2568 As such, it represents a potential means to decrease reliance on imported primary resources. Other technological metals and rare earth elements and gallium and vanadium are also found in the red mud. Although these are present at relatively low concentrations, they contribute to strategic importance when the volume of residue produced is considered. These findings support the necessity of creating differential policy and regulation. The encouragement of refinery specific characterization and selective recovery is supported. Regulating red mud solely based on the focus of disposal will likely inhibit the utilization of the resource. Therefore, policies that incorporate secondary resources into national critical mineral road maps are necessary. Pilot scale recovery studies are needed to support this type of activity. Collaboration between the producers of alumina, research organizations and downstream users should be encouraged. Red mud valorization supports sustainability and circular economic objectives. Valorization can assist in reducing the long-term waste storage and environmental risks associated with the disposal of red mud. Resource efficiency throughout the alumina value chain can be enhanced. Recognition of red mud within critical mineral policy frameworks can enhance mineral security and promote better mining and metallurgical practice. 5. CONCLUSIONS The technical differences among the three red mud samples were found to be very significant and varied greatly based on the original raw materials used at the respective alumina refineries. The variation in the red mud samples was primarily based on the geochemical and mineralogical characteristics of the bauxite sources from which they originated. The dissimilarities in the characteristics of the red mud samples throughout their procedure can affect their utilization as a second source of important metals. The results show that the data available on all the samples of red muds are enriched with a critical metal, i.e., scandium. The sample from refinery B shows the maximum concentrations of scandium. Besides scandium, there are alumina and iron oxides, and many traces elements present in the red mud. As a result, the red mud still has a high value to resources even after the removal of alumina. The mineralogical stages and microstructures of the red mud indicate that the performance of extracting vital values of metals is highly reliant on the features of each alumina refinery. These results emphasize the need for site-specific characterization of red mud before the design of customized processing modalities. Disposal or generic treatment methods are not likely to extract the resource potential in the material in an optimum way. In general, the data gives a technical basis to assess the possibility of red mud as the secondary source of critical minerals. It also provides a theoretical framework on future research on designing and evaluating processing methods that will help recycle important minerals in this industrial by-product. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT The authors acknowledge IIT (ISM) Dhanbad for research facilities and the respective alumina refineries for permitting sample collection. REFERENCES Al-Fakih, A., Mohamed Nor, Z., Inayath Basha, S., Nasiruzzaman Shaikh, M., Ahmad, S., Al-Osta, M. A., & Aziz, M. A. (2023). Characterization and Applications of Red Mud, an Aluminum Industry Waste Material, in the Construction and Building Industries, as well as Catalysis. In Chemical Record (Vol. 23, Issue 5). https://doi.org/10.1002/tcr.202300039 Archambo, M., & Kawatra, S. K. (2021a). Red Mud: Fundamentals and New Avenues for Utilization. Mineral Processing and Extractive Metallurgy Review, 42(7), 427–450. https://doi.org/10.1080/08827508.2020.1781109
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