Bauxite residue utilization and the lack thereof

Craig Klauber, Markus Grfe, Greg Power

CSIRO PS&E, Australian Minerals Research Centre, Waterford WA 6152, Australia

Abstract
The prospect of exploiting bauxite residue after the extraction of its aluminium oxide content
was first suggested by Carl J. Bayer at the end of his original patent (Patentschrift 65604,
1892). Bayer referred to the enrichment of iron oxides due to the removal the Al2O3 content
and its possible use. However, Bayers recommendation, reasonable for its time, remains no
closer to reality today than the numerous alternative utilization options (catalysis,
environmental, agronomic, metallurgical, concrete & other building materials, etc) advocated
in the last 50 years. Globally, approximately 2.7 billion tonnes of bauxite residue are stored,
with an estimated annual increase of 120 million tonnes. Although well over 700 patents
have been filed on bauxite residue utilization, residue is still not utilized in any substantial
quantity. This phenomenon has been the subject of a detailed review that relates the
problem to the four criteria of importance: volume, performance, cost and risk. Risk refers to
the possible adverse consequences of utilizing residue over its continued storage. Cost is the
major market driver and in the absence of realistic (total life cycle) cost assessments by
stakeholders for continued storage compared to utilization, then utilization will not proceed.
In the case of performance, bauxite residues (e.g., as an alternative to metallurgical iron
oxide ores) are not technically justifiable (grade of virgin hematite ore is usually > 98% and
in the best case scenario for bauxite residue will not exceed 65%). Volume refers to the
overall impact any utilization stream could make on existing bauxite residue stock and future
productions. Analysis of the factors indicates that utilization of bauxite residue in concrete or
as soil amendment provides the two most promising avenues these will be discussed in
more detail.
Keywords : residue; utilization; volume; cost; risk.

1. Introduction
Given sufficient drivers, virtually all waste systems are capable of transformation into a
product of value. Whilst the re-cycling of many waste streams is increasingly common,
bauxite residue is an industrial by-product that has not been used and so its use or utilization
as a product comes with more challenges. Most technical issues for waste or by-product use
can be solved, and it is rare for any system to be considered (technically) intractable for (re-
)use. Exceptions are usually the intrinsically toxic systems (e.g. PCB waste, nuclear waste,
heavy metal contaminated soil), which need to be either destroyed or made safe for disposal
or long-term storage. Bauxite residue or red mud is not intractable and technically it can be
used as a feed stock for the manufacture of other products. Numerous technical possibilities
of this utilization have been demonstrated but none has been employed to date on the scale
required. The problem is the cost of transformation and in the case of bauxite residue the
acceptance of the secondary product. The complex mineralogy of bauxite residue and the
legacy issues of high alkalinity, fine particle size, heavy metal content and borderline
radioactivity for some residues pose particular problems. The key question is why this
happens to be the case and what needs to be done in order to encourage bauxite residue
Craig Klauber et al. : Bauxite residue utilization and the lack thereof 189

utilization. In a market economy, whether by-products become waste to be disposed of or

feed stock for another product, is dictated by economics and product performance. It is
evident that since this has not yet occurred it remains unlikely to occur unless the underlying
economics undergo a substantial change (e.g. sudden technical breakthrough, large cost
increases of other virgin materials, government regulation). On the basis of both the patent
and the technical literature available there is no process that offers any economic advantage
for residue utilization. In order to promote the best path forward it is necessary to re-examine
the fundamental drivers and barriers, look for the best options and then suggest how the
problem might best be progressed. This paper is a condensed summary of the Asia-Pacific
Partnership report [1] and a journal review [2] that relates the problem to the key criteria
affecting residue use, the existing knowledge gaps that are hampering a solution to the
problem, and a consideration of those secondary products that have the best chance of
success.
The global inventory of bauxite residue stored on land currently is estimated to be over 2.7
billion tonnes, with a growth rate of over 120 million tonnes per annum (Figure 1). Whilst
one of the largest masses of mineral processing residue globally, it resides in discrete and
controlled storage locations at which it is generally well contained and subject to strict
regulatory requirements. Bauxite residue is necessarily managed on a local basis, in terms of
geography, jurisdiction, and operating company. Despite a long-standing recognition of the
disadvantages associated with residue storage, it has nevertheless continued to be the
industry practice.

