bauxite

bauxite

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: Al₂O₃.nH₂O

Collins Discovery Encyclopedia, 1st edition © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

bauxite

[′bȯk‚sīt]

(petrology)

A whitish, grayish, brown, yellow, or reddish-brown rock composed of hydrous aluminum oxides and aluminum hydroxides and containing impurities such as free silica, silt, iron hydroxides, and clay minerals; the principal commercial source of aluminum.

McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific & Technical Terms, 6E, Copyright © 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.