Oxides

Oxides

 

The primary ore of aluminum, this mineral is known as “solid electricity,” in allusion to the amount of energy it takes to process the ore. This is why aluminum is so highly sought-after for recycling. The mineral is a mixture, and rock, comprised of iron and aluminum hydroxides/oxides. It was named after the locality at Baux, France.

 

The minerals that make up the oxide class include those in which oxygen is combined with one or more metals. The minerals are very diverse in their physical properties: they can be quite hard (H=9) and quite soft (H=5) and the colors can range from black to very colorful. This is all due to the abundance of oxygen in the Earth’s crust and the many opportunities that exist for single oxygen ions to combine with various elements in different ways.