It All Starts With Dirt

It All Starts with Dirt. This kind of dirt is called bauxite ore. From four tons of bauxite, it's possible to refine about two tons of alumina—a powdery white oxide of aluminum. And from those two tons of alumina, we can smelt a ton of aluminum. Smelting aluminum was the invention that launched Alcoa in 1888. A ton of aluminum is enough to make the cans for over 60,000 Cokes, Pepsis, or Buds. Enough to make the spaceframes for seven full-size cars. Enough to make 40,000 computer memory disks, capable of storing all the books ever published. All from a truckload of dirt. It's almost magical. And we're proud to have the magicians who can pull it off.

There's no other material quite like aluminum
- it is light in weight
- highly resistant to corrosion
- strong in alloys
- an excellent conductor of electricity and heat
- an excellent reflector of heat and light
- nonmagnetic
- nontoxic
- outstanding in cryogenic properties
- highly workable
- easy to assemble
- and naturally good looking.

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• alcoa
• aluminum
• bauxite
• dirt
• smelting
• refining
• recycling