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The other large producer of bauxite, alumina and
aluminium is United States-based Alcoa Inc. They made
their own (hostile) bid for Alcan Inc. in 2007, but were
outbid by Rio Tinto. However, Alcoa retain a top three
position in each commodity.
In May 2007, Alcoa’s Technology Delivery Group revealed
a new technology that is designed to substantially reduce
the carbon footprint of the global aluminium industry. The
system mixes carbon dioxide with bauxite residue from the
refinery process thus preventing it from being released into
the atmosphere. The process would also reduce the pH of
the residue and allow it to be re-used as road filler.
Although still at the pilot stage at a single plant in Western
Australia, Alcoa intends to expand this new technology to
all of its Australian operations, thus saving up to 300 000
tonnes per year of carbon dioxide emissions (Mining
Journal, 2007a).
Production at some Chinese alumina refineries had to be cut
back during the middle of the year partly as a result of
insufficient supplies of bauxite. Although China is seeking to
increase production of domestic bauxite it is still heavily
dependent on imports, most of which come from Indonesia.
Alumina refinery capacity in China is increasing more quickly
than Indonesian bauxite production. Many refinery operators
claimed the production cuts were also to support prices.
However, in many countries plans are underway to increase
alumina refinery capacity (Teo, 2007a).
The situation for Chinese refineries appeared to be made
worse in August when some bauxite mines in west Bintan, one
of Indonesia’s two main bauxite mining areas, had their
licences revoked. However, the companies involved reported
their supplies were not affected (Teo, 2007b).
Production at the Jamalco alumina refinery in Jamaica was
halted in August due to damage caused by Hurricane Dean.
The refinery was restarted later in the year, but damage to port
facilities caused problems in supplying aluminium smelters,
such as Ormet’s plant in Hannibal, Ohio, which had to delay
the restart of one of its potlines (Mining Journal, 2007b; Metal
Bulletin, 2007).
4
Work began in November for a new US$5.6 million aluminium
smelter in Qatar. The 585 000 tonnes per year capacity plant is a
joint venture between Norsk Hydro and Qatar Petroleum, and will
be the largest greenfield smelter ever built in one step (Teo,
2007c).
Selected bibliography
BRAY, E L. 2008. Aluminum. 22–23 in Mineral Commodity
Summaries 2008. U.S. Geological Survey, p199.
INTERNATIONAL ALUMINIUM INSTITUTE. 2007. About
aluminium [online] [cited January 2008] Available from
http://www.world-aluminium.org
METAL BULLETIN. 2007. Ormet delays restart of sixth
Hannibal potline as supplies are hit. Metal Bulletin. 3
September 2007 p8.
METAL BULLETIN. 2008. MB Prices Non Ferrous [online].
Metal Bulletin. [cited January 2008] Available from
http://www1.metalbulletin.com
MINING JOURNAL. 2007a. Alcoa revolutionises industry CO2 emissions. Mining Journal. 4 May 2007 p8.
MINING JOURNAL. 2007b. Jamaican storm hits aluminium.
Mining Journal. 24 August 2007 p5.
RIO TINTO ALCAN. 2007. [cited January 2008] Available
from http://www.riotinto.com/riotintoalcan
TEO, V. 2007a. Chinese alumina refineries hit by bauxite
shortage. Metal Bulletin. 4 June 2007, p9.
TEO, V. 2007b. Indonesia orders bauxite mining halt in
Bintan. Metal Bulletin. 20 August 2007, p9.
TEO, V. 2007c. Norsk Hydro breaks ground in Qatar.
Metal Bulletin. 26 November 2007, p9.
TRAN, A. 2007a. Alumina: fused and abused. Industrial
Minerals. July, p37.
TRAN, A. 2007b. Quest for calcined bauxite. Industrial
Minerals. March, p32.
UNITED COMPANY RUSAL. 2007. [cited January 2008]
Available from http://www.rusal.com