The short history of exploration for bauxite reserves in Hungary (1903–2020)

Abstract

The history of exploration for and mining of domestic bauxite reserves in Hungary ended in 2013 when the Bakony Bauxite Ltd. closed down its last large-scale underground bauxite mine in Halimba. Scientific interest in bauxites has, however, survived and will hopefully continue also in the future. However, it will miss the field-information formerly always provided by the cores of exploratory boreholes and by the mining operations. The first research papers published on Hungarian bauxites are almost exactly coeval with the discovery of the Királyerdő bauxite in Transylvania (1903) and since then the study of various aspects of bauxites has never ceased. This paper gives a concise account of the most important events of the development of large-scale bauxite mining in Hungary and the results of geological research and exploration related to it. The list of references includes all notable contributions published on the subject.