Bauxite

Bauxite is an earthy brown, red coloured sedimentary rock which on first glance, looks more like a soft clay or marl and indeed it is, being a mixture of iron and aluminium hydroxides or oxides and is a major ore, being a major source of aluminium. These particular specimens exhibit bauxite excellently, they are a deep orange or red colour, soft with a earthy texture, it stains very easily leaving a red mark on almost anything it comes into contact with. Bauxite is almost always stripped mined, this is simply because it generally forms at or near the surface of the earth with little overburden or material on top, so the need for digging or underground extractions is almost not present, allowing mining operators to extract the ore, quickly, easily, efficiently and on a massive scale. In 1821 the French geologist Pierre Berthier discovered bauxite near the village of Les Baux in Provence, southern France. French chemist Henri Sainte-Claire Deville named the mineral “Bauxite” in 1861. These particular mineral specimens are from Northern Ireland, formed by lateritisation of the Antrim lava group, each specimen is supplied in a labelled card tray and is available in optional sizes.