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| Bauxite |
Aluminium is the third most plentiful element on earth, after oxygen and silicon. It was named ‘silver from clay’ because it was found even in the ordinary garden clay. But we don’t use this source to produce pure aluminium because the refining process of it from clay are very expensive.
Nowhere in nature is aluminium found in a pure form. It is always mixed with other elements and has to be separated and purified for use. The most common aluminium source is bauxite which is aluminium oxide containing water molecules. With the help of electrical currents, pure aluminium is separated from this. This process is not very costly and bauxite is available in plenty. This makes aluminium cheaper than other metals like gold and silver. Unbelievable, as it may sound now, but true, just a hundred years ago aluminium was more precious and expensive
than even gold! It was then a new discovery and the process to separate it made it rare and expensive.