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Aluminum Industry
The aluminum industry is located close to bauxite ore regions. Bauxite is the raw material that is refined to get aluminum. The process of refining is highly weighted loss as only 1 ton of aluminum is obtained from 6 tons of bauxite ore. Bauxite is found in the tropics where limestone rocks are weathered.
Step 1: Bauxite ore is crushed, washed, and mixed with caustic soda to remove impurities.
Step 2: It is then dried in large furnaces to get alumina.
Step 3: Electrolysis of alumina powder is done to get aluminum as a huge amount of electricity is needed such plants are located close to areas where cheap electricity is available.
The process of converting bauxite to alumina is done at the site of raw material.
Copper Industry
Location factor for the copper industry is the same as in the aluminum industry however refining stages are different.
Step 1: Copper ore has to be concentrated and sulfur and oxygen impurities have to be removed. It is soaked in water and mixed with oils. 2.5% of the original matter remains and due to high weight loss, such industries are located close to the source of raw materials.
Step 2: Concentrated ore is called blister copper and is 99% pure but still can’t be used for manufacturing. Gold, silver, lead, and zinc impurities are present and have to be removed. Electrolysis is needed to get these impurities removed. In this stage too weight loss is low and hence the availability of cheap electricity determines the location of the industry.
Note: Sulphur dioxide is a by-product of the concentration process and is useful in the manufacturing of phosphoric acid. Rock phosphate is imported and sulphuric acid is used to get phosphoric acid. This is needed in phosphate fertilizers.
Challenges of the Indian Copper Industry:
- Special copper alloys are imported as technical know-how for manufacturing them isn’t available in India.
- The supply to demand is mismatched and met through imports.
- The technology for making downstream copper products isn’t available and obsolete methods of concentration and refining lead to air pollution.
- Scrap metal-based copper smelters are still not established in India however they use a fraction of the energy needed by refineries.
- Extraction of metals like cobalt and nickel during copper concentration isn’t present in India.
- The average quality of copper produced and high manpower per tonne of finished copper compared to developed countries is seen.
Note:
Lead and zinc also are obtained by concentrating ore using certain oils. This concentration is a high weight loss procedure. The second stage involves refining by electrolysis and needs high electricity. So location factors are the same.
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