8. What is the principal ore of aluminium ? A.Dolomite B.Copper C.Lignite D.Bauxite
Answer: Option D Solution: Bauxite is an aluminium ore and is the main source of aluminium. This form of rock consists mostly of the minerals gibbsite ,boehmite , and diaspore , in a mixture with the two iron oxides goethite and hematite, the clay mineral kaolinite, and small amounts of anatase TiO2. Bauxite was named after the village Les Baux in southern France, where it was first recognised as containing aluminium and named by the French geologist Pierre Berthier in 1821. Lateritic bauxites (silicate bauxites) are distinguished from karst bauxite ores (carbonate bauxites). The early discovered carbonate bauxites occur predominantly in Europe and Jamaica above carbonate rocks (limestone and dolomite), where they were formed by lateritic weathering and residual accumulation of intercalated clays or by clay dissolution residues of the limestone.