2563 Paul, 2025). Such practices create serious long term environmental issues due to elevated pH levels, particulate emissions and land use impacts. As such, there is growing interest in sustainable red mud management practices. In addition to presenting environmental problems, red mud can provide potential raw material sources. Red mud is composed of aluminum, titanium, iron, and other trace elements including some rare earth elements and scandium, many of which are designated as critical or strategically important materials (Archambo & Kawatra, 2021b; Pan et al., 2023). The chemical composition of red mud varies greatly based upon the characteristics of the bauxite ore that it is derived from and the specific conditions under which the refining process occurs (Reddy et al., 2021). Even though there has been an increase in research focused on the value engineering of red mud, there is a scarcity of comparative analyses of red mud. It specifically associated with different refineries, especially those in India (Swain et al., 2022). India’s substantial bauxite resources and alumina production capacity, a clear understanding of source-dependent characteristics is essential. It supports effective resource recovery strategies. It also enables informed mineral policy development. This study provides a refinery-specific characterization of red mud. The elemental analysis was done in detail to identify the side specific compositional variation. The findings will provide new knowledge about the existence of strategic and critical minerals, and their site-specific recovery strategies. 2. MATERIALS AND METHODS 2.1 Sample Collection and Preparation This study was done using three samples of red mud. The samples were produced out of the alumina production processes associated with representative sources of bauxite. The bauxite was gathered in the current mining fields in the eastern Indian bauxite belt. The chosen locations are in large bauxite-producing regions of the Odisha state. These deposits are also characterized by lateritic bauxite that is deposited in tropical weather conditions. The red mud samples are those that are associated with the various mining sites and processing streams. They were identified as refinery A, refinery B, refinery C. The samples are variability in red mud characteristics because of source origin. All samples were air dried and reduced into smaller pieces using an agate mortar. Crushing resulted in large agglomeration being broken down into much smaller particles. Material was then homogenized so that a representative sub-sample could be taken from it. Samples prepared were used for various analyses including chemical, mineralogical and microstructural analyses. 2.1.1 Analytical Techniques Standard analytical techniques were used to determine the major oxide, trace element and mineralogical properties of the red mud samples. The bulk chemical composition of the red mud samples was determined by wavelength dispersive x-ray fluorescence (XRF), where the samples were pressed into pellets as per normal geological practices. Trace and rare earth elements were determined by inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectroscopy (ICP-OES), where the samples had been powdered and acid digested prior to analysis. Mineralogical phases were determined by x-ray diffraction (XRD) using Cu Ka radiation and the usual scan parameters. Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FE-SEM) was used to examine the microstructure of the red mud samples to determine particle size distribution and surface texture. The analytical results were compared against each other and against the literature to identify the relevant compositional variability and technical significance. 3. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 3.1 Major Chemical Composition The major oxide composition of the red mud samples, shown in Figure 1, indicates there are clearly some variations in the composition of the red mud samples from the three refineries. In all cases, the primary component is iron oxide (Fe₂O₃). The range of Fe₂O₃ concentration is approximately 52 wt% in Refinery A and close to 68 wt% in Refinery B. The higher level of Fe₂O₃ in the red mud samples from Refinery B, when
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