CURRENT AFFAIRS

Detailed explanation-1: -Ministry of mines organises a workshop on Effective utilization of Red Mud. In a step towards productive utilisation of bauxite residue, commonly known as the ‘Red Mud’, an interactive workshopcalled ‘Waste To Wealth’ was organized by Ministry of Mines in the capital today.

Detailed explanation-2: -Indian alumina refinery is producing around 9 million tons of red mud annually and current production level in the EU is 6.8 million tons per year, while the global production is approximately 150 million tons/annum. Presently most of the red mud is stored at landfills with mostly wet disposal system.

Detailed explanation-3: -Production. Red mud is a side-product of the Bayer process, the principal means of refining bauxite en route to alumina. The resulting alumina is the raw material for producing aluminium by the Hall–Héroult process. A typical bauxite plant produces one to two times as much red mud as alumina.

Detailed explanation-4: -Red mud is a complex mineralogical mixture of primarily iron, aluminum, and titanium oxides in addition to some high-value rare-earth elements. For every ton of aluminum produced from bauxite, nearly 2.5–4 tons of red mud is produced.

Detailed explanation-5: -In average red mud contains up to 65-70% iron oxide (Fe2O3), 40-50% aluminum oxide (Al2O3), and 15-25% titanium dioxide (TiO2), depending on origin of the bauxite ore. Of specific interest is the iron contained in the form of oxides and hydroxides, hence its intense red color.