hcarteau_at_h3LvzuNRnDZBreF8LTaJnLoe8KbeRUe6PhJ84B_N0LKBeyvhAazJO5npplPWDodynrkpYQLa0A.yahoo.invalid wrote:
>
>
> > Yes, aluminum was extremely valuable until the late 19th century.
> Far more so
> > than gold or platinum. Napoleon III was famous for having an entire
> enough
> > aluminum dinnerware for a state dinner. Quicksilver, on the other
> hand, was
> > known to the Babylonians and Egyptians and extracted readily from
> cinnabar
> > and realgar. A large model of China in Emperor Qin's tomb has rivers
> which
> > were made from quicksilver. He was buried in 3rd century BCE.
> /// Very interesting. I thought aluminium was refined bauxite, but
> have no idea
> what bauxite looks like, or how it's refined into aluminium.
>
With some difficulty, in the real world (electrolysis these days,
although there are other ways). It wasn't done successfully until 1825.
We can, I think, safely assume that Gloranthan aluminium is quite different!
Oh, and: http://geology.com/minerals/photos/bauxite-74.jpg
>
--
Trotsky
Gamer and Skeptic
------------------------------------------------------
Trotsky's RPG website: http://www.ttrotsky.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/
Not a Dead Communist: http://jrevell.blogspot.com/
