Bauxite mining in Indonesia

Bauxite has been mined in Indonesia since the Dutch colonial era.

History

Bauxite was first discovered in modern Indonesia in the Riau Islands in 1924, under the Dutch East Indies administration. Production commenced in the 1930s, with the volume of ore mined between 1936 and 1960 being between 100 and 400 thousand tonnes, rising to 900,000 tonnes by 1967 and averaging over 1 million tonnes in the 1970s. During this time, most production was centered in the island of Bintan, with some mining operations in the smaller surrounding islands. Most ores in this period were exported to Japan, with smaller quantities being sold to Europe and North America. There were also no alumina plants in Indonesia, though there were proposals to construct one in Bintan and another in the then newly discovered bauxite deposits in West Kalimantan. Additionally, an aluminium smelter was proposed, which was to utilize hydroelectric power from the Asahan River.^[1][2]

In 2014, the Indonesian government banned the export of raw bauxite among other ores, intended to stimulate the development of aluminium smelters in the country. However, the ban failed to meet its objectives, with bauxite importers purchasing more ore from neighboring Malaysia.^[3]

Production

Indonesia produced an estimated 5.69 million metric tons of bauxite in 2018, compared to 1.29 million metric tons in 2017.^[4]

Ores

Most of Indonesia's known reserves of bauxite are located in the Riau Islands (namely Bintan), the Bangka Belitung Islands, and West Kalimantan.^[5] The reserves are in form of laterite ores,^[6]: 163 and the United States Geological Survey gave a figure of 1.2 billion tonnes of bauxite in Indonesia's reserves.^[4]

References