Indonesia is a rich country in natural resources. The country, which is located on the equator, has hidden treasures. This treasure is a mineral resource in the form of bauxite which is predicted to last for the next 78 years.
It is known that Indonesia’s bauxite treasure reserves are among the top six bauxite reserves worldwide. If processed into downstream products, this commodity will gain added value and big profits, such as aluminum.
Bauxite itself can be processed into alumina, then refined into aluminum so that it can finally be used as a component of building and construction materials, machine tools, transportation, electricity, packaging, and others.
Based on data from the 2020 Bauxite Booklet of the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM), processing USGS data in January 2020, the total bauxite reserves in Indonesia reached 1.2 billion tons or 4% of the world’s bauxite ore reserves of 30.39 billion tons.
For information, the owner of the largest bauxite ore reserves in the world is Guinea which reaches 24%, then Australia controls 20%, Vietnam at 12%, Brazil at 9%, and then in fifth place, there is Jamaica at 7%.
Furthermore, based on this data from the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, Indonesia’s measured bauxite ore resources reach 1.7 billion tons and bauxite metal 640 million tons, while proven reserves for bauxite ore are 821 million tons and bauxite metal 299 million tons.
“Indonesia has the 6th largest bauxite reserve in the world, meaning that Indonesia plays an important role in the supply of world bauxite raw materials,” the 2020 Bauxite Booklet wrote.
Previously, the Director of Minerba Program Development at the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, Sunindyo Suryo, said that currently there are only two bauxite-to-alumina processing plants (smelters) that have been operating. The input capacity of bauxite ore is 4,564,000 tons per year.
However, the construction of 12 bauxite-to-alumina processing plants is currently underway. If it is completed and started to operate, the ore input capacity could increase to 35 million tons per year.
“Meanwhile, there are 12 alumina refining plants that are still under construction with an input capacity of bauxite ore reaching more than 35 million tons per year,” he said, quoted recently.
If this is realized, according to him, it is estimated that Indonesia’s bauxite ore reserves could be sufficient for 78 years. However, in the future, his party will continue to encourage exploration, so that the bauxite reserves will increase and the reserves will last longer
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This increase in reserves will be carried out through exploration and verification of data and resources and reserves.
“Increased bauxite ore exploration activities are needed because the age of the reserves is around 78 years at a dry ore consumption rate of 36.9 million tons per year,” he continued.
