Bauxite

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Bauxite

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Uses
Masonry Stone crafting Construction
Location
Found in sedimentary layers as large clusters
Properties
Material value 1☼ Fire-safe Magma-safe Melting point 13600 °U (m) Boiling point 15000 °U (m) Ignition point none (m) Solid density 3100 kg/m³ Specific heat 800 J/kg·K Color vermilion
Wikipedia article

v50.14 · v0.47.05 This article is about the current version of DF. Note that some content may still need to be updated. More Info · V

Bauxite is a dark-red sedimentary stone. Once highly prized as the only practical source of magma-safe mechanisms to create magma-proof devices, its importance has declined with the addition of many new heat-resistant forms of stone as well as the ability to make metal mechanisms from iron and steel. Nevertheless, it is still used by some long-time players for nostalgia, and its rare, bloody appearance makes it an interesting aesthetic choice.

Bauxite may contain both sapphire and ruby.

In real life

In real life, bauxite is an ore of aluminum. It is often called "hardpan" and the result of progressed chemical leaching of the soil via water. It's commonly found near the surface in well-aged and weathered soil, and is the world's primary source of gallium and aluminum. The technology required to extract these, however, is beyond the level possessed by any of Dwarf Fortress' civilizations.

Bauxite is composed primarily of the minerals gibbsite (aluminum hydroxide: Al(OH)₃), boehmite (aluminum oxide-hydroxide: γ-AlO(OH)), and diaspore (aluminum oxide-hydroxide: α-AlO(OH)) (none of which are individually present in Dwarf Fortress). Bauxite forms by the weathering and mineralization of various aluminum-rich soils or clays. Despite the correspondence in-game, corundum, the mineral that makes up ruby and sapphire (aluminum oxide: Al₂O₃), does not form in bauxite.

Extracting aluminum from bauxite, even in the most primitive way, requires the use of the Hall–Héroult process: the electrolysis of bauxite which has been dissolved into molten cryolite. The development of this process transformed aluminum from an exceptionally rare metal to a cheap, utilitarian material. Dwarves have not yet discovered electricity, therefore they cannot make use of electrolysis to get aluminum from bauxite.

Bauxite.

Raws

an ore of aluminum, but through a too-advanced process, in-game as the source of the corundum gemstones (ruby and sapphire) bauxite melts around 2000C, so it's not practical to smelt it for aluminum (magma only goes up to 1300-1400) [INORGANIC:BAUXITE] [USE_MATERIAL_TEMPLATE:STONE_TEMPLATE] [STATE_NAME_ADJ:ALL_SOLID:bauxite][DISPLAY_COLOR:4:7:0][TILE:'+'] [ENVIRONMENT:SEDIMENTARY:CLUSTER:100] [MELTING_POINT:13600] [BOILING_POINT:15000] [IS_STONE] [SOLID_DENSITY:3100] [STATE_COLOR:ALL_SOLID:VERMILION]

V · T · E Stones
Sedimentary	Calcite · Chalk · Chert · Claystone · Conglomerate · Dolomite · Limestone · Mudstone · Rock salt · Sandstone · Shale · Siltstone
Igneous	Intrusive Diorite · Gabbro · Granite Extrusive Andesite · Basalt · Dacite · Obsidian · Rhyolite
Metamorphic	Gneiss · Marble  · Phyllite · Quartzite · Schist · Slate
Ore	Adamantine, raw · Aluminum, native · Bismuthinite · Cassiterite · Copper, native · Galena · Garnierite · Gold, native · Hematite · Horn silver · Limonite · Magnetite · Malachite · Platinum, native · Silver, native · Sphalerite · Tetrahedrite
Economic	Alabaster · Bituminous coal · Calcite · Gypsum · Kaolinite · Lignite · Satinspar · Selenite
Other	Alunite · Anhydrite · Bauxite · Borax · Brimstone · Chromite · Cinnabar · Cobaltite · Cryolite · Graphite · Hornblende · Ilmenite · Jet · Kimberlite · Marcasite · Mica · Microcline · Olivine · Orpiment · Orthoclase · Periclase · Petrified wood · Pitchblende · Puddingstone · Pyrolusite · Realgar · Rutile · Saltpeter · Serpentine · Slade · Stibnite · Sylvite · Talc