17-1

BAUXITE

17 Bauxite

Bauxite is bas ical ly an a luminous rockcontaining hydrated aluminium oxide as the

main constituent and iron oxide, silica and titaniain varying proportions. Hydrated aluminiumoxides present in the bauxite ore are diaspore andboehmite, Al2O3.H2O (Al2O3-85%; Al-45%);gibbsite or hydrargillite, Al2O3.3 H2O (Al2O3-65.4%; Al-34.6%), and bauxite (containingcolloidal alumina hydrogel), Al2O3. 2H2O (Al2O3-73.9%; Al-39.1%). The iron oxide in bauxite ore ispresent as hematite or goethite, silica as clay andfree quartz, and titania as leucoxene or rutile.Bauxite is an essential ore of aluminium which isone of the most important non-ferrous metals usedin the modern industry. It is also an essential orefor refractory and chemical industries. Thecountry has abundant resources of bauxite whichcan meet both domestic and export demands.

RESOURCESResources of bauxite in the country as on

1.4.2005, as per UNFC system, are placed at3,290 million tonnes. These resources include899 million tonnes reserves and 2,390 milliontonnes remaining resources. By grades, about86% resources are of metallurgical grade. Theresources of refractory and chemical grades arelimited and together account for about 3 percent.By States, Orissa alone accounts for 55% ofcountry's resources of bauxite followed by AndhraPradesh (19%), Gujarat (6%), Chhattisgarh (5%),Madhya Pradesh (4%), Jharkhand (4%) andMaharashtra (3%). Major bauxite resources areconcentrated in the East Coast bauxite depositsin Orissa and Andhra Pradesh (Table - 1).

EXPLORATION & DEVELOPMENTDeta i l s o f exp lora t ion ca r r ied ou t fo r

bauxite by GSI, MECL, State Directorates ofGeology & Mining, Governments of Chhattisgarh,Maharashtra, Orissa, GMDC and NALCO, during2006-07 and 2007-08, are given in Table - 2 (A) andTable - 2 (B), respectively.

PRODUCTION, STOCKS & PRICESThe production of Bauxite at 23.1 million

tonnes in 2007-08 increased by 47% as comparedto 15.7 million tonnes in the previous year owingto burgeoning demand.

There were 209 reporting mines in 2007-08 asagainst 197 in the previous year. In all, 88 producersreported production of bauxite in 2007-08. Tenprincipal producers having 45 mines contributedabout 78 % of the total production. Fifty- sevenmajor mines, each producing more than 50 thousandtonnes per annum, together accounted for 93% ofall-India production.

The contribution of the Panchpatmali bauxite mineof NALCO was 20 % of the total production. The shareof 16 public sector mines was about 25 % of the totalproduction in 2007-08 as against 12 mines contributing31% in the previous year.

About 17 % of the total production of bauxite wasof grade 40-45% Al2O3, 26 % of below 40% Al2O3 grade,34% of other grades, 13 % of 45-50% Al2O3 grade, 6 %of cement grade, 3% in 50-55% Al2O3 grade and onepercent in 55% to below 60% Al2O3 grade. Nominalproduction of less than one percent was reported inRefractory and Abrasive grades during the year underreview.

17-2

BAUXITETa

ble

- 1 :

Res

erve

s/R

esou

rces

of

Bau

xite

as

on 1

.4.2

005

(By

Gra

des/

Stat

es)

(In

'000

ton

nes)

Res

erve

sR

emai

ning

re

sour

ces

Tota

lG

rade

/Sta

tePr

oved

Prob

able

Tota

lFe

asib

ility

Pre-

feas

ibili

tyM

easu

red

Indi

cate

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ferr

edR

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eTo

tal

reso

urce

sST

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1(A

)ST

D21

1ST

D33

1ST

D33

2ST

D33

3ST

D33

4(B

)(A

+B)

STD

121

STD

122

STD

221

STD

222

All

Indi

a :

Tota

l53

8945

2254

2413

5015

8993

8433

590

224

2401

7957

9561

3940

2210

8557

653

623

9043

232

8981

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y G

rade

s

Che

mic

al68

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199

928

-49

7823

423

8318

250

63-

1284

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767

R

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4945

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4

Che

mic

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efra

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m

ixed

with

oth

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2579

626

1974

5179

-18

5465

1854

216

8984

-12

973

1815

2

Met

allu

rgic

al-1

4265

0117

1854

8031

367

8668

335

4325

517

1499

4056

5928

9181

6146

4953

615

2511

522

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5124

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812

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328

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2338

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2353

861

716

863

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6729

2141

819

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3248

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6081

-18

6571

2275

88

Mix

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rade

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ng

ch

emic

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tory

1532

714

6193

8326

172

-13

969

4676

2320

2651

1029

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660

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194

505

344

1043

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4848

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3515

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Not

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199

548

251

--

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rh30

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4698

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6-

3675

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15 G

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1097

6492

3462

6-

1320

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-86

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214

-40

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2780

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--

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2318

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0-

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2025

Jh

arkh

and

1340

855

2812

722

3165

7-

566

5242

320

1739

761

827

536

8588

811

7545

K

arna

taka

4576

367

786

5729

-39

471

8037

829

4032

882

-43

774

4950

3

Ker

ala

55-

-55

--

-20

3792

8427

22-

1404

314

098

M

adhy

a Pr

ades

h13

530

1768

1540

1683

8-

8316

237

8920

5371

546

037

-11

7225

1340

64

Mah

aras

htra

2109

155

6812

499

3915

733

551

525

9838

831

8354

2185

2-

7248

511

1643

Oris

sa38

0363

1617

1165

924

6079

97-

-18

8630

3096

8415

2807

5491

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274

1808

271

R

ajas

than

--

--

--

--

-52

8-

528

528

Ta

mil

Nad

u40

29-

1865

5894

-19

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40-

1008

468

14-

2095

126

845

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ttar

Prad

esh

--

--

--

-10

390

500

8018

-18

908

1890

8

Fig

ures

rou

nded

off

.

