(054) Digging Up The Past

More from the 35mm negatives. This is a shot from the Alcan factory that used to be in Burntisland. The factory processed bauxite ore, mainly from Ghana, and produced a range of alumina chemicals that were used in applications as diverse as spark plugs and toothpaste. The factory was originally built in 1917 to supply alumina for the production of aluminium metal at smelters in the west highlands but later switched to producing higher quality products. The plant closed at the end of 2002 and the site is now a housing estate. The extra shot is a wider view of the bauxite stockpile (the 'ore hill') and 'A Block' which was where the bauxite was fed into ball mills to begin the process.