It has been worked for many years as a source of alum, to obtain which the alunite is first heated at the required temperature and then leached with water. If heated more intensely it is converted into a mixture of alumina and potassium sulfate, and in this condition, as already stated, it is useful as a potash fertilizer.
Alunite, additionally called Alum stone, is a source of the chemical known as an alum and is a mineral that is rock-forming. Alunite varies in colour from white to yellow-gray. Alunite forms from the action of sulfuric acids upon potassium feldspars that are rich a procedure called "alunitization". It is insoluble in water or weak acids,
Definition of alunite in the Definitions dictionary. Meaning of alunite. What does alunite mean? ... It was first observed in the 15th century at Tolfa, near Rome, where it was mined for the manufacture of alum. First called aluminilite by J.C. Delamétherie in 1797, this name was contracted by François Beudant three decades later to ...
Alunite was first called aluminilite by J.C. Delametherie in 1707, but the name was shortened to alunite. The off-white to yellowish stone is composed of Aluminum potassium sulfate and is found in the U.S. (Utah, California, Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, Washington), Spain (Almería), Ulkraine (Beregovo), Italy (Tolfa, Tuscany), France, Mexico ...