Most minerals, rocks, and soils contain aluminum compounds. But aluminum can be made economically only from bauxite. Bauxite is the name for any ore that has a large amount of aluminum hydroxide--a chemical combination of aluminum oxide and water.

Meyer Aluminmum Limited's rolling mill facility in Hong Kong contains approximately 200,000 square feet of total floor space and currently has a total of 330 employees.

Aluminum is nonmagnetic, which makes it valuable for protecting electrical equipment from magnetic interference. Aluminum does not produce sparks when struck and can therefore be used near flammable or explosive materials. The metal is not poisonous, and so food can be safely wrapped in aluminum foil and cooked in aluminum pots.

Aluminum, with its alloys, has many valuable properties that make it an exceptionally useful metal. These properties include (1) light weight, (2) strength, (3) corrosion resistance, (4) electrical conduction, (5) heat conduction, and (6) light and heat reflection.

The largest share of aluminum alloy production goes to the packaging industry for use in such items as beverage cans, bottle caps, foil pouches, foil wrappers, and food containers. The construction industry uses aluminum alloys in such items as gutters, panels, residential siding, roofing, tubes for electric wires, and window frames. Manufacturers of transportation equipment use huge amounts of aluminum in airplanes, automobiles, boats, railroad cars, and trucks. Aluminum is used in much electrical equipment, including light bulbs, power lines, and telephone wires. Thousands of other products also contain aluminum. These products include air conditioners, cookware, golf clubs, knitting needles, lawn furniture, license plates, paints, refrigerators, rocket fuel, and zippers.