Fig 1. Estimated global production rates and residue inventory accumulation

190 TRAVAUX Vol. 36 (2011) No. 40

2. Key criteria controlling residue utilization

There is a need to transform bauxite residue from a waste to be disposed at a cost to a
product to create overall value. For this to be successful, both the process and product need
to successfully address four key criteria of volume, performance, cost and risk.
2.1 Volume
To make a significant impact on the amount of residue stored, strategies that will utilize very
large quantities of residue on an ongoing basis are required. Even for relatively low-
technology applications such as construction this would require a large commitment of
resources for implementation. For high technology applications such as the production of
metals towards a zero waste solution, the establishment of major industrial infrastructure
would be required, which would significantly increase the difficulty of implementation.
There is very little incentive for alumina refineries to participate in any residue utilization
program that only takes a small percentage of output. Refinery participation is essential as
alterations to final residue processing may be required as part of the down stream process.
2.2 Performance
The performance of residue in any particular application must be competitive with the
alternatives in relation to quality, cost and risk. For example residue sand as a building
material must be competitive with existing resources of mined virgin sand; extraction of iron
from residue must compete with established iron ore resources. If the product is of poorer
quality then the return is commensurately reduced and the relative costs increase. For a range
of possible applications (though not all) the retained alkalinity is a major hurdle, so its
effective removal or treatment is a key step from a potential users and the refinerys
perspective.
2.3 Cost
The economic viability for any utilization option must be demonstrated on a case-by-case
basis; the overall lack of progress on utilization suggests that no strong economic case has
ever been established. Unfortunately, accurately estimating the overall costs in any process is
hampered by a lack of understanding in the public domain of the economics of current
BRDA management. These costs will vary depending upon regional issues, in particular the
relevant regulatory requirements, however, individual companies would be expected to
understand their current and future storage costs. Also the cost variation of different pre-
disposal methods (e.g. reduction of alkalinity) or additional downstream processing is very
relevant. Declaring such information as commercial-in-confidence only hampers the
development and implementation of residue use. Any residue costs to the refiner saved by
residue removal are a de facto subsidy to the downstream process. If the latter also involves
other industrial by product waste streams then those inherent costs also need to be equally
well understood.
2.4 Risk
For any given application, it must be demonstrated that the risk associated with it is less than
the risk associated with continued storage. Risk minimization is an imperative of current
Craig Klauber et al. : Bauxite residue utilization and the lack thereof 191

bauxite residue management, which very much underpins the current strategies of storage
and disposal. Uncertainties associated with the risk profile of any such change are a major
part of the reason for the lack of action on reuse options. These risks include health, safety
and environmental issues associated with transport, processing and application, and business
risk associated with economic costs, product quality and various liabilities. This is an issue
of alkalinity, heavy metals and naturally occurring radioactive materials (NORMs), but also
one of product performance. Removal or amendment of alkalinity and the proven removal or
immobilization of heavy metals and NORMs are essential liability issues for the secondary
product. These risks tend to decrease if the products life-cycle and its inherent chemistry are
well understood. Also any new product requirements must not in any way compromise the
production of alumina, which is the primary objective of the alumina refinery.
Risk is the most complex barrier as it has dimensions that cross over into the technical
aspects of performance and cost, but it also has a social dimension that is difficult to
quantify. The perception of bauxite residue as a waste has been established by historical and
current practices, therefore there is a risk associated with the resistance by stakeholders to
treating it as a product. The barrier that this presents should not be under-estimated, and
stakeholder consultation and involvement will be an essential ingredient of any successful
deployment of new products. Whilst the very natural public concern is understandable, the
fact remains that very large volumes of equally (or arguably more) hazardous industrial by
products such as fly ash are routinely reused on a massive scale (31.6 million tons per year in
the US as an example) [3]. The same outcome should be possible for bauxite residue.
2.5 Regulatory drivers
A fifth criterion that is driven by risk to the environment and to the local community (to be
distinguished from risk to the refiner), but which crucially impacts on cost, is the regulatory
environment. This is outside any technical control but needs to be considered as part of the
solution. Market forces alone, as evidenced by 120 years of inaction, will not drive residue
utilization unaided. Indeed utilization will probably require specific incentives to initiate
change on a case-by-case basis. Such incentives could for example be provided through
direct government support and/or regulation, collaborative arrangements between industry,
community and government, industrial synergy projects, or any combination of these. The
simplest to implement locally though is regulation.

