Aluminum is a durable metal, with an endless recycling potential,
used in the production of a wide range of products. It is the most
abundant non-ferrous metal on Earth's surface, and this contributes
to its large scale utilization.
In Brazil , the major bauxite mines
are located in Minas Gerais and in Pará. The country has the third
largest reserve of this ore worldwide. The metal is obtained from
the processing of bauxite into alumina, and then, into primary aluminum.
Secondary aluminum results from the processing of scrap - either arising from
the industrial process or from products that have exhausted their
working life such as beverage cans. The product maintains the basic characteristics
of primary aluminum.
From mining to the end product, the metal goes
through several stages. After extracted from the soil, bauxite is
washed, dried and sent to the refinery, where it produces alumina.
Then, the alumina is smelted into primary aluminum. This comes in the shape
of ingots, plates and billets, and then is forwarded to processing industries
that will produce rods, castings, rolled and extruded products.
Aluminum's
sustainability attributes are due to its physical-chemical properties
such as light-weight, high heat and electrical conductibility rate, corrosion
resistance and one of the most important features: recyclability. Various
solutions that are important to modern life in the areas of transport, health,
food preservation and electrical power distribution would not be possible
today without it.
| Sustainable Aluminum Cycle |
|
|
|
|
|
Related areas
The Industry |
