bauxite

American  

[bawk-sahyt, boh-zahyt] / ˈbɔk saɪt, ˈboʊ zaɪt /

noun

1. a rock consisting of aluminum oxides and hydroxides with various impurities: the principal ore of aluminum.

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bauxite British  

/ ˈbɔːksaɪt /

noun

1. a white, red, yellow, or brown amorphous claylike substance comprising aluminium oxides and hydroxides, often with such impurities as iron oxides. It is the chief ore of aluminium. General formula: Al 2 O 3 . n H 2 O

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bauxite Scientific  

/ bôk′sīt′ /

1. A soft, whitish to reddish-brown rock consisting mainly of hydrous aluminum oxides and aluminum hydroxides along with silica, silt, iron hydroxides, and clay minerals. Bauxite forms from the breakdown of clays and is a major source of aluminum.

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Other Word Forms

• bauxitic adjective

Etymology

Origin of bauxite

1860–65; named after Les Baux, near Arles in S France; -ite ¹

Example Sentences

The U.S.—which doesn’t have large reserves of bauxite, the rock traditionally used to make the metal—produces less than 17% of the country’s needs.

From The Wall Street Journal

Gallium, a byproduct of bauxite processing, is rarely recovered outside China because it isn’t especially profitable.

From The Wall Street Journal

Chhattisgarh, for instance, is India's sole producer of tin concentrates and moulding sand, and a leading source of coal, dolomite, bauxite and high-grade iron ore, according to the ministry of mines.

From BBC

Brazil is a producer of both metals and has large reserves of their raw materials – bauxite and iron ore.

From BBC

For its part, the US continues to be happy to buy Guyana's key exports of crude oil, gold and bauxite, which is the ore from which aluminium is extracted.

From BBC