Bauxite

Bauxite is the reddish ore mined and refined into alumina, the raw material that is then smelted into aluminum.

Bauxite is a reddish-brown rock rich in aluminum-bearing minerals, mined from large open pits in tropical and subtropical regions where weathering has concentrated it near the surface. On its own it is not usable as metal; it must first be refined into alumina before that alumina can be smelted into aluminum.

Because bauxite mining, alumina refining, and aluminum smelting each cluster in different locations depending on where ore, energy, and capital are cheapest, a single tonne of finished aluminum can trace back through several separate countries. A handful of countries account for most of the world’s mined bauxite, while refining and smelting are spread differently across countries with cheap electricity, since smelting is highly energy-intensive.