17-3

BAUXITE

Table - 2 (A) : Details of Exploration Activities for Bauxite, 2006-07

Agency/ Location/ Mapping Drilling Sampling Remarks /State/ Area/ Scale Area No. of Metres (No.) Reserves/ResourcesDistrict Block (sq km) boreholes estimated

GSI, OrissaBonai- Kadalia Block - - - - - Estimated resources of 1.97Kendujhar million tonnes with an average

grade of Al2O3 48.34%,Fe2O3 19.44% , SiO2 4.04%TiO2 2.5%, LOI 24.54%for a strike length of 6 km

MECL, JharkhandGumla Lupungpat Block - - 2 3 5 - Exploratory drilling of two

Toposhee t boreholes indicated bauxiteNo. 73 A/8 thickness of 2-4 m with 50-52%

Al2O3, and 2-3% SiO2State Directorate ofGeology & Mining ,C h h a t t i s g a r h

Surguja Pa th ra i 1 :50000 2 . 0 4 2 4 6 2 6 7 0 1 1 6 6 Extension of bauxite depositSarbhanja towards west of Pathrai wasarea in found. Estimated 6 lakh tonnesMainpa t of metal grade bauxite resourcesPla teau in Pathrai block with Al2O3

content ranging from 42% to55%, the average being 47.50%.

Kabirdham Bandhtola 1 :50000 1 2 2 - - 488 Estimated 55 lakh tonnes ofArea 1 :4000 1 . 3 6 bauxite resources under inferred

category in Duldula and Akaljhariarea.

Kawardha & 1:50 ,000 1 7 7 0 - - 2 7 9 Over 25 pockets of bauxite ofPandaria Tehsils various dimensions were

identified with Al2O3 contentvarying between 35% to 60%.Estimated 110 Lakh tonnes metalgrade bauxite resources underinferred category.

Directorate ofGeology, Orissa

Koraput Tadapani 1 :2000 1 . 4 7 - - 1 8 6 Identified four laterite bearingnear plateau with elevation more thanRamgarh 1000 m above MSL. The main

plateau has bauxite bearingarea of 1.47 sq km with thicknessvarying from 2 m to 6 m.

Mysore Minerals Ltd,Bagalkote Paduvare - - - - - About 1.49 million tonnes of

Byndoor bauxite reserves estimated.

NALCOKoraput Pachpatmal i - - 4 0 9 8241 .5 10191 About 15 million tonnes of

Bauxite bauxite reserves estimated.Mine

B A L C OKabirdham Bodai - - 2 8 3 2121 .3 - At the end of 2006-07, total

Daldali reserves of bauxite estimated atBauxite Mine 6.3 million tonnes.

-do- Mainpa t - - - - - At the end of 2006-07 totalBauxite Mine reserves of bauxite estimated at

8.97 million tonnes.

17-4

BAUXITE

Table - 2 (B) : Details of Exploration Activities for Bauxite, 2007-08

Agency/ Location/ Mapping Drilling Sampling Remarks / State/ Area/ Scale Area No. of Metres (No.) Reserves/ResourcesDistrict Block (sq km) boreholes estimated

Directorate ofGeology, Orissa

Kandhamal Ushabali 1 :12500 2 7Plateau 1 :2000 1 . 8 1 - - 3 1 2 Bauxite in the plateau is pink

to cherry red and gibbsitic type.The thickness of bauxite

varies from 1m to 8.4 m.

State Directorateof Geology &Mining , Chhat t i sgarh

Surguja Pathara i 1 :50 ,000 2 . 0 8 1 9 9 2 0 7 8 . 3 5 7 5 8 Estimated 5 lakh tonnes of(west) area metal grade bauxite resources withof Mainpat 41 to 54.5% Al2O3 content.Pla teau

Kabirdham Bandhatola 1 :4000 0 . 3 4 - - 4 4 Few occurrences of bauxiteArea were noted in Duldula and

Akaljhari area.

- do - Pondi area1:50,000 151.55 - - 7 4 Pocket deposits of bauxitehaving 33 to 58.8% Al2O3 contentidentified.

State Directorateof Geology &Mining , Maharashtra

Kolhapur Ghungar Area 1 :25000 4 6 1 - - Estimated 2.8 million tonnesTeh. - Sahuwadi bauxite resources and 4 million

tonnes laterite resources.

Commiss ioner o fGeology & Mining ,G u j a r a t

Jamnagar Around village - - 1 9 411.95 - -Bhat ia ,Kalyanpur Taluk

NALCO

Koraput North Block - - - - 8 5 4 7 . 4 8 -Part II and CentralBlock Sector I ofPanchpatmal ibauxite deposit

17-5

BAUXITE

Production of Bauxite 1998-99 to 2007-08

0

4000

8000

12000

16000

20000

24000

1998

-99

1999

-00

2000

-01

2001

-02

2002

-03

2003

-04

2004

-05

2005

-06

2006

-07

2007

-08

Year

Prod

uctio

n (T

hous

and

tonn

es)

Gujarat emerged as the leading producingstate accounting for about 54% of the totalproduction. Next in the order of production wereOrissa (20%), Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra( 8 % each), Jharkhand (5%), Madhya Pradesh andTamil Nadu (2% each) and the remaining onepercent was produced by Goa and Karnataka(Tables - 3 to 6).

Mine-head stocks at the end of 2007- 08 were5.4 million tonnes as compared to 2.3 milliontonnes at the beginning of the year. About 94%of total stock was held in Gujarat at the end ofthe year. Out of the total closing stock 75 % wasof grade others

(Table - 7).

The average daily employment of labour inBauxite mines was 8,499 in 2007-08 as against8082 in the previous year. Domestic prices ofbauxite are furnished in Table - 8.

Table - 3 : Principal Producers of Bauxite2007-2008

Name & address of producer State District

National Aluminium Co. Ltd, Orissa KoraputNALCO Bhawan,P/1, Nayapali,Bhubaneswar –751 013,Orissa.

