Befesa, a secondary bauxite mine in Europe produces a secondary mineral similar to bauxite

Befesa Reciclaje de Escorias Salinas is the Befesa division that recycles salt slags, a waste produced by the secondary aluminium industry. Befesa produces three products from salt slags. Firstly it produces aluminium concentrates and smelting salts that are fed back into the secondary aluminium production process in a closed cycle. It also produces a secondary mineral commercially marketed as Paval, Serox or BFA, which is principally aluminium oxide and has similar characteristics to bauxite, a primary mineral from which alumina and aluminium are obtained.

There are numerous and varied applications of this secondary mineral developed by Befesa Reciclaje de Escorias Salinas as a substitute for bauxite and clay, for example in producing rock wool, cements, ceramics or non-slip surfaces. There are also various patents that protect its use in current and future applications.

The work being carried out by Befesa Reciclaje de Escorias Salinas in this area currently focuses on developing post-processing treatments of the Paval, Serox and BFA, to enable their use in mass consumption and recurrent applications that have high added value and which make it genuinely possible to close the aluminium processing cycle. These applications include refractories, abrasives, desulphurizing slags, frits and as minerals used in automotive plastics and construction. The products in development include calcined powders, calcined bauxite, brown alumina, secondary bauxite spinel and calcium aluminate, among others.

Befesa's activities in this field are an example of its total and unwavering commitment to sustainable development by promoting the "urban mining" concept, which redefines waste as a renewable source of organic, plastic, metallic or ceramic resources, preventing the extraction of hundreds of thousands of tonnes of raw materials from their primary sources.