Rio Tinto's Amrun project to drive Australia's growth as the leading global bauxite supplier in the coming decade

According to the latest report from Consultancy group Fitch Solutions, Australia is set to drive growth in the global bauxite sector, currently holding 12 of the 29 new bauxite projects. Rio Tinto’s Amrun project is expected to drive Australia’s global bauxite business.

“While bauxite accounts for less than 5% of Australian mining value, the country is the global top producer, accounting for an estimated 28.8% of total global output as of 2018,” reported Fitch. The country is expected to remain the top bauxite supplier to China in 2019.

Fitch added that Rio Tinto’s US$2.6 billion Amrun bauxite project in Queensland is going to strengthen Australia’s position as the world’s top bauxite producer. Rio Tinto’s wider Weipa operation in Queensland is at the center of its Australia bauxite business. Rio started production at Amrun in December and it is ramping up the mine to reach full production rate of 22.8 million tonnes a year.

Another Australian bauxite miner Metallica Minerals’ Urquhart project in Far North Queensland is expected to come online in 2019. The project was granted mining lease in January 2018.  Metallica is currently constructing a haul road from the deposit to Cape York Peninsula. The Urquart bauxite mine is expected to produce 6.5 million tonnes of bauxite once the project is ready.

As the wet season in Australia from November 2018 to April 2019 comes to an end, Metro Mining Limited has reportedly geared up and resumed bauxite mining at the Bauxite Hills Project in Far North Queensland. According to Simon Finnis, the Managing Director and CEO of Metro Mining, the company is aiming to increase its annual production to 3.5 million wet metric tonnes (wmt) in 2019.

Metro Mining is also progressing well with refreshing the definitive feasibility study (DFS) for the stage II expansion to 6 million tonnes per annum, which is expected to be delivered in the second quarter of this year.

As Fitch’s report said, Australia’s growth is supported by a “steady project pipeline”. The overall YoY growth in Australia is projected at 15 per cent for 2019, up from four per cent in 2018.