Hindalco Industries Ltd, Chhattisgarh SurgujaCentury Bhawan, Jharkhand GumlaDr. Annie Besant Road,Worli, LohardagaMumbai –400 025 Maharashtra KolhapurMaharashtra.

Prabhu Das Vithal Das Gujarat Jamnagar‘C/O Ashapura Minechem Ltd,Opp. Ashok Petrol Pump,Jamnagar Dwarka Highway,Jam-Khambhalia-361 305,Dist. Jamnagar, Gujarat.

Bombay Minerals Ltd, Gujarat JamnagarDwarka-Jamnagar Highway,Opposite Ashok Petrol Pump,Jam-khambhalia – 361 305,Dist. Jamnagar,Gujarat. (Contd.)

Table - 3 (Concld.)

Name & address of producer State District

Bharat Aluminium Co. Ltd. Chhattisgarh KabirdhamBALCO Nagar, Korba – 495 684,Chhattisgarh.

Mineral & Minerals Corporation, Gujarat JamnagarVazir fail. Jamnagar. 361 001,Gujarat.

Gujarat Mineral Dev.Corpn. Ltd. Gujarat KachchhKhanij Bhavan, 132. ft Ring Road.Vastrapur, Ahmedabad.

M/S Carborundum Universal Ltd, Gujarat GujaratJamnagar,Tiam House, 28 Rajaji Road,Chennai.

Smt.Pushpaben P. Makhecha, Gujarat JamnagarMayur Pankh Society, opp.Circuit Villa, Chopati Road,Porbandar – 360 575.

Kantilal M. Mehata Gujarat JamnagarC/o Ashapura Minechem Ltd,Jam – Khambhalia -361 305.

17-6

BAUXITE

Table - 4 : Production of Bauxite, 2005-06 to 2007-08

(By States )

(Quantity in tonnes; value in Rs. '000)

2 0 0 5 - 0 6 2 0 0 6 - 0 7 2007-08(p)

States

Quant i ty Value Quant i ty Value Quant i ty Value

India 12595803 2 9 3 3 2 3 0 15732535 3 8 4 7 8 0 2 23084677 5 2 5 9 3 8 0

Chhatt isgarh 1 3 3 2 1 6 5 3 8 6 0 8 1 1 5 9 2 7 4 5 5 4 8 6 8 7 1 7 4 7 0 9 8 5 2 5 6 3 2

Gujarat 3 1 1 4 3 1 4 5 1 4 8 4 4 5 9 1 4 7 9 2 1 0 1 9 5 1 4 12515094 2 2 7 8 0 8 4

Goa 25923 1 8 0 0 1 1 1 0 9 7 8 3 3 2 1 2 9 2 5 9 9 6 9 4

Jharkhand 1 5 0 8 3 7 0 3 5 7 2 9 5 1 4 2 8 1 5 4 4 3 0 0 4 7 1 2 4 3 1 3 2 3 7 9 6 9 0

Karnataka 72840 9 8 7 9 1 1 0 9 7 1 1 8 2 7 6 1 6 1 5 5 4 2 8 4 2 5

Kerala 9 9 1 5 1 5 9 0 - - - -

Madhya Pradesh 1 0 2 0 7 8 2 4 1 1 4 1 9 6 0 2 4 5 0 5 1 6 4 7 4 5 5 0 1 1 9 9 6 6

Maharashtra 1 2 5 5 4 4 0 4 7 0 5 4 2 1 3 6 4 5 3 9 4 4 1 7 5 8 1 7 8 5 3 3 0 5 3 1 8 3 0

Orissa 4 8 7 1 1 6 3 1 1 3 3 2 2 0 4 6 7 3 8 8 6 1 2 9 2 5 6 2 4 6 8 5 9 7 3 1 3 4 9 3 9 6

Tamil Nadu 3 0 3 5 9 5 3 3 8 6 5 3 4 0 3 2 7 3 8 1 1 0 3 4 2 6 8 7 3 6 6 6 3

17-7

BAUXITETa

ble

- 5 (A

) : G

rade

wis

e Pr

oduc

tion

of

Bau

xite

, 200

6-07

(By

Sect

ors,

Sta

tes

and

Dis

tric

ts)

(Qty

in

tonn

es;

valu

e in

Rs.

’00

0)

Prod

uctio

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s:A

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cont

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1709

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1-

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Jam

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1040

4037

114

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2855

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759

1388

0723

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8806

Juna

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1-

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Kac

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7-

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4386

30

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9-

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283

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--

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--

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--

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153

7-

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1055

2125

258

Saba

rkan

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1-

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Jhar

khan

d30

--

-89

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Gum

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--

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(Con

td.)

17-8

BAUXITE

Kar

nata

ka3

--

1456

117

633

4743

231

345

--

--

1109

7118

276

Bel

gaum

2-

--

--

7859

--

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7859

747

Sout

h K

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--

1456

117

633

4743

223

486

--

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1031

1217

529

Mad

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Prad

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39(5

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--

6772

064

646

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8-

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6024

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6

Jaba

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1-

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-91

0-

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-91

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Kat

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2838

478

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1-

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1857

2

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--

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832

9533

--

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4436

511

396

Satn

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(5)

--

-31

560

2616

825

974

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--

8370

220

319

Sidh

i3

--

--

--

--

--

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Mah

aras

htra

7-

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3279

8282

5183

2113

74-

--

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944

1758

Kol

hapu

r5

--

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717

8251

8321

1374

--

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1082

274

2385

27

Rat

nagi

ri2

--

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--

--

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2822

6520

3231

Ori

ssa

3(2)

--

-24

578

2252

246

2678

6-

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-46

7388

612

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2

Kor

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1-

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4623

278

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278

1264

313

Sund

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2457

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Fig

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ssoc

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.

