Bauxite mining in Australia

Bauxite mining in Australia
Mining equipment at Weipa bauxite mine
Location
CountryAustralia
Production
CommodityBauxite
Production102 million tonnes
Value$3.3 billion AUD
Year2018-19[1]

Bauxite mining in Australia is an economically significant industry both for Australia and globally.[2] The industry focuses on the mining of bauxite, the primary raw material for alumina and aluminium.[3] Australia is the world's largest bauxite producer, producing almost a third of global bauxite.[2]

Bauxite is mined in Australia using open-cut mining, which suits the relatively shallow bauxite deposits located mostly in Western Australia and Queensland.[2][4] Mined bauxite is either exported or refined domestically into alumina. The large majority of domestic bauxite and alumina is exported to China.[5] Australia produced approximately 102 million tonnes of bauxite in the 2018-19 year from seven main bauxite mines generating about $3.3 billion AUD of revenue.[1] Sustainable bauxite mining in Australia is regulated under the Sustainable Bauxite Mining Guidelines.[6]

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  5. ^ Mitchell, D., & Prakash, S. (2018). Freightline 7 – Australian aluminium industry freight transport. Retrieved from https://www.bitre.gov.au/sites/default/files/Freightline_07.pdf
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