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Bauxite is the main source of the rare metal gallium. [17] During the processing of bauxite to alumina in the Bayer process, gallium accumulates in the sodium hydroxide liquor. From this it can be extracted by a variety of methods. The most recent is the use of ion-exchange resin. [18]
2023 bauxite production and reserves (thousands of tons) [1] Country Production Reserves World: 327,000: 30,000,000
Bauxite is a raw material used primarily in the production of aluminium. The bauxite ore is refined into alumina before being smelted into aluminium. [3] Australia is known for its high-grade ore, especially in the Weipa and Gove deposits. [2] The quality of bauxite ore is determined by its available alumina (Al 2 O 3) content.
Bauxite forms by the weathering of aluminum-rich and silica-poor rocks in hot, humid, climates, at places with good drainage. Under the proper conditions, weathering disintegrates the aluminium silicate minerals, and dissolves and removes the silica, creating bauxite. The mined US bauxite deposits have all been in the southeastern United States.
The two largest bauxite producers are China and Australia. [8] Bauxite is mined with traditional strip mining techniques. This harms the environment by removing top soil, disturbing the ecosystem, and increasing erosion. [10] Aluminum mined from the earth is transported from its original location to all over the world through international trade.
Bauxite production in the 1960s was around 3 million tons per year and by the early 1970s, the two companies made up 45 percent of the nation's foreign exchange earnings. [15] After Guyana's independence from Britain, there was a political shift towards nationalizing these large, foreign-owned industries. [ 15 ]
Bauxite deposits in Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines, 1986 USGS map. Bauxite was first discovered in modern Indonesia in the Riau Islands in 1924, under the Dutch East Indies administration. Production commenced in the 1930s, with the volume of ore mined between 1936 and 1960 being between 100 and 400 thousand tonnes, rising to 900,000 ...
Bauxite is typically strip mined and is used to produce aluminum. According to estimates by Vietnam's Ministry of Industry and Trade, Vietnam's reserves in the Central Highlands amount to 5.4 billion tons. [2] Despite its large reserves, Vietnam produces only 30,000 tons of bauxite per year. [1]