Tabl

e -

5 (A

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)

Prod

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s:A

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cont

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e60

%55

%50

%45

%40

%

17-9

BAUXITE

Tabl

e - 5

(B) :

Gra

dew

ise

Prod

ucti

on o

f B

auxi

te, 2

007-

08(p

)(B

y Se

ctor

s, S

tate

s an

d D

istr

icts

)(Q

ty i

n to

nnes

; va

lue

in R

s. ’

000)

Prod

uctio

n b

y G

rade

s:A

l 203

cont

ent

For

use

ot

her

than

Alu

min

aFo

r u

se i

n A

lum

ina

& A

lum

iniu

m e

xtra

ctio

n&

Alu

min

ium

ext

ract

ion

Tota

lSt

ate/

Dis

tric

tN

o. o

fm

ines

60%

&55

%-

50%

-45

%-

40%

-B

elow

Cem

ent

Abr

asiv

eR

efra

ctor

yO

ther

sQ

uant

ityVa

lue

abov

e60

%55

%50

%45

%40

%

Indi

a20

9(5)

0-

3220

6872

2684

2886

345

3917

855

5943

539

1295

554

7961

010

6750

7810

272

2308

4677

5259

380

Publ

ic s

ecto

r16

-10

5148

5094

0322

2478

7299

549

5018

1-

--

-58

6020

516

7579

2

Priv

ate

sect

or19

3-

2169

2021

3281

2663

867

3844

860

9933

5812

9555

479

610

1067

5078

1027

217

2244

7235

8358

8

Chh

atti

sgar

h8

--

-15

6819

316

1523

1738

2-

--

-17

4709

852

5632

Kaw

ardh

a2

--

-48

0845

4777

--

--

-48

5622

9585

4

Surg

uja

6-

--

1087

348

1567

4617

382

--

--

1261

476

4297

78

Goa

2-

--

--

-12

9259

--

-12

9259

9694

Sout

h G

oa2

--

--

--

1292

59-

--

1292

5996

94

Guj

arat

109

-32

2068

7117

1865

123

8572

585

1154

922

7961

010

6750

7753

565

1251

5094

2278

084

Am

reli

1-

--

-11

1407

--

--

-11

1407

3565

0

Jam

naga

r89

-22

9553

--

2263

073

-10

3172

870

709

1067

5077

0052

911

4023

4219

5504

4

Juna

garh

1-

--

--

-50

364

--

-50

364

5036

Kac

hchh

11-

9251

571

1718

500

--

-89

01-

9636

8232

7025

4297

Khe

da1

--

--

1010

0-

--

--

1010

011

11

Porb

anda

r5

--

--

--

7283

0-

-43

400

1162

3026

641

Saba

rkan

tha

1-

--

151

1145

85-

--

-13

8130

5

Jhar

khan

d31

--

1051

4841

2875

0264

-76

89-

--

1243

132

3796

90

Gum

la18

--

-35

1727

3416

10-

--

--

6933

3723

2517

Loha

rdag

a13

--

1051

1324

0140

8654

-76

89-

--

5497

9514

7173

(Con

td.)

17-10

BAUXITE

Kar

nata

ka2

--

2561

537

7299

526

997

--

--

1615

5428

425

Bel

gaum

1-

--

--

4100

--

--

4100

427

Sout

h K

anna

d1

--

2561

537

7299

522

897

--

--

1574

5427

998

Mad

hya

Prad

esh

40(5

)-

--

6689

162

018

3419

5736

84-

--

4745

5011

9966

Jaba

lpur

1-

--

--

320

--

--

320

76

Kat

ni4(

1)-

--

-53

786

1486

5-

--

-68

651

2282

6

Rew

a7

--

-36

002

-10

447

2524

--

-48

973

1145

0

Satn

a24

(4)

--

-30

889

8232

6205

111

60-

--

1023

3223

309

Shah

dol

1-

--

--

2426

00-

--

-24

2600

6112

6

Sidh

i3

--

--

1167

4-

--

-11

674

1179

Mah

aras

htra

11-

-98

9070

4945

4499

1256

3876

--

-56

707

1785

330

5318

30

Kol

hapu

r6

--

9890

3969

7444

9912

5638

76-

--

-14

2065

230

2801

Rai

garh

4-

--

3000

--

--

-56

707

5970

794

50

Rat

nagi

ri1

--

-30

4971

--

--

--

3049

7121

9579

Ori

ssa

3-

--

-94

646

8502

7-

--

-46

8597

313

4939

6

Kor

aput

1-

--

--

4684

684

--

--

4684

684

1348

420

Sund

erga

rh2

--

--

946

343

--

--

1289

976

Tam

il N

adu

3-

--

-34

472

3082

15-

--

-34

2687

3666

3

Nam

akka

l2

--

--

7190

2054

49-

--

-21

2639

2132

4

Sale

m1

--

--

2728

210

2766

--

--

1300

4815

339

Fig

ures

in

pare

nthe

ses

indi

cate

num

ber

of a

ssoc

iate

d m

ines

.

Tabl

e -

5 (B

) (

Con

cld.

)

Prod

uctio

n b

y G

rade

s:A

l 203

cont

ent

For

use

ot

her

than

Alu

min

aFo

r u

se i

n A

lum

ina

& A

lum

iniu

m e

xtra

ctio

n&

Alu

min

ium

ext

ract

ion

Tota

lSt

ate/

Dis

tric

tN

o. o

fm

ines

60%

&55

%-

50%

-45

%-

40%

-B

elow

Cem

ent

Abr

asiv

eR

efra

ctor

yO

ther

sQ

uant

ityVa

lue

abov

e60

%55

%50

%45

%40

%

17-11

BAUXITE

Table - 6 : Production of Bauxite, 2006-07and 2007-08(By Frequency Groups)

(Quantity in tonnes)

No. of mines Production Percentage to Cumulativetotal production percentage

Production group2 0 0 6 - 0 7 2 0 0 7 - 0 8 2 0 0 6 - 0 7 2 0 0 7 - 0 8 2 0 0 6 - 0 7 2 0 0 7 - 0 8 2 0 0 6 - 0 7 2 0 0 7 - 0 8

