The Bakhuis Mountains are a mountain range in central Suriname

Suriname

Suriname , officially the Republic of Suriname , is a country in northern South America. It borders French Guiana to the east, Guyana to the west, Brazil to the south, and on the north by the Atlantic Ocean. Suriname was a former colony of the British and of the Dutch, and was previously known as...

, spanning 110 kilometres. The mountain range form of the Northern part of the Wilhelmina Mountains

Wilhelmina Mountains

The Wilhelmina Mountains are a mountain range in central Suriname that extends about from west to east. Its highest peak is Julianatop with 1280 m . Another high peak is the Tafelberg. It is named after the Queen Wilhelmina...

, and were named after the Dutch

Netherlands

The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

 explorer and Royal Dutch East Indies Army officer Louis August Bakhuis.

The Bakhuis Mountains have rich deposits of bauxite

Bauxite

Bauxite is an aluminium ore and is the main source of aluminium. This form of rock consists mostly of the minerals gibbsite Al3, boehmite γ-AlO, and diaspore α-AlO, in a mixture with the two iron oxides goethite and hematite, the clay mineral kaolinite, and small amounts of anatase TiO2...

, as well as nickel

Nickel

Nickel is a chemical element with the chemical symbol Ni and atomic number 28. It is a silvery-white lustrous metal with a slight golden tinge. Nickel belongs to the transition metals and is hard and ductile...

 and copper

Copper

Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu and atomic number 29. It is a ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. Pure copper is soft and malleable; an exposed surface has a reddish-orange tarnish...

. In 1974, a new mineral named surinamite ((Mg, Fe²⁺)₃Al₄BeSi₃O₁₆) was found in the mountain range. The West Suriname Plan

West Suriname Plan

The West Suriname Plan is an economic development plan for the western part of Suriname. As originally conceived, it consists among others of the mining of bauxite in the Bakhuis Mountains, the building of a hydroelectric power plant on the Kabalebo River, and the construction of a harbour and an...

centered around the mining of bauxite in the Bakhuis Mountains.