Tag: Rio Tinto Amrun

An operator stands next to plant machinery on a bauxite plateau at Rio’s Amrun project, Far North QLD. Image: Rio Tinto.   BY CAMERON DRUMMOND   GROWING Chinese demand is driving big investment into the bauxite-rich northwest tip of the Cape York Peninsula, with almost 30mtpa of extra supply due to come online by the end of 2019.   An estimated 53 per cent of Australia’s vast bauxite resources come from the Cape York Peninsula in Far North QLD. The region’s operating bauxite mines are known for their high quality ore; determined not just by the aluminium content, but also by minerals such as iron oxides and titanium oxides, as well as the low amount of reactive silica which reduces...

All images: Rio Tinto.   BY REUBEN ADAMS   SURGING demand from Chinese alumina refineries is helping push the price of the bauxite back up – for now, anyway – ahead of the country’s aggressive winter shutdown policy. Yet the long term fundamentals are very promising, and Rio Tinto’s Amrun development is poised to take advantage.   In August, Chinese bauxite and alumina imports increased 46 per cent and 123 per cent respectively. By late October the alumina price, based on Metal Bulletin’s FOB Australia index, had climbed 53 percent to $469.74 a tonne in two months; its highest level since the index was launched in 2010. In an October note, Wood Mackenzie senior analyst Ami Shivkar stated that there...