Total 197(7 ) 209(5 ) 15732535 23084671 1 0 0 1 0 0 - -

Upto 1000 50(3) 51(2) 10393 14948 0 . 0 7 0 . 0 6 0 . 0 7 0 . 0 6

1001 - 3000 16(2) 20(1) 35290 34027 0 . 2 2 0 . 1 5 0 . 2 9 0 . 2 1

3001 - 5000 1 0 9 36670 35670 0 . 2 3 0 . 1 6 0 . 5 2 0 . 3 7

5001 - 10000 28(1) 2 1 2 0 4 1 9 9 1 5 7 6 6 4 1 . 3 0 0 . 6 8 1 . 8 2 1 . 0 5

10001 - 25000 33(1) 25(2) 5 4 1 7 4 6 4 3 1 8 3 0 3 . 4 4 1 . 8 7 5 . 2 6 2 . 9 2

25001 - 50000 2 2 2 6 7 4 2 1 6 7 9 2 5 8 9 7 4 . 7 2 4 . 0 1 9 . 9 8 6 . 9 3

50001 and above 3 8 5 7 14162070 21484635 90 .02 93 .07 100 .00 100 .00

Figures in parentheses indicate the number of associated mines.

Table -7 (A) : Mine-head Stocks of Bauxite at the Beginning of the Year, 2007-08(By States & Grades)

(In tonnes)

Stocks by Grades : AL2O3 Content For use other than Alumina &For use in Alumina & Aluminium metal extraction Aluminium metal extraction

State Total60% & 55% - 50% - 45% - 40% - Below Cement Abrasive Refractory Othersabove 60% 55% 50% 45% 40%

India - 102044 162581 169855 737938 94508 182790 15172 17908 822519 2305315

Chhattisgarh - - - 7479 3685 3443 99 - - - 14706

Goa - - - - - - 34282 - - - 34282

Gujarat - 102044 157955 58742 619266 2670 148292 15172 16835 822519 1943495

Jharkhand - - 3792 - 73947 6193 117 - - - 84049

Karnataka - - - - - 14961 - - - - 14961

Kerala - - - - - 71 - - - - 71

Madhya Pradesh - - 3190 1180 14765 23321 - - 1073 - 43529

Maharashtra - - 1436 74698 4565 19488 - - - - 100187

Orissa - - - 23964 13925 8568 - - - - 46457

Tamil Nadu - - - - 7785 15793 - - - - 23578

17-12

BAUXITE

Table - 8 : Prices of Bauxite, 2005-06 to 2007-08(Domestic Markets)

(In Rs. per tonne)

Grade Marke t 2 0 0 5 - 0 6 2 0 0 6 - 0 7 2007-08(p)

40% to 45% Ex-mine Palakhada (Gujarat) 2 0 0 2 0 0 2 5 5

45% to 50% Ex-mine Palakhada (Gujarat) 2 0 0 2 0 0 2 5 5

Non-p lan t Ex-mine Vastrapur (Gujarat) 3 6 5 3 6 5 3 6 5

Metal Grade Ex-mine Lohardaga (Jharkhand) 2 4 5 349 .25 349 .25

Metal Grade Ex-mine Lohardaga (Jharkhand) 2 0 0 2 0 0 2 0 0

Grade (Al2O3 45% to 50%) Ex-mine Lohardaga (Jharkhand) 254 .48 349 .25 -

Grade (Al2O3 40% to 45%) Ex-mine Lohardaga (Jharkhand) - - 484 .81

Metal Grade Ex-mine Barima Mainpat (Chhattisgarh) 173 .25 - 263 .12

42-45% Al2O3 f.o.r. Barbil (Orissa) 501 533 -

Table -7 (B) : Mine-head Stocks of Bauxite at the end of the Year, 2007-08 (p)(By States & Grades)

(In tonnes)

Stocks by Grades : AL2O3 Content for use in For use other than Alumina &Alumina & Aluminium metal extraction Aluminium metal extraction

State Total55% - 50% - 45% - 40% - Below Cement Abrasive Refractory Others60% 55% 50% 45% 40%

India 90499 358403 77180 131940 86437 587109 2482 11150 4021593 5366793

Chhattisgarh - - 1758 1173 - - - - - 2931

Gujarat 90499 357423 - 54498 53 585508 2482 11150 3941661 5043274

Jharkhand - - 8054 22557 - - - - - 30611

Karnataka - - 9716 26422 7630 - - - - 43768

Kerala - - - - 71 - - - - 71

Madhya Pradesh - - 201 10080 59438 1601 - - - 71320

Maharashtra - 980 34244 2837 235 - - - 79932 118228

Orissa - - 23207 6552 8632 - - - - 38391

Tamil Nadu - - - 7821 10378 - - - - 18199

17-13

BAUXITE

MINING & TRANSPORTThe mining of bauxite is carried out by

opencast method. The mines are classified in thefollowing three categories depending upon thelevel of mechanisation.

(i) Manually-operated mines;(ii) Semi-mechanised mines;(iii) Mechanised mines.

Manually-operated MinesMany bauxite mines are small, producing less

than 25,000 tpy. The entire work of overburdenremoval, extraction of bauxite and loading ofbauxite in trucks is carried out manually and thebauxite is transported to respective railway sidingor plants by road.

Semi-mechanised MinesIn semi-mechanised mines, mining operations

are carried out by Jackhammer dril l ing andnormally ANFO mixture is used as an explosivefor blasting in mineralised zone as well as inoverburden, if required. Loading of mineral totrucks or dumpers is done by payloaders ormanually. Since bauxite occurs as small lenses orpockets of boulders or as segregations in murrumand laterite, it is difficult to mechanise the miningoperations.

