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Bauxite

Bauxite is a heterogeneous material composed primarily of one or more aluminium hydroxide minerals, plus various mixtures of silica, iron oxide, clay, titania, aluminosilicate, and other impurities in minor or trace amounts. Because it is a mixture of minerals, bauxite itself is not a mineral but a rock.

Bauxite is reddish-brown, white, tan and tan-yellow.
85% of all the bauxite mined in the world is converted to aluminium metal, the remaining 15% is consumed in the non-metallurgical sector. Around two thirds of this is refined via the Bayer process*, a wet chemical caustic leach method, to make speciality aluminas such as aluminium hydroxide, calcined aluminas, activated aluminas, etc. That leaves some 5% of total production which is used directly in industries such as refractories, abrasives, cement and steel industries.

The aluminium metal is produced from alumina by passing an electric current through it in a process called "electrolytic reduction”.

*In the Bayer process, found in 1888 by the German chemist Karl Bayer, the bauxite is washed with a hot solution of sodium hydroxide at 250°C. This converts the alumina, a pure aluminium oxide, to aluminum hydroxide, which dissolves in the hydroxide solution. The other components of bauxite do not dissolve and can be filtered out as solid impurities.
After this first step, the hydroxide solution is cooled, and the aluminum hydroxide dissolved in it precipitates out as a white, fluffy solid. When then heated to 1050°C, the aluminum hydroxide decomposes to alumina, giving off water vapor in the process.


Links:
-World Bureau of Metal Statistics - Statistics 2000 - 2003
-EAA-The European Aluminium Association,
-The International Aluminium Institute





World Bauxite Production
Thousand tonnes

 
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
Europe
 
Albania 0 0 0 0 0 0
Bosnia - Herzegovina 113.000 573.000 916.900 1.031.600 854.800 800.500
Croatia 26.521 15.000 1.482 500 600 101
France 150.000 174.000 170.000 170.000 160.000 160.000
Germany 0 0 0 0 0 0
Greece 2.468.865 2.442.312 2.396.065 2.495.100 2.284.380 2.093.433
Hungary 294.000 666.000 647.000 535.000 507.400 515.100
Romania 132.000 130.000 150.000 170.000 0 0
Russia 4.585.700 5.441.800 6.017.600 6.409.300 6.399.200 6.503.000
Serbia & Montenegro 0 540.100 610.000 672.300 659.400 667.100
Turkey 287.400 364.306 365.836 356.480 771.200 863.404
Yuogoslavia 130.000 0 0 0 0 0
total 8.187.486 10.346.518 11.274.883 11.840.280 11.636.207 11.602.638
 
 
Africa
 
Ghana 795.800 646.600 585.600 726.600 885.800 748.200
Guinea 17.480.500 17.072.200 18.795.500 19.237.300 18.783.800 18.519.000
Mozambique 9.119 11.793 12.000 9.518 11.800 12.000
Sierra Leone 0 0 0 0 1.001.000 1.001.000
total 18.285.419 17.730.593 19.393.100 19.973.418 20.682.400 20.280.200
 
 
Asia
 
China 12.958.700 14.567.000 17.518.000 17.408.200 18.981.000 21.680.00
India 9.647.300 10.413.700 11.284.900 12.385.400 13.940.200 20.298.00
Indonesia 1.283.000 1.263.000 1.330.800 1.370.610 1.501.937 1.251.147
Iran  323.600 365.837 366.000 437.595 500.000 500.000
Kazakhstan 4.376.600 4.737.100 4.705.400 4.815.400 4.884.000 4.962.600
Malaysia 39.975 5.732 2.040 4.735 91.806 156.800
Pakistan 12.200 4.100 4.800 6.500 6.829 19.005
Viet Nam 20.000 20.000 20.000 55.000 60.000 80.000
total 28.661.375 31.356.469 35.211.940 36.428.440 39.965.772 48.947.552
 
 
America
 
Brazil 13.189.000 18.456.800 20.958.800 20.307.400 22.836.300 24.754.000
Colombia 600 500 480 460 400 0
Guyana 1.568.099 1.846.000 1.503.400 1.675.842 1.453.000 2.198.800
Suriname 4.001.602 4.202.700 4.087.108 4.756.998 4.945.400 5.273.195
United States 200.000 251.600 259.900 121.200 36.100 128.742
Venezuala 5.190.800 5.445.500 5.814.700 5.815.200 5.927.800 5.021.800
total 24.150.101 30.203.100 32.624.388 32.677.100 35.199.000 37.376.537
 
 
Oceania
 
Australia 54.134.000 56.316.000 56.593.000 59.469.000 62.307.000 62.428.000
total 54.134.000 56.316.000 56.593.000 59.469.000 62.307.000 62.428.000
             
Caribbean            
Jamaica 13.120.000 13.444.500 13.296.500 14.116.400 14.865.354 14.567.738
total 13.120.000 13.444.500 13.296.500 14.116.400 14.865.354 14.567.738
 
 
WORLD TOTAL 202.093.901 220.775.373 233.707.799 241.271.556 255.402.487 195.202.665