Bauxite resources’ maiden shipment of bauxite from its Darling Ranges project in Western Australia has set sail for China today

Today’s shipment also represents the first commercial export of bauxite from WA.

“Bauxite Resources’ staff have worked tirelessly to take advantage of an opportunity in the global bauxite market to introduce Darling Range bauxite to the rapidly expanding Chinese market,” Bauxite Resources’ managing director Daniel Tenardi said.

“This market has only recently become aware of the attributes and benefits of Darling Range bauxite with its low-reactive silica, negligible boehmite and gibbsitic nature a major factor in making the four existing Darling Range refineries amongst the most profitable and lowest-cost operations in the world.”

According to the company, the grade and characteristics of the bauxite shipment were in excess of the contractual specifications.

The first shipment contained an average reactive silica grade of less than 2.5% with total alumina averaging over 50%.

Meanwhile, Bauxite Resources is conducting studies to improve the quality of its bauxite for DSO operations.

The next step is to introduce beneficiation to improve the quality of its bauxite to allow the end-user refineries to further reduce waste and operating costs.