Bauxite is a naturally occurring,
heterogeneous material composed primarily of one or more
aluminum hydroxide minerals, plus various mixtures of silica,
iron oxide, titania, aluminosilicate, and other impurities in
minor or trace amounts.
Bauxite
is a
mixture of minerals which contain, as well as
impurities, different concentrations of hydrated
aluminium oxides. Gibbsite (alumina
trihydrate), boehmite, and diaspore (alumina
monohydrates) are the main ore minerals. Bauxite is a
high-aluminium-content rock.
Bauxite
is primarily
a metallic mineral though it is also used
as an industrial mineral. It is the
only ore used for large-scale aluminium
production.
Production
of aluminium chemicals like
aluminium sulphate, aluminium
chloride, aluminium fluoride,
sodium aluminate etc is an
important use of bauxite. Bauxite
is directly used to produce
aluminium sulphate, which is a
flocculating agent in water and
effluent.
Bauxite
is typically
a soft
material with
a hardness of only 1 to
3 on the Mohs scale. It
is white to gray to
reddish brown with a
pisolitic structure,
earthy luster and a low
specific gravity of
between 2.0 and
2.5.
