Deriving high value products from waste red mud

A process for recovering valuable metals and/or their oxides from red mud bauxite residues, the process comprising:

• a) calcining a red mud residue having a pH of less than about 10 at 150 to 500° C. to provide a calcined red mud residue;
• b) acid leaching the calcined red mud residue with hydrochloric acid of 8M to 12M at an elevated temperature to provide a silica rich solid component and an acid leachate;
• c) separating the silica rich solid component and the acid leachate;
• d) precipitating an iron rich solid component from the acid leachate;
• and
• e) separating the precipitated iron rich solid component from the acid leachate to provide an aluminium rich liquor.