President Donald Trump’s recent announcement of tariffs on imported metals, including a 25% tariff on steel and an unspecified tariff on aluminum, is sending ripples through the U.S. economy and spurring renewed interest in domestic bauxite deposits – a mineral once actively mined in Chattooga County.

Bauxite is the primary ore from which aluminum is derived. “Any steel coming into the United States is going to have a 25 percent tariff,” Trump stated to reporters on Air Force One last Sunday, adding, “Aluminum, too.” With Canada currently supplying the majority of U.S. aluminum, the tariffs have triggered a surge in attention towards domestic sources of bauxite. Northwest Georgia, historically a region with small-scale bauxite mining operations, is seeing renewed interest in its deposits.

While Floyd County currently hosts active, small bauxite mines, Chattooga County, formerly a producer of minerals used in aluminum production, has no active mines at present.

One of the inactive mines was  the Justice Aluminum Deposit, located near Trion, on the east side of Highway 27, just outside the Trion Town Limits. The Taylor Aluminum Mine in Summerville, Georgia, another site with a history tied to the Summerville Area/Chattahoochee National Forest, is currently closed with no known plans for reopening. Further north, two additional aluminum mines were previously operational in the Center Post area, just north of Teloga in southern Walker County.  There has been no discussion about reactivating any of the mining operations in Chattooga County, but the affects of President Trumps tariffs are sparking renewed interest in mining operations elsewhere.

The long-term impact of the tariffs on the price of aluminum and the feasibility of reopening or expanding bauxite mining operations in regions like Northwest Georgia remains to be seen. However, Trump’s announcement has undoubtedly injected new life into the discussion surrounding domestic mineral resources and their potential role in supporting American industry.