Mechanised MinesMechanised mining operations are carried out

in a few captive mines of the alumina/aluminiumplants. In these mines, use of compressed-airdrills for drilling blastholes is made. Sometimes,compressed-air jackhammer drills are also used fordrilling blastholes for secondary blasting ofboulders and also in toe drilling in irregularbauxite faces which result due to improperfragmentation of bauxite. The blasted overburden/ore mate r ia l s a re handled and t ranspor tedseparately by using shovels or excavators andtrucks/dumpers. Separate benches are maintainedfor the overburden and ores. The height ofbenches in ore varies from 1.5 to 7.5 m. Hindalcohas done away with drilling and blasting at its

Durgmanwadi mines in Maharashtra by usingstate-of-the-art ripper dozer which is regarded as"Miner's Plough". A ripper dozer silently ploughsthe mine surface to extract the mineral. It hastotally eliminated the ground vibrations and airpollution normally caused by dust, gases andnoise.

In Bagru Hill mines of Hindalco in Jharkhand,the blasted bauxite is transported with the helpof dumpers to the crusher. The 4-inch crushedbauxite is then transported to Lohardaga railwaystation by a monocable aerial ropeway.

BALCO also has monocable ropeway fortransporting bauxite from its captive mines to thealumina plant at Korba in Chhattisgarh.

Computerised mine planning, use of mobilecrusher, simultaneous land reclamation, restrictingoperations to small portions of mining area at atime, etc. have greatly helped in conserving energyand faster land rehabilitation.

In NALCO, the mechanised 'Trenchmethod ' of opencast mining is adopted. Inthis method, a pilot trench is driven throughthe mid deposi t and several other t renchesare opened on both the sides in a staggeredpattern exposing and creating more numberof work ing f ron ts . The fe r t i l e top so i l i spreserved by dozing aside and hard laterite of3-m th ickness i s d r i l l ed and b las ted . Theoverburden is removed using higher capacitymobile equipment like dumpers and wheel loadersto expose the bauxite bed.

The top slice of bauxite, having 8-10 mthickness, is loosened by drilling and blasting andthe bauxite of 3-4 m thickness at the bottomcontact is removed selectively using backhoeshovels. The mine of 2.4 million tpy bauxiteproduc t ion capac i ty has , a f te r expans ion ,achieved overall capacity of 4.8 million tonnes.Accordingly, higher capacity mobile equipmentlike dumpers, wheel loaders, ripper dozers andfaster drills have been introduced. NALCO isplanning further to increase bauxite miningcapacity to 6.3 million tonnes under 2nd phaseexpansion.

17-14

BAUXITE

CONSUMPTIONIn 2007-08, reported consumption of bauxite

increased to 10.63 million tonnes from 10.38 milliontonnes in the previous year. Alumina/aluminiumindustry was the principal consumer of bauxite,accounting for 91% consumption in 2007-08 followedby cement (6%) and refractory (2%) (Table -9).

Gujarat was the main supplier of chemical,abrasive and refractory grade bauxite. Aluminaplants draw supplies mostly from their captivemines as given in Table - 10.

Table - 9 : Reported Consumption of Bauxite*, 2005-06 to 2007-08(By Industries)

(In tonnes)

Industry 2005-06 (R) 2006-07 2007-08 (p)

All Industr ies 11301100 10382100 10627600

Abrasives 4 2 0 0 (5 ) 4 2 0 0 (5 ) 4 2 0 0 (5 )

Alumina1/ 10469700 (4 ) 9 3 7 0 3 0 0 (4 ) 9 6 8 8 2 0 0 (4 )

Cement 5 1 6 4 0 0 ( 2 4 ) 6 9 3 4 0 0 ( 2 4 ) 6 1 4 2 0 0 ( 2 4 )

Ceramic 1 0 0 (3 ) 1 0 0 (3 ) 1 0 0 (3 )

Chemical 6 8 0 0 (3 ) 6 8 0 0 (3 ) 6 5 0 0 (3 )

Ferro-alloys 4 9 0 0 (3 ) 7 6 0 0 (3 ) 13500 (3 )

Fertilizer 18200 (2 ) 18200 (2 ) 18200 (2 )

Iron & steel 1 2 0 0 (7 ) 1 2 0 0 (7 ) 1 2 0 0 (7 )

Refractory 2/ 2 7 9 6 0 0 ( 5 6 ) 2 8 0 3 0 0 ( 5 8 ) 2 8 1 5 0 0 ( 5 8 )

Figures rounded off. Data collected on non-statutory basis.Figures in parentheses denote the number of units in organised sector reporting consumption.

* Exc ludes indus t r ia l end-use consumpt ion o f la te r i t e wh ich was 1 ,975 ,411 tonnes , 2 ,183 ,316 tonnes and2,429,372 tonnes during 2005-06, 2006-07 and 2007-08, respectively.

1 / Includes about 6,768 thousand tonnes, 8,453 thousand tonnes and 9,504 thousand tonnes bauxite equivalent ofa lumina es t imated to have been consumed in the product ion o f a luminium meta l in 2005-06 , 2006-07 and2007-08, respectively.

2 / Includes consumption of calcined bauxite.

USES & SPECIFICATIONSAluminium industry normally uses bauxite

containing minimum 58% Al2O3. However,slightly inferior grades with a suitable blend arealso used, depending upon other characteristics,such as solubility in caustic soda and absence ofsilica. The IS : 5953-1985 (Reaffirmed 2003)specifications for metallurgical grade bauxite aregiven in Table-11.

17-15

BAUXITE

Table - 11 : Specifications for Metallurgical Grade Bauxite(IS : 5953-1985; Reaffirmed 2003)

( In % by weight)

Constituent Gr. I Gr. II *(essentially gibbsite or trihydrate) (mixture of gibbsite, boehmite and

diaspore or trihydrate & monohydrate)

Total Al2O3, min 4 0 4 7Total available alumina, min 3 6 4 3Total SiO 2, max 4 4Module Al2O3/SiO 2, min 1 2 1 2Fe2O3 / TiO2, max 3 0 3 0P2O5, max 0 . 2 0 0 . 2 0V2O5, max 0 . 2 0 0 . 2 0Loss on ignition at 1100oC 2 0 2 0

* Normally, 1 to 20% diaspore and 5 to 7% boehmite.

