Ilmenite concentrate is the second most abundant resource from the vanadium-bearing titaniferous magnetite in Panzhihua, comprising about 90% of the titanium resources in China. In order to fully utilize Panzhihua titanium resources, a new process was proposed in this work. In the process, Panzhihua ilmenite concentrate was first reduced in a rotated hearth furnace to produce iron and titanium-enriched material, then the latter was chloridized in a new combined fluidized bed to produce TiCl4. The combined fluidized bed consisted of two fast fluidized beds and a turbulent fluidized bed, producing effective anti-agglomeration during the chloridizing of materials with high-level CaO and MgO. (C) 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.