Alunite | Mineral, Description, Uses, Facts | Britannica
alunite, a widespread rockforming sulfate mineral that occupies pockets or seams in volcanic rocks such as rhyolites, trachytes, and andesites, where it presumably formed through their chemical reaction with escaping sulfurous vapours. It has been used as a source of potash (during World War I) and as a source of alumina (during World War II); in Europe it was once used extensively to make ...