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Bauxite, the raw material of aluminum, has been one of the economically vital natural resources for Suriname. Mining operations started about a century ago, and subsequent development of a refinery industry and hydro-electric power made Suriname one of the foremost bauxite and alumina producers worldwide for a long period of time. This paper presents a concise survey of the main geological attributes of its bauxite deposits and examines significant aspects in the development of mining in the country where alumina dominated the export revenues until a decade ago. The lateritic bauxite deposits are spread across the northern part of the country and developed on various parent rocks during Late Cretaceous–Early Tertiary times. Bauxites in the coastal lowlands formed on Cenozoic sedimentary deposits, whereas plateau bauxites originated on various crystalline rocks in inland regions of the Precambrian Guiana Shield. The composition of parent rocks and timing of bauxitisation point to a genetic correspondence with West African bauxites and a strong control of paleoclimatic conditions on the distribution and properties of bauxite in both regions. The more accessible bauxite deposits in the coastal lowlands are almost mined out, whereas the plateau bauxites have been extensively explored but have not been brought into production to date. For economic and environmental reasons, the future of the bauxite industry in Suriname is currently uncertain.

Quantification of trace element contents in bauxite by solution ICP‐MS and other analytical methods that rely on conventional dissolution techniques can be challenging, because the refractory nature of common host minerals complicates complete digestion. Fusion with lithium borate, frequently used as a sample preparation method for XRF analysis of solid materials, avoids these problems. This manuscript documents that subsequent analysis of the low‐dilution glass beads by laser ablation ICP‐MS is a fast, accurate and precise method for determining trace element mass fractions in samples of bauxite and similar natural materials. The method was validated by determining thirty trace elements, including thirteen rare earth elements, in international reference materials for bauxite (ANRT BX‐N, NIST SRM 69b, NIST SRM 696, NIST SRM 698) and iron formations (CCRMP FeR‐2). Trace elements were typically measured to within 20% of reference values with an ‘external’ precision of < 20% RSD. Measurement results from various deposits in Suriname illustrate the procedure's effectiveness for studies concerning chemical properties and origin of bauxite.