Hudson Resources directors buy on-market 6 Nov 2008 10:21 AM
......the grades of 54-56% are very good..the Australian Aluminium Council describes the different grades. If these grades continue to be found we are up there with Weipa grades, which seem to be considered the best in Aust http://www.aluminium.org.au/Page.php?d=1010
Weipa Weipa bauxite was first reported in the late 1700s in remote north Queensland, about 600 km by air from Cairns. Geologist Harry Evans was responsible for the delineation and development of the Weipa resource in 1955 and commercial mining began in 1961. Comalco owns 100 percent of the Weipa bauxite mine, which has indicated ore reserves of around 1.2 billion tonnes in an area of approximately 2,500 sq km.
Mineralogy Weipa bauxite ore occurs naturally in pisolitic (pealike) form. The bauxite consists mainly of 55 per cent aluminium trihydroxide (also called gibbsite) and 14 per cent aluminium hydroxide also called boehmite.
Darling Range Bauxite Bauxite was recognised in the Darling Range in Western Australia as early as the 1890s. However, this was not confirmed until 1957 when exploration by Western Mining Corporation found significant bauxite deposits in the area. A joint-venture company was set up to develop an integrated alumina industry, of which the Aluminium Company of America (now Alcoa Inc.) became a partner. A 12,619 sq km bauxite mining lease in the Darling Range was granted to the joint venture in 1961. Leases containing bauxite deposits peripheral to the Alcoa of Australia Ltd's lease were obtained by what eventually came to be known as Worsley Alumina.
Mineralogy Darling Range bauxite is a low-grade ore with around 27-30 percent aluminium oxide. Deposits typically consist of half a metre of topsoil and overburden, which is removed and conserved for later rehabilitation. The caprock bauxite (generally 1 to 2 metres) is drilled and blasted before extraction with the more friable bauxite below. It is the lowest grade ore mined on a commercial scale anywhere in the world, requiring substantial investment in a fleet of loaders, excavators and trucks as well as crushing and conveying equipment.
The Darling Range bauxite, once thought to be a uniform lateritic blanket, is in fact a complex regolith varying in thickness from 0 to 100mm that has formed in situ, thus preserving features of the parent rock less susceeptible to erosion (eg dolerite dykes). Understanding the variations in the regolith will aid in the application of mine rehabilitation techniques and is the subject of current research.
HRS Price at posting:
20.5¢ Sentiment: Buy Disclosure: Held
