Bauxite

Bauxite is a mineral found mostly in a belt around the equator. Bauxite, containing 15-25 percent aluminium, is the only ore that is used for commercial extraction of aluminium today.

The bauxite occurs mostly in the tropics, in horizontal layers normally beneath a few meters of overburden. The layers are usually mixed with various clay minerals, iron oxides and titanium dioxide. It is the iron that gives bauxite a deep red color.

Bauxite is usually covered by an overburden of several meters of rock and clay, which must be removed before the bauxite can be recovered. Then, the bauxite is transported to crushing or washing plants, before it is transported for processing.