China Has 3.87 billion Tons of Proven Reserves of Bauxite

According to 2012 China Mineral Resources Report released recently at China Mining 2012,as of the end of 2011, China has 3.87 billion tons of proven reserves of bauxite.

The report shows that China still depends heavily on imported bauxite. In 2011, China imported 44.84 million tons of bauxite, with a foreign dependence of 61.5%. It is learned that although China has 3.87 billion tons of proven reserves of bauxite, bauxite is still in tight supply in this country. In Henan Province, which is a gathering area for Chinese aluminum oxide enterprises, although eight large aluminum oxide enterprises all have their respective ore supply, some of them need to purchase ore locally. Currently, aluminum oxide enterprises based in Henan are purchasing ore from Shanxi, Guangxi and other areas to supplement the supply of their own mines. Meanwhile, bauxite grade is declining.

In China, the majority of bauxite reserves are monohydrate bauxite ore with high aluminum and silicon concentrations. With such bauxite,aluminum oxide entails high smelting cost than Bayer process, which is used for imported ore.Furthermore, despite abundant reserves of bauxite, due to production cost, transportation conditions and environmental issues, many mines are still awaiting development. The contradiction between the increased production capacity of aluminum oxide and bauxite supply in China will intensify. To lower the cost of bauxite mining and improve processing of aluminum oxide becomes the first order of business for aluminum oxide enterprises.