An off-white, grayish, brown, yellow, or reddish brown rock composed of
amorphous or microcrystalline aluminum oxides and oxyhydroxides, mainly
gibbsite Al(OH)3 , bayerite Al(OH)3 , boehmite
AlO(OH) , and diaspore AlO(OH) admixed with free silica, silt, iron
hydroxides, and esp. clay minerals; a highly aluminous "laterite." It is
massive, pisolitic, earthy; occurs as weathered surface deposits after
prolonged leaching of silica from aluminous rocks under tropical to
subtropical weathering, also transported deposits. Bauxite is the chief
ore of aluminum.
A firebrick composed essentially of hydrated alumina and ferric oxide.
Such bricks are used for the lining of furnaces where a neutral material
is required. Osborne
A cement made from bauxite and lime in an electric furnace; it hardens
rapidly. Sometimes called ciment fondu. Nelson
Found in workers exposed to fumes containing aluminum oxide and minute
silica particles arising from smelting bauxite in the manufacture of
corundum. Syn:Shaver's disease
Containing much bauxite; e.g., a bauxitic clay containing 47% to 65%
alumina on a calcined basis, or a bauxitic shale abnormally high in
alumina and notably low in silica. AGI
a. A clay consisting of a mixture of bauxitic minerals, such as gibbsite
and diaspore, with clay minerals, the former constituting not over 50% of
the total. The opposite of this would be an argillaceous bauxite.
ACSB, 1
b. A natural mixture of bauxite and clay, containing not less than 47% nor
more than 65% alumina on a calcined basis. Harbison-Walker
Development of bauxite from primary aluminum silicates (such as feldspars)
or from secondary clay minerals under aggressive tropical or subtropical
weathering conditions of good surface drainage, such as the dissolving
(usually above the water table) of silica, iron compounds, and other
constituents from alumina-containing material. AGI
A white hydrous silicate of aluminum, calcium, and beryllium, Ca4
Be2 Al2 Si9 O26 (OH)2 ; orthorhombic;
earthy, radiating fibrous; platy prismatic crystals. From Baveno, Italy;
Mesa Grande, CA. English
One of the three crystallographic axes used as reference in crystal
description. It is oriented horizontally, right to left. The letter b
usually appears in italics. CF:a axis; c axis.
a. An open space in a mine for storage of equipment, conducting repairs,
or disposal of waste.
b. A recess in the shore or an inlet of a sea or lake between two capes or
headlands, not as large as a gulf, but larger than a cove. Hunt
c. A portion of the sea that penetrates into the interior of the land. It
is usually wider in the middle than at the entrance. It may be similar to
a gulf, but smaller. Hunt
d. A portion of the sea partly surrounded by ice. Hunt
e. The discharge point of a hopper, usually applied to coal or ore hopper
rail cars.
A dimorph of gibbsite, long known as a synthetic product, now found as a
naturally occuring mineral, Al(OH)3 , from Portole, Istria. The
naturally occurring bayerite from Fenyoro, Hungary, was found by X-ray
study to be gibbsite. Am. Mineral., 1; Am. Mineral., 1
A process for extracting alumina from bauxite ore before the electrolytic
reduction of alumina. ASM, 1
A monoclinic mineral, PbCu3 (AsO4 )2 (OH)2 .H
2 O ; forms minute grass-green to blackish-green mammillary masses;
in Cornwall, U.K.
A yellow monoclinic mineral; Mg2 (UO2 )(CO3 )3
.18H2 O ; radioactive.
A coarse-grained variety of common salt obtained by evaporating seawater
in shallow bays or pits by the heat of the sun. Standard, 2
A hexagonal mineral, Be3 (Sc,Al)2 Si6 O18 ;
the scandium analog of beryl; blue; at Baveno, Italy; Val Strem,
Switzerland; and in central Kazakhstan.
See:b axis
A natural accumulation in beach sand of heavy minerals selectively
concentrated (by wave, current, or surf action) from the ordinary beach
sands in which they were originally present as accessory minerals; esp. a
beach placer. See also:beach placer
Concentrations of mineral formed by the grinding action of natural forces
(wind, wave, or frost) and the selective transporting action of tides and
winds. Pryor, 3
The movement of material along the shore by the action of the uprush and
backwash of waves breaking at an angle with the shore.
Syn:longshore drift