Abstract: Gallium is an important rare metal resource. Gallium and its compounds have been found extensive applications in diverse fields, e.g. solar energy, semiconductors, biology, chemical engineering, and alloys. Gallium resources have evolved into a crucial strategic asset owing to the continually increased demand. Gallium is sparsely distributed within minerals like bauxite, apatite, nepheline, and alunite in an extremely scarce quantity. More than 90% of the world's primary gallium is derived from the by-products of alumina production. Currently, methods for recovering gallium from Bayer liquor can be included as precipitation, electrochemistry, extraction, and resin adsorption. However, improving the recovery efficiency of gallium and reducing its recovery cost are remained key concerns in the relevant industry. Recent research findings on the occurrence forms of gallium in bauxite, the migration behavior of gallium during the Bayer process cycle, and methodologies for gallium separation, extraction, and recovery are presented. The current status of gallium resource recovery from bauxite is mainly introduced, the advantages and disadvantages of the employed technologies are summarized, and some future research directions for gallium extraction from bauxite are outlined.