Preston Dawson, age 15, of Nogales, Ariz., for his question:
ARE WE RUNNING OUT OF BAUXITE?
Bauxite is the ore from which aluminum is made. The scientists tell us that the world has enough of the mineral to last from 200 to 300 years. Important deposits are located in Australia, France, Guinea, Guyana, Hungary, Russia, Surinam and Yugoslavia.
Bauxite is pronounced "bawks ite" by some people and "bow site" by others.
In a way, you can say that the world is running out of bauxite. But scientists aren't worried, because they are sure by the time the bauxite ore runs out, some other mineral or man made material will come along as a substitute for aluminum.
The United States, Canada and Russia rank as the largest producers of aluminum. But the United States does not have a large supply of bauxite ore and Canada has none.
The chief bauxite deposits in the United States are found in Arkansas, Alabama and Georgia. Of these three states, Arkansas has the biggest deposits and nearly all the ore mined in the United States comes from that state.
The production of crude bauxite ore in the United States averages only about 2 million tons a year. Most ore used in U.S. aluminum plants comes from Surinam and Jamaica. Guyana, Sierra Leone and Surinam supply Canada with ore.
Bauxite ore usually lies near the surface and most of it is mined by the open pit method. Giant shovels strip away the soil, rock and trees that cover the ore deposits. Workers then put explosives in holes drilled in the bauxite and blast the ore loose. Other workers then load the chunks of bauxite on trucks and haul it to plants where it is cleaned and refined.
After the bauxite has been treated, it is usually dried in big furnaces to drive off moisture and reduce its shipping weight. Then trucks, trains and ships carry it to smelting plants.
Bauxite is made up mainly of aluminum oxide, water and varying amounts of iron oxide and silicon oxide. Bauxite may be red, brown, yellow, pink, buff or combinations of these colors.
Bauxite is the ore from which aluminum is made, and it also provides abrasives used for grinding and polishing. In addition, bauxite is mixed with clay to make the bricks that line the insides of the furnaces used to melt such metals as steel.
Petroleum plants use bauxite to desulfurize, deodorize and remove color from oils. The mineral is also used with sulfuric acid to make aluminum sulfate, a chemical,used in papermaking, textile and dye industries. Alum, a white mineral salt used in medicine for commercial purposes, also comes from bauxite.
Bauxite, named for Les Baux, France, was first found near there in 1821.
Bauxite comes in a wide variety of colors. Its color depends on the amount and nature of the iron compounds and other impurities that it contains.
You'll find that bauxite is usually very hard, but it may also be as soft as mud. Deposits of the mineral are caused by the weathering of aluminum bearing rocks. It is usually found on the earth's surface where. the climate is hot and moist and the greatest opportunity for weathering occurs. The red clay of tropical countries usually contains large amounts of bauxite.