3. Choices for possible secondary products

The question of what to do with bauxite residue arose with the development of the Bayer
process and the recognition that it generated a large amount of waste material. In the
subsequent 120 years the approach has been that of disposal to (improved) long-term
storage. To date the only fully commercial process currently in place is a range of
environmental rehabilitation products [4] which uses a relatively modest quantity of residue.
The reviews of bauxite residue utilization [1, 2] look at the product opportunities initially
through the patent literature. Patents are often of limited technical value due to the very
broad manner in which the patented process is described, but they are an invaluable indicator
of the nature of the technical R&D undertaken across a range of countries and industries.
192 TRAVAUX Vol. 36 (2011) No. 40

Looking back over 50 years of patent literature comprehensively describes what might be
possible. In light of the patent distribution (Figure 2) the reviews were organized into three
main value areas and further divided into nine sub-categories as follows:
1. Construction & Chemical Applications
Civil & Building Construction
Catalyst Support or Adsorbent
Ceramics, Plastics, Coatings or Pigments
2. Environmental & Agronomic Applications
Water & Waste Treatment
Gas Scrubbing Agent
Agronomic Applications
3. Metallurgical Applications
Recovery of Major Metals
Steel Making & Slag Additive
Recovery of Minor Metals
The reader is referred to the specific reviews for more detail. Interestingly the patent review
emphasized the two quite different ways of thinking about bauxite residue the elemental
composition approach with a view to value recovery of the components therein and the
mineralogical composition approach with a view to total or near total utilization of the
residue. This is a critical distinction. Value recovery schemes, in particular that of the Fe and

Fig 2. Patent distribution for residue utilization (1964-2008)

Craig Klauber et al. : Bauxite residue utilization and the lack thereof 193

Fig 3. Composition of a typical bauxite residue based on its mineralogical as opposed

to elemental composition.
Ti content and to a lesser extent the rare earth elements (REEs), all involve complex process
streams and therein lies much of the difficulty. Firstly the processes are high cost and
secondly they produce another high volume waste stream. Possible cost offsets from
eliminating the long-term storage of residue will only be effective with total or near total use
of the material. Viewing the residue composition more realistically in terms of its complex
mineralogical composition (Figure 3) forces the consideration of residue options toward how
best to transform to another product (at minimum cost) and thus create value. As opposed to
trying to extract value in a conventional processing sense. Within the broader category of
product transformation there are clearly the low volume potential applications such as
catalysts, pigments and treatment agents and the high volume potential applications such as
civil and building construction and soil amendment. If the industry and government wish to
pursue or encourage effective residue utilization (and thereby reduced environmental impact)
with the highest chance of success, then all efforts should concentrate on these two main
areas of endeavour (see Table 1). In many ways this also simplifies the path going forward,
in particular identifying the knowledge gaps that remain and hence the research that needs to
be undertaken. These various gaps are detailed in the reviews [2, 5, 6].
194 TRAVAUX Vol. 36 (2011) No. 40

