Australian bauxite: : Aluminium and beyond

• Autores: Industrial Minerals
• Localización: Industrial Minerals, ISSN 0019-8544, Nº. 584, 2016 (Ejemplar dedicado a: Junio)
• Idioma: inglés
• Texto completo no disponible (Saber más ...)
• Resumen

  • Australia is the world's largest producer of bauxite, with the majority used to produce alumina for the aluminium industry. Non-metallurgical applications such as refractories, proppants, building materials and pharmaceuticals make up around 10% of bauxite's end uses, however, and many Australian miners are looking at ways to diversify. Cameron Perks Rio Tinto mines bauxite from its Weipa mine in Queensland and the Gove project in the Northern Territory. Gove and Weipa are among the world's highest grade bauxite deposits, with average grades of between 49% and 53% alumina, according to Geoscience Australia.

    Up until last year, Alcoa was one of two Australian producers of non-metallurgical alumina, sometimes called chemical grade alumina. However in 2014-15, Doral Fused Materials Pty Ltd shut down its Western Australia Rockingham fused alumina plant, which had been producing material for refractory, abrasive and ceramic applications. This left Alcoa as Australia's only direct non-metallurgical alumina supplier.