Review of Australian Bauxite Deposits: ABSTRACT

Abstract

Although bauxite in Australia has been known since the late 1800s, no large-scale mining operation had been set up prior to 1945. With the establishment of the Australian Aluminium Commission in 1945 the first systematic survey of Australian bauxite reserves commenced and by the end of 1953 the known reserves were about 21 million tons and a new deposit, had been discovered, but reserves had not been assessed. With the discovery in 1955 of the large reserves of bauxite at Weipa, world attention became focused on Australia as a potential major source of bauxite and major aluminum companies commenced exploration activities. A total of 21 deposits now are known of which at least 12 are of sufficient size to support large-scale mining operations. Total known reserves are about 4,600 million tons. Of this total 3,200 million tons are contained in three major deposits, Weipa, Darling Range, and Gove, in which mining operations are being carried out. The bauxite deposits are part of a widespread Tertiary laterite with the major deposits mainly in the north and west coastal regions. The bauxite is developed on different rock types including sedimentary rocks, basalts, and schists and has resulted from in situ weathering under tropical and subtropical climatic conditions. Since 1955 the bauxite mining industry in Australia has grown from less than 1 million tons in 1966 to 19 million tons in 1973. The integrated aluminum industry growth has been no less spectacular from a total of 12,000 tons of primary metal in 1967 to a total of 232,000 tons at the end of 1972. Australia now has joined the Caribbean area and West Africa as a major world source of bauxite. The Australian reserves, particularly the large deposits at Weipa, are strategically placed to serve the long-term need of the Pacific area, including Japan and the developing countries of southeast Asia. End_of_Article - Last_Page 1436------------