How to Get Aluminum in Astroneer

Aluminum is one of the most important basic resources in Astroneer. It can be difficult to find and annoying to process, but you only need a few good spots to get the ball rolling. You might even be surprised that Aluminum has been right beside you all along.

Here’s how to get Aluminum in Astroneer.

Where to Get Aluminum in Astroneer

Technically, you can’t get Aluminum outright, and you have to process a resource called Laterite first. Laterite is a basic and natural resource that is found in caves. You’ll be forced to descend into the caves using Tethers to get down. Luckily, caves can be found almost everywhere.

You can find Laterite by going to the nearest cave to your base and exploring inside, as seen in the image above. Mine these Laterites as much as you want. I highly recommend that you stock up on them to save yourself from going back and forth.

Once you have Lateralites, go back to your base and head to your Smelting Furnace. The process of turning Lateralites into Aluminum is pretty much the same as making Ceramics. Place the Lateralites inside the Smelting Furnace, and it’ll produce Aluminum for you to use.

What is Aluminum Used For?

Aluminum is a crucial resource in Astroneer. It is used to create generators, oxygenators, rails, vehicles, landing pads, and, most importantly, Aluminum Alloys.

Aluminum Alloys also give you access to many more products, such as solar panels, vehicles, jump jets, turbines, and more.

In short, you won’t be able to get any of these without Aluminum, so you’ll want to have plenty of the shiny stuff, which makes it important to stock up on Lacerite during every cave adventure. You don’t want to run out of Aluminum — ever.