About 22 million tons of the total is new aluminum and 7 million tons is aluminum scrap that is recycled for reuse. It is found only in combination with other minerals in the form of silicate and oxide compounds which make up about 8 per cent of the earth's crust. Aluminum is the third most common crustal element and the most common crustal metal on earth. These mineral compounds are very stable and it took many years of research to find a way to remove the metal from the ore minerals in which it is found. It is an excellent conductor of heat and electricity.
Polished aluminum has the highest reflectivity of any material - even mirror glass.
It can be cast, rolled or extruded into an infinite variety of shapes. It has unique barrier properties as a packaging material, it resists corrosion and it can be recycled again and again and again, with no loss of quality or properties. Mixed with small, often minute, quantities of other materials such as iron , silicon , zinc , copper , magnesium , tin , titamium , lithium , chromium , tungsten , manganese , nickel , zirconium and boron , it is possible to produce an array of alloys with very different physical properties. How Aluminum is Produced Producing aluminum is basically a two stage process consisting of several intermediate steps. For a more detailed look at the process of recovering alumina from bauxite and converting it to aluminum, click on this button.