Ruger
FRF Addict
Well Huck, I think you must have meant abundant rather than abandon. The most abundant mineral on earth is bridgmanite not bauxite (http://news.nationalgeographic.com/...-new-mineral-meteorite-geology-earth-science/). Bauxite is the most abundant metallic element in earth's crust, but it is only very rarely found in its elemental state and the crust is a very small percentage of the earth.
And it was only the invention of the Hall–Héroult process in 1886 that made aluminum smelting - and aluminum production - economically feasible. The process requires quite a bit of electricity - more than was convenient in the late 1800s.
"Prior to the Hall–Héroult process, elemental aluminium was made by heating ore along with elemental sodium or potassium in a vacuum. The method was complicated and consumed materials that were in themselves expensive at that time. This meant the cost to produce the small amount of aluminium made in the early 19th century was very high, higher than for gold or platinum. Bars of aluminium were exhibited alongside the French crown jewels at the Exposition Universelle of 1855, and Emperor Napoleon III of France was said to have reserved his few sets of aluminium dinner plates and eating utensils for his most honored guests." - quoted from the Wikipedia entry on the Hall–Héroult process.
