Bauxite and Alumina Mining
Bauxite ore with high concentrations of aluminium oxides (65% or greater) can only be economically mined when located near tropical regions both sides of the Equator; gibbsite and boehmite deposits typically fall in these locations while diaspore is predominantly located in northern regions. The Bayer process entails four steps: digestion, clarification, precipitation and calcination. Energy usage results for these processes have been displayed below using LCA simulations using gibbsite and boehmite-diaspore bauxite as examples. Digestion Aluminum is the third most abundant element on Earth’s crust and its main source for production is bauxite (Al2O3), mined from open pit mines and transported to refineries where it is processed into aluminum using […]
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