China Morning Post.

Headquartered in Shenzhen, KCS develops groundbreaking technologies including Meta-RF electromagnetic modulation, intelligent photonic technology, and metamaterials. The company has applied for almost three thousand patents globally as of June 2014, according to its website.  

Tags3D printing industry in China, KCS China, White Mountain Titanium, Rio Tinto plc, Martin Aircraft