Gary Stephan, age 9, of Omaha, , Nebr., for his question:

What use is bauxite?

If you have the right equipment and know the recipe, you can use six pounds of good quality bauxite to make two pounds of alumina. What is alumina? Why, it is aluminum oxide, of course. If you have another recipe and more equipment, you can use your two pounds of alumina to make one pound of silver‑white, light weight aluminum metal.

Bauxite, the name given to a group of minerals, is aluminum ore. It is named from a rich deposit near Las Baux in France. America has deposits in Arkansas, Alabama and Georgia. Bauxite ores are usually lumps of earth, somewhat harder than clay. They may be whitish in color or stained rusty brown b y oxide impurities.