Some bauxite is later loaded into bulk ships for export. The rest is converted to alumina at Gove. At Weipa, bauxite is mined and shipped to Gladstone where it is made into alumina. Some of this alumina is sent to Tomago. The balance is exported.
European countries are also major alumina producers but with limited bauxite deposits.
About 2.5 tonnes of bauxite are needed to produce one tonne of alumina. Australia is a major producer of alumina. The aluminium component is dissolved out of the bauxite in a series of steam-heated digesters. The liquid passes into large settling tanks where the impurities, including sand and iron oxide, settle out. The aluminate liquor is filtered, cooled and 'seeded' with crystals of aluminium hydroxide to aid precipitations of alumina hydrate.