Table - 10 : Domestic Sources of Supplies of Bauxite to Alumina Plants

Producer P lan t Source of supply

NALCO Damanjodi, Koraput (Orissa) Captive mines at Panchpatmali Hills, Koraput dist., Orissa.

BALCO Korba (Chhattisgarh) Captive mines in Surguja & Bodai-Daldali in Kawardha (Kabirdham) districts Chhattisgarh.

Hindalco Renukoot (Uttar Pradesh) Captive mines in Shahdol dist., Madhya Pradesh, Gumla andLohardaga dist., Jharkhand and Surguja dist. in Chhattisgarhand other suppliers in Orissa, Madhya Pradesh and Jharkhand;Katni Bauxite Pvt. Ltd, Satna, Laxmidasji Ramji, Katni,Minerals & Minerals Corp., Gujarat.

Belgaum (Karnataka) Captive mines in Chandgad and Durgmanwadi, KolhapurMuri, Ranchi (Jharkhand) dist. Maharashtra and Lohardaga dist., Jharkhand.

MALCO Mettur (Tamil Nadu) Captive mines at Yercaud and Kolli, Salem dist. Tamil Nadu.

In steel industry, bauxite is used as a slagcorrector in place of fluorspar. Steel industryconsumes bauxite, containing 45 to 54% Al2O3 and5% SiO2 (max). Size preference is 25 to 125 mmwith a tolerance of 5% (max) for -25 mm and+100 mm fractions.

The BIS has p resc r ibed the fo l lowingspecifications for bauxite in refractory industry(Table-12).

Table - 12 : IS Specifications of Bauxite forRefractory Industry

(IS : 10817-1984; Reaffirmed 2000)

Const i tuent P e r c e n t

Al2O3 58 minFe2O3 3 maxTiO 2 3 maxCaO 0.5 to 0.6LOI 27 to 30

The refractory manufacturers use bauxite ofthe following specifications:

Specifications of Bauxite used byRefractory Industry

Const i tuent P e r c e n t

Al2O3 55-60

Fe2O3 4 - 6

TiO 2 5 - 8

SiO2 2

Others 25 -40

PCE 33-36 (Ortan)

The IS spec i f ica t ions o f bauxi te fo rconsumption in chemical and petroleum industriesare given in Table - 13.

17-16

BAUXITE

Table - 13 : IS Specifications of Bauxite forChemical and Petroleum Industries

(IS : 3605-1984; Reaffirmed 2003)

Constituent Requirement

Alumina (as Al2O3), % by mass, min 58.0

Silica (as SiO2), % by mass, max 3.0

Iron oxide (as Fe2O3), % by mass, max 2.0

Titania (as TiO2), % by mass, max 4.0

Phosphorus pentoxide (as P2O5), % by mass, max 0.3

Manganese dioxide (as MnO), % by mass, max 0.1

Calcium and magnesium (as CaO), % by mass, max 2.0

Loss on ignition, % by mass, max 32.0

Apart from the chemical specifications, thephysical requirements are that the material passingthrough 90-micron IS sieve but retained on212-micron IS sieve should be 90% max, thatpassing through 300-micron IS sieve shall be 1%by mass max and that passing through 212- micronIS sieve but retained on 300-micron IS sieve shouldbe 10% maximum.

SUBSTITUTIONThere i s no subs t i tu te o f bauxi te fo r

aluminium metal extraction on a large scale.However, calcined clay can be substituted forrefractory bauxite but only with reduction in lengthof time and stock resistance. Sillimanite, alumina,silicon carbide, magnesite-chromite and carbon-magnesite refractories are the alternatives forhigh-alumina material but at higher cost. Siliconcarbide and diamonds can substitute for fusedaluminium oxide in abrasive use but again at highercost. Synthetic mullite substitutes for bauxite-based refractories. Silicon carbide and alumina-zirconia are costlier substitutes for bauxite-basedabrasives.

TRADE POLICYAs per the Fore ign Trade Pol icy fo r

2004-2009, and policy on export and importeffective from 01.04.2008, exports and imports ofbauxite are permitted freely.

WORLD REVIEWThe bauxite reserve base is estimated at

32,000 million tonnes, located mainly in Guinea(27%), Australia (25%), Brazil and Jamaica (8%each), China (7%) and India (4%). Countrywisereserve base of bauxite is given in Table - 14.

The wor ld p roduc t ion of bauxi te wasestimated at 213 million tonnes in 2007. Australiacontinued to be the major producer accountingfor 29% share in total production, followed byBrazil (12%), India (11%), China (10%), Guinea(9%), and Jamaica (7%) (Table -15).

Table - 14 : World Resources of Bauxite(By Principal Countries)

(In '000 tonnes)

Count ry Reserve base

World : Total 32000000

Australia 7 9 0 0 0 0 0

Brazil 2 5 0 0 0 0 0

China 2 3 0 0 0 0 0

Greece 6 5 0 0 0 0

Guinea 8 6 0 0 0 0 0

Guyana 9 0 0 0 0 0

India* 1 4 0 0 0 0 0

Jamaica 2 5 0 0 0 0 0

Kazakhstan 4 5 0 0 0 0

Russia 2 5 0 0 0 0

Suriname 6 0 0 0 0 0

USA 40000

Venezuela 3 5 0 0 0 0

Other countries 4 0 0 0 0 0 0

Source: Mineral Commodity Summaries, 2008.* However, the total resources of bauxite as per UNFC

System as on 01.04.2005 are estimated at 3,290million tonnes.

