Bauxite mining in the United States
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Bauxite mining in the United States produced an estimated 128,000 metric tonnes of bauxite in 2013.[1] Although the United States was an important source of bauxite in the early 20th century, it now supplies less than one percent of world bauxite production.
Bauxite is the only commercial ore of aluminium, and 96 percent of bauxite consumed in the US is used to produce aluminum (metallurgical grade).[2] However, since 1981, none of the bauxite mined in the US was used to make metallic aluminium. US bauxite is instead used for abrasives, high-temperature refractory materials, and as a high-strength proppant for hydraulic fracturing of oil and gas wells.
History
The American bauxite industry held world importance during World War I, and from 1914 through 1920, supplied more than half the world's bauxite. In 1914 and again in 1915, the US supplied 94 percent of the world's bauxite.
Wartime aluminum demand for airplane construction during World War II caused bauxite production to jump more than 16-fold from 1939 to 1943. In 1943, US bauxite production peaked at 6.3 million tons, then fell back to 1.0 million tons in 1945. The US has supplied less than ten percent of world bauxite each year since 1956, and less than one percent each year since 1982.
From 1889 through 2013, a total of 94 million metric tons of bauxite were mined in the US, about 90 percent of which came from central Arkansas.
In 2013 the US mined 128,000 metric tons of bauxite.
