03 NOVEMBER 2013Metalbulletin.com
Bauxite Resources sees China importing more bauxite from Australia
Edited by : AL CIRCLE
2 min read
Australia’s Bauxite Resources expects China will source a greater proportion of its bauxite requirement from Australia and West Africa over the next decade, ceo Peter Canterbury said.
The company is gearing up to support growth for an obvious supply gap in the market as a result of the uncertainty of bauxite supplies from India and Indonesia, he told delegates at Metal Bulletin’s 3rd Asian Bauxite and Alumina conference on Thursday October 31.
Australia made up 22% of China’s import requirement of 38.4 million tonnes of bauxite in 2012, but looking ahead could be responsible for up to 48% of the Asian country’s total import requirements of 84.6 million tonnes by 2022.
“A number of new projects need to come on stream to meet the continuously increasing demand in the third-party bauxite market by 2035,” Canterbury said
“There are new projects needed worldwide, and our view is that Australia is an ideal source to supply bauxite,” he sai0,d adding that the logistics of shipping make the destination compelling compared with other sources of bauxite.
The company’s Felicitas and Fortuna tenements are close to existing railway infrastructure and have a proximity to ports.
Both projects are in Bauxite Resources’ Darling Range, which has four large alumina refineries close by.
The current resource of Felicitas and Fortuna is 258.2 million tonnes of bauxite.
The total resource estimate for the Darling Range tenement is 327.2 million tonnes of bauxite, of which the company solely owns 39.5 million tonnes. The remaining 259 million tonnes is in a alumina joint venture with Yankuang group and 28.7 million tonnes in a jv with HD Mining & Investments.
Under the Yankuang jv a feasibility study for an alumina refinery is being undertaken and the first alumina could be produced some 5-7 years from now, Canterbury said.
The alumina refinery could have a capacity of 1.25 million-2 million tpy, he said, and could be supplied with energy with the coal assets in western Australia.
The company is gearing up to support growth for an obvious supply gap in the market as a result of the uncertainty of bauxite supplies from India and Indonesia, he told delegates at Metal Bulletin’s 3rd Asian Bauxite and Alumina conference on Thursday October 31.
Australia made up 22% of China’s import requirement of 38.4 million tonnes of bauxite in 2012, but looking ahead could be responsible for up to 48% of the Asian country’s total import requirements of 84.6 million tonnes by 2022.
“A number of new projects need to come on stream to meet the continuously increasing demand in the third-party bauxite market by 2035,” Canterbury said
“There are new projects needed worldwide, and our view is that Australia is an ideal source to supply bauxite,” he sai0,d adding that the logistics of shipping make the destination compelling compared with other sources of bauxite.
The company’s Felicitas and Fortuna tenements are close to existing railway infrastructure and have a proximity to ports.
Both projects are in Bauxite Resources’ Darling Range, which has four large alumina refineries close by.
The current resource of Felicitas and Fortuna is 258.2 million tonnes of bauxite.
The total resource estimate for the Darling Range tenement is 327.2 million tonnes of bauxite, of which the company solely owns 39.5 million tonnes. The remaining 259 million tonnes is in a alumina joint venture with Yankuang group and 28.7 million tonnes in a jv with HD Mining & Investments.
Under the Yankuang jv a feasibility study for an alumina refinery is being undertaken and the first alumina could be produced some 5-7 years from now, Canterbury said.
The alumina refinery could have a capacity of 1.25 million-2 million tpy, he said, and could be supplied with energy with the coal assets in western Australia.
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