Bauxite

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Bauxite is the main ore of aluminium. It is mostly aluminium oxide.

Bauxite is the most important aluminium ore. It is largely made up of the minerals Gibbsite Al(OH)3, Boehmite γ-AlO(OH), and Diaspore α-AlO(OH), together with the iron oxides Goethite and Hematite, the clay mineral Kaolinite and small amounts of Anatase TiO2. It was named after the village Les Baux-de-Provence in southern France, where it was first discovered in 1821 by geologist Pierre Berthier.

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Lateritic bauxites (silicate bauxites) are distinguished from karst bauxites (carbonate bauxites). The early discovered carbonate bauxites occur predominantly in Europe and Jamaica above carbonate rocks (limestone and dolomite), where they were formed by lateritic weathering and residual accumulation of intercalated clays or of clayey dissolution residues of the limestone.

The lateritic bauxites occur in many countries of the tropical belt. They were formed by lateritization (see laterite) of various silicate rocks such as granite, gneiss, basalt, syenite and shale. Compared with iron-rich laterites, the formation of bauxites demands even more intense weathering conditions with a very good drainage. This enables dissolution of kaolinite and precipitation of gibbsite. Zones with highest aluminum content are frequently located below a ferruginous surface layer. The aluminum hydroxide in the lateritic bauxite deposits is almost exclusively gibbsite.