Table 1. Most promising applications of residue

Residue application
A number of application possibilities exist
for bauxite residue in construction,
including:
Additive to Portland cement
Component in light-weight aggregates
Development of sand fraction as a
construction material
Component of bricks and blocks
Development of Controlled Low strength
Materials from bauxite residue
Geopolymer processes
The development of environmental and
agronomic applications of bauxite residues
is particularly promising:
Residue has the capability to act as a soil
liming agent
Residue can also be viewed as a potential
soil component in its own right.
Transformed residue can play an
environmental remediation role.
Support and research requirements
Support may include some or all of the
following:
Research to refine the technology
Techno-economic, environmental impact
and risk analysis
Product and market development
Development of standards and
regulations
Specific incentives to progress
Detailed speciation studies on a range of
bauxite residues over a variety of conditions
and applications.
Consideration of metal ions and
complexes, with particular attention to
leaching and general physicochemical
behaviour of toxic species and naturally
occurring radioactive materials (under
both abiotic and biotic conditions)
Research to refine the technology
Techno-economic, environmental impact
and risk analysis
Product and market development
Development of standards and
regulations
Specific incentives to progress

4. Conclusions
Utilization of bauxite residue, especially in the high volumes required, is a difficult
undertaking and confronted with difficulties. This is clearly indicated by the absence of any
high volume schemes currently in existence. The key drivers and barriers can be summarized
as volume, performance, cost and risk. High volume is essential and product performance is
also key, but cost and risk remain the biggest barriers. In the last 120 years of market
economy there has been no cost driver enabling residue utilization. Past behaviour is not
always a reliable indicator of future behaviour, but it is likely that this situation will
continue, so it is perfectly reasonable to conclude that the alumina industry alone will not/
cannot solve this problem. Changing the economics to favour residue utilization will only
Craig Klauber et al. : Bauxite residue utilization and the lack thereof 195

come about by regulation, and risk management will only come about by an intimate
understanding of residue behaviour. In particular, how the toxic components and NORMs in
the original residue behave when the residue is transformed to a down stream product, and
moreover, how these are affected by environmental pressures over the life cycle of the
product.
Given those limits it is still possible to suggest the best direction to take in residue
utilization. Approaches such as value recovery and boutique products tend to involve
complex (and hence costly) processes and are not a total residue solution. Better approaches
are high volume pathways of lower technology and our suggestion is to confine efforts to the
areas of civil and building construction and to soil amendments. Technically, examples in
both areas have been demonstrated to work (as an additive to Portland cement and as a soil
liming agent). Given the correct regional synergies (e.g. industry co-location, appropriate
soil types) in order to minimize transport costs, both are close to being feasible. Both
however do require further research on the issues of risk that would pertain to the residue
used.

5. Acknowledgements
This project received funding from the Australian Government as part of the Asia-Pacific
Partnership on Clean Development and Climate. The views expressed herein are not
necessarily the views of the Commonwealth, and the Commonwealth does not accept
responsibility for any information or advice contained herein. The support of the CSIRO
National Research Flagship (Light Metals) and the Parker CRC for Integrated
Hydrometallurgy Solutions (established and supported under the Australian Government's
Cooperative Research Centres Program) is gratefully acknowledged.

6. References
[1] Klauber, C., Grfe, M. and Power, G., Review of Bauxite Residue Re-use Options,
APP report, available: http://www.asiapacificpartnership.org/pdf/Projects/Aluminium/
Review of Bauxite Residue Re-use Options_Aug09_sec.pdf
[2] Klauber, C., Grfe, M. and Power, G., Bauxite Residue Issues: II. Options for residue
utilization, Hydrometallurgy 108 (2011) 11-32.
[3] American Coal Ash Association, 2008. 2007 Coal Combustion Product (CCP)
Production & Use Survey Results (Revised).
[4] Fergusson, L.C., Commercialization of Environmental Technologies Derived from
Alumina Refinery Residues, APP report, available: http://www.asiapacificpartnership.
org/pdf/Case_study_-_Commercialisation_ofEnvironmental_Technologies_Derived_
from_Alumina_Refinery_Residues.pdf
[5] Grfe, M., Power, G. and Klauber, C., Bauxite Residue Issues: III. Alkalinity and
Associated Chemistry, Hydrometallurgy 108 (2011) 60-79.
[6] Klauber, C. and Grfe, M., Bauxite Residue Issues: IV. Old obstacles and new pathways
for in situ residue bioremediation. Hydrometallurgy 108 (2011) 46-59.