17-17

BAUXITE

Table - 15 : World Production of Bauxite(By Principal Countries)

(In '000 tonnes)

Count ry 2 0 0 5 2 0 0 6 2 0 0 7

World: Total 1 7 8 0 0 0 1 9 3 0 0 0 2 1 3 0 0 0Australia 59959 61781 62428

Brazil 22365 23236 25461

China 17408 18982 21600(e)

Greece 2 4 4 1 2 1 6 3 2220(e)

Guinea 19237 18184 18519

Guyana 1 6 9 4 1 4 7 9 2 2 4 9

India* 12596 15661 22999

Jamaica 14116 14865 14568

Kazakhstan 4 8 1 5 4 8 8 4 4 9 6 3

Russia 6 4 0 9 6 3 9 9 6 0 5 4

Suriname 4 7 5 7 4 9 4 5 5 2 7 3

Venezuela 5 9 0 0 5 9 2 8 5000(e)

Other countries 6 3 0 3 14493 21666

Source: World Mineral production, 2003-2007.* India's production of bauxite during 2005-06, 2006-07 and 2007-08 was 12,596 thousand tonnes, 15,733

thousand tonnes and 23,085 thousand tonnes, respectively.

AustraliaSince over three decades, Australia continued

to be the leader in the production of bauxitewi th 61.8 mi l l ion tonnes product ion. Theproduction was mainly from five mines namelyHunt ly, Weipa , Gove , Wi l lowdale and Mt .Saddleback. Huntly was the single largest minein the world with 18 million tonnes production in2006. The expansion of Huntly and Weipa hasresulted in increase in Australian production. TheGovernment of Queensland chose AluminiumCorporatin of China Ltd (Chalco) to develop 650million tonnes Aurukun bauxite deposit on CapeYork Peninsula. The production from this depositis expected in 2011. Australia has six aluminarefineries and six aluminium smelters.

BrazilBrazil, the second largest producer of bauxite,

recorded production at about 23.8 million tonnesin 2006. The Trombetas mine in Amazonasaccounted for about 81% of the total productionof Mineracao Rio do Norte (MRN) which is a jointventure company. The production is expected toincrease significantly in the next few years as a

number of new mine project is underway. TheParagominas bauxite mine capacity will be raisedto 9.9 million tonnes per year by 2008. The minewill supply feed for expansion of Alunorte'salumina refinery.

ChinaAlmost all production of bauxite came from

mines owned and operated by China AluminiumCorp. ( Chalco). The majority of bauxite depositsare diasporic in nature with high silica to aluminaratios. Chinese refineries predominantly use acombined Bayer-Sinter process. Chalco intendsto add 3-5 million tonnes per year alumina capacityby 2010.

GuineaGuinea is the thi rd largest producer of

bauxite.There are three principal producers CBG,ACG and CBK. The Government has formedAlumina Co. of Guinea (ACG) to operate the 2.3million tpy Fria bauxite mine captive to its aluminarefinery. The Russian Aluminium CompanyRUSAL took a majority stake in ACG and operatesthe Fria Kimbo bauxite mine. Boke' Complex is the

17-18

BAUXITE

larges t min ing a rea p roduc ing about71% of country's output and Mt. Sangaredi is thelargest mine in the Boke' Complex. The Govermentof Guinea reached an agreement with Halco toallow Global Alumina access to concessions inBoke region. Bauxite will be supplied to its 3million tonnes per year greenfield alumina refinery.

JamaicaJamaica reported the highest production at

about 15 million tonnes of bauxite in 32 years.Kaiser Jamaica Bauxite Co (KJBC) jointly ownedby Kaiser Aluminium and Government of Jamaica,operates its bauxite mine on the North Coast. Themine has a capacity of 4.5 million tonnes bauxiteper annum. Mines expansion is gonig on andoutput is expected to increase in the next fewyears.

VenenzuelaThe entire production at about 5.5 million

tonnes comes from CVG Bauxilum's Los Pijiguaosmining complex.

Table - 16 : Exports of Bauxite(By Countries)

2006-07 2007-08Country

Qty Value Qty Value(t) (Rs.’000) (t) (Rs.’000)

All Countries 5073894 7422155 7120899 11792383

China 1280489 1884537 3640291 5850423

Chinese Taipei/Taiwan 713095 1218839 1082521 2155556

Georgia 382581 432061 635589 1019304

UAE 291208 274975 424587 486931

Saudi Arabia 586840 1155078 385243 470981

Bangladesh 140491 188375 189751 450944

Kuwait 133071 165564 93684 258668

Japan 189458 311913 100160 152505

Romania 207662 270729 2000 19470

Unspecified 266350 402114 361294 522204

Other countries 882649 1117970 205779 405397

Table - 17 : Imports of Bauxite(By Countries)

2006-07 2007-08Country

Qty Value Qty Value(t) (Rs.’000) (t) (Rs.’000)

All Countries 47138 403707 122911 873447China 46777 391134 80462 733964Australia - - 41681 131847Netherlands 178 3185 180 3473Pakistan - - 424 2095Germany - - 97 855Guyana - - 21 336France - - 24 318UK - - 19 305USA 182 9339 2 212Japan - - 1 37Other countries 1 49 ++ 5

FUTURE OUTLOOKThe country has large resources of bauxite,

occupying the sixth place in the world total resources.The resources of metallurgical grade bauxite are quiteadequate while those of the chemical and refractorygrade bauxite are relatively limited considering thefuture requirements. With the abundance of bauxiteresources, Eastern Ghat region of Orissa and AndhraPradesh are likely to be the hubs for bauxite miningactivities in future. In view of the abundance ofmetallurgical grade resources, there is scope forincreasing mining of bauxite of this grade withimplementation of Mega Projects. The refractory andchemical grade bauxite can be preserved for future use.

FOREIGN TRADEExports

Exports of bauxite increased substantially to 7.12million tonnes in 2007-08 from 5.07 million tonnes in2006-07. Exports were mainly to China (51%)followed by Chinese Taipei/Taiwan (15%), Georgia(9%) UAE (6%) and Saudi Arabia (5%) (Table - 16).

ImportsIn 2007-08, imports of bauxite also increased

substantially to 122,911 tonnes from 47,138 tonnesin the previous year. Imports were mostly fromChina and Australia (Table - 17).