Q. What is mainly obtained from bauxite? (UPSC Prelims 1980).
Answer: Aluminium
Notes: Bauxite is the most important ore of aluminum. It contains only 30–54% alumina, Al2O3. The rest is a mixture of silica, various iron oxides, and titanium dioxide along with trace amounts of zinc, phosphorous, nickel, vanadium etc.
Bauxite is used in a lot of industries like the chemical industry, refractory, abrasive, cement, steel, and petrol industry amongst others. In chemical, bauxite along with alumina is used in the manufacturing of aluminium chemicals. In refractory, it is used as a raw material for making several products.