noun
- a white or colorless mineral consisting of sodium aluminum fluoride, used in aluminum production and as an insecticide
Usage: mineralogy; industrial
Examples
- Cryolite is essential in the electrolytic process for extracting aluminum from bauxite.
- The mine produced high-quality cryolite for the aluminum smelting industry.
- Natural cryolite deposits are rare, so most is now produced synthetically.
- The pesticide contained cryolite as its active ingredient.
- Greenland was once the world’s primary source of natural cryolite.
- The aluminum factory required tons of cryolite for its production process.