Apr 23, 2023 · Aluminum ore is a type of rock or mineral that contains aluminum in the form of compounds, typically aluminum oxide (Al2O3) or aluminum hydroxide (Al(OH)3). Aluminum is an important metal due to its desirable properties, such as its lightweight, corrosion resistance, high electrical and thermal conductivity, and recyclability.

Aluminum is the most abundant metal element in the Earth’s crust. Bauxite ore is the main source of aluminum and contains the aluminum minerals gibbsite, boehmite, and diaspore. Aluminum is used in the United States in packaging, transportation, and building. Because it is a mixture of minerals, bauxite itself is a rock, not a mineral.

Aluminium is found on Earth primarily in rocks in the crust, where it is the third-most abundant element, after oxygen and silicon, rather than in the mantle, and virtually never as the free metal. It is obtained industrially by mining bauxite, a sedimentary rock rich in aluminium minerals.

This table compares the known valid mineral species listed listed with Aluminium and the other elements listed based on the official IMA formula. Note that unlike other sections on this page this includes non-essential elements.

Aluminum is the second most abundant metallic element in the Earth's crust after silicon, yet it is a comparatively new industrial metal that has been produced in commercial quantities for just over 100 years.

Aluminium mineral data, information about Aluminium, its properties and worldwide locations.

Many common minerals, including feldspars, contain aluminum, but extracting the metal from most minerals is very energy-intensive, and therefore expensive. The main ore of aluminum is bauxite, the source of over 99% of metallic aluminum. Bauxite is the name for a mixture of similar minerals that contain hydrated aluminum oxides.

Named from the Latin word alum, aluminum is a relatively soft, ductile and malleable silvery metal. It is the most common metal present in the Earth’s crust and the third most common element (after oxygen and silicon). It is moderately reactive and never found in pure form in nature.

Aluminum is considered a "critical mineral" in domestic metallurgical applications that serve aerospace, defense, energy, and transportation technologies (Fortier and others, 2018). Aluminum, as alum, has been used by humans since at least the ancient Greek civilization.

Native aluminum rarely occurs naturally in its elemental form, even though only oxygen and silicon are more abundant in the earth's crust. It has been found in volcanic muds and as tiny grains in highly unusual environments along with other elemental metals.