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What is it and where is it formed?
Bauxite is not a mineral,
but a rock with minerals in it. Bauxite is a
sedimentary rock that is an aluminum ore. It is formed
in
weathered volcanic
rocks. It costs a lot of money to get the aluminum out of
other ores, so Bauxite is important. -
How and where it is mined? Open pit mining is used to get bauxite. The water in bauxite is taken out of the ore. This leaves a white powder that is called alumina which is another name for aluminum oxide. Alumina is made into aluminum. The U.S. makes the most aluminum but doesn’t mine it here. We bring in the bauxite from other countries and use recycled aluminum to make things. Aluminum comes from Canada, China, Australia, India, Brazil, and Russia.
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What is it used for? Bauxite is used in cement, chemicals, face makeup, soda cans, dishwashers, siding for houses, and other aluminum products. It is recycled so that it can be used over again.
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Interesting! Bauxite is thought of as a rock because the minerals in it can be very different depending on where it is found. Actual minerals aren’t that changeable. Mineral identification is based on the ‘sameness’ of the mineral each time a piece is found. For example, if you found a piece of halite, or salt, it would always look shiny or glassy, and always break evenly into cubes. Since the kinds of minerals that are in bauxite change a lot, its mineral identification changes from rock to rock, too. The ‘sameness’ for mineral identification is not there so geologists think of it as a rock.
