Global bauxite reserves were 27.5 bln tonnes as of Jan 2016, says report

According to a new market research publication on global bauxite mining trends and outlook to 2020, the world bauxite reserves stood at 27.5 billion tonnes (Bnt) as of January 2016.

Guinea had the world’s largest reserves, with 7.4Bnt, accounting for 26.9 per cent of the global total, with most bauxite deposits located in the western and central part of the country. Australia held the second largest reserves at 6.2Bnt.

The highest grade bauxite reserves are located in Queensland and the Northern Territory, with the Weipa and Gove mines having grades of 49–53 per cent Aluminium oxide. Brazil ranked third with 2.6Bnt of bauxite reserves, of which around 80 per cent are located in the Trombetas region, the publication noted.

As per the data published in the report, global bauxite ore production was an estimated 279.7 million tonnes (Mt) in 2015, a decrease of 0.3 per cent over the previous year. This was due to a decline in production from Brazilian and Chinese bauxite ore mines. Global bauxite production in 2014 at 280.6Mt was also, down by 5.2 per cent over 2013 due to a fall in production from Indonesia. The country produced just 500kt bauxite in 2014, against 55.7Mt in 2013, as a result of the ban on exports of raw ores imposed at the beginning of 2014.

Other key observations made in the report are:

• Australia, China, Brazil, Guinea and Jamaica are the world’s largest bauxite producers, collectively accounting for an estimated ore production of 212Mt in 2015 or 75.8 per cent of the global total.
• China, the US, Ireland, Canada, Ukraine, Spain and Germany were the major importers of bauxite with a combined share of 67.2Mt or 89 per cent of the global total in the same year.
• Guinea, Australia, Brazil, India, Jamaica and Malaysia were the world’s major exporters of bauxite ores and concentrates and collectively accounted for 60.6Mt or 89.6 per cent of the global total in 2014.