The ore can surprise us, it offers us "gems"!
The alumina contained in bauxite oxidizes and is transformed sometimes into a crystalline structure, similar to a "diamond", called corundum.
Colored or not by metal oxides: ruby, topaz or sapphire, these gems are a treasure that offers us Nature.
This noble mineral invites us to travel through time, coming from Tamil kurundum, it was already known by Theophrastus in 350 BC.
The discovery of alumina led to the invention of processes for producing aluminum, expression of the ingenuity of man.
Aluminum has been the wealth of this valley. The factory was closed, but a high density "diamond" remains unchanged in the hearts of men living here.
This "diamond, corundum, symbolizes the link between the material world and the intangible, it allows passage between the space-time, between past, present and future.
The economic future of this valley is still in the treasures offered by Nature, it glistens like a "diamond" in the snow crystals of the Montcalm. |
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