Bauxite
This article is about the ore. For the town in Arkansas, see Bauxite, Arkansas. Bauxite with US penny for comparison QEMSCAN mineral maps of bauxite ore-forming pisoliths Bauxite is a sedimentary rock with a relatively high aluminium content. It is the world's main source of aluminium. Bauxite consists mostly of the aluminium minerals gibbsite (Al(OH) 3 ), boehmite (γ-AlO(OH)) and diaspore (α-AlO(OH)), mixed with the two iron oxides goethite and haematite, the aluminium clay mineral kaolinite and small amounts of anatase (TiO 2 ) and ilmenite (FeTiO 3 or FeO.TiO 2 ). [1] [2] In 1821 the French geologist Pierre Berthier discovered bauxite near the village of Les Baux in Provence, southern France. [3] [ non-primary source needed ] Contents 1 Formation 2 Production trends 3 Processing 4 Source of gallium 5 See also 6 References 7 Further reading 8 External links Formation Bauxite with core of unweathered rock Numerous c...