as used throughout the detailed description , the term &# 34 ; alumina &# 34 ; in general also covers metal oxides , and &# 34 ; carbon &# 34 ; in general also covers reducing agents . referring to fig1 of the drawings , wherein an electrolytic cell generally 10 for the electrolytic reduction of aluminum metal from an aluminous ore such as alumina or aluminum halides is shown , cell 10 includes a container 12 having a cathode collector bar 14 disposed at the bottom of the cell . the cathode collector bar 14 is insulated at the bottom surface thereof with insulation 16 . disposed oppositely from insulation 16 and on the upper surface of cathode collector bar 14 is a carbon cathode 18 which accommodates a pool of reduced molten aluminum 20 therein . floating on top of the molten aluminum 20 is an electrolyte bath 22 and immersed in electrolyte bath 22 is a hollow structure 30 which may be either tubular or , preferably , have a square or rectangular horizontal cross - section conforming to the shape of the electrolytic cell 10 . carbon and alumina particles 24 fill most of the hollow space within hollow structure 30 . perforations 31 through the base 34 of hollow structure 30 permit the electrolyte bath 22 within the electrolytic cell 10 to submerse the lower portion of carbon and alumina particles 24 and thereby make electrolytic contact with the submersed particles . at the periphery of electrolyte bath 22 , and where the temperatures are lower , the electrolyte bath 22 is in a frozen condition and may be covered with a covering 28 . means ( not shown ) for supplying carbon particulate material and aluminum oxide particulate material 24 provides the materials via inlets 36 and 38 . the hollow structure 30 is provided with a central rotating screw 32 therein for advancing the carbon particulate material and the aluminum oxide particulate material 24 and held within sleeve 39 is a shaft 37 which is connected to screw 32 . the advancement of the carbon particulate material and the aluminum oxide particulate material 24 within hollow structure 30 compresses the particulate material to greater than atmospheric pressure . shaft 37 is also suitably connected to a source of electric current ( not shown ) at terminal 34 . also , the hollow structure 30 may be supplied with a gas collecting skirt 40 which is preferably a truncated cone in shape and is sealingly connected to the hollow structure 30 . the lower peripheral edges 42 of skirt 40 are embedded in and covered by the frozen electrolyte covering 28 which is disposed over the frozen electrolyte 26 . gases generated by particulate material 24 are trapped beneath skirt 40 for collection and venting . alternatively , as shown in fig2 of the drawings , shaft 37 and screw 32 may be provided with a coaxial electrically insulated aperture 44 in which is situated a probe 46 for supplying electric current to the particulate material 24 . the probe 46 may be stationary or rotative with the shaft 37 and screw 32 . the probe 46 is connected to an electric current source ( not shown ) at terminal 48 and extends into particulate material 24 , and preferably into the electrolyte bath 22 . alternatively , the container 12 may be insulated and covered to engage skirt 40 or hollow structure 30 so as to eliminate the covering 28 and the frozen electrolyte 26 . preferably , this would eliminate external heating of the electrolyte bath 22 or permit increased spacing between the particulate material 24 and the cathode 18 . the reducing agent used in accordance with the present invention is not limited to any particular material , but could be any material known to be effective to react with an oxide of the metal to be recovered in the process . in the case of an aluminum chloride bath , the reaction is aluminum oxide to aluminum chloride with generation of an oxide gas . the reaction in the fluoride bath is not clearly defined and it may be that the reducing agent reacts with the aluminum oxide to produce aluminum ions . among the reducing agents that are particularly useful for electrolysis of alumina and other metal oxides is carbon . carbon is particularly preferred because it has the dual capacity of carrying current to the reaction site of the aluminum oxide , as well as acting as a reducing agent . a source of carbon in the intermixture can be any organic material having a fossil origin such as coke , coal or coal products . the method and apparatus of this invention is particularly useful on alumina , al 2 o 3 , but it also could be any aluminum oxide - bearing material such as bauxite or a clay such as kaolin or other material which would react at the anode to produce aluminum chloride or to be reduced to molten metal , as in the fluoride cycle process . as shown in fig1 the apparatus and methods of the present invention use particulates of carbon and alumina , rather than bulk - fabricated shapes of carbon , as the anode of material . the particular carbon and alumina particles which are usable in the method of the present invention should have suitable physical characteristics to provide the needed operating requirements of the electrolysis process . more specifically , the particulates of carbon and alumina should have preselected particle size ranges . yet further , for the purpose of conducting the improved methods of electrolysis of the present invention , the particles of carbon preferably should flow freely in the dry state . the free - flowing particulates can be introducted into the electrolytic cell as needed to maintain a steady state electro - chemical reaction condition . the base 34 of hollow structure 30 may consist of a porous membrane for supporting the anodic material and for providing a holding means against which the anode material could be advanced into the electrolytic bath to permit compression of the anodic particulates . in the instance of the particulate materials , a screw type conveyor would be most useful to advance the material . the characteristics of particulate material 24 to be used by the method described are extremely important to the successful performance of the electrolytic cell . the particulate material should have low electrical resistivity to minimize the internal energy losses within the current - carrying circuit . the particulate material should also have a relatively low thermal conductivity to minimize heat losses through the column of particulates and the electrode housing . of critical importance is the particle size of particulate material 24 . in one embodiment , the carbon and alumina particulates are intermixed , particle against particle . in this embodiment , the particle sizes of the carbon should range from about 5 to about 150 mesh u . s . standard sieve , and the alumina particles should range from about 100 to about 400 mesh . preferably , the carbon size range is from about 75 to about 125 mesh and the alumina from about 150 to about 350 mesh . more preferably , the carbon particle size is about 100 mesh and the alumina particle size range is between 200 to 300 mesh . in a second embodiment , the carbon particles and alumina particles are intermixed particle within particle ; that is , the alumina particles are held within or covered by the carbon particles . in this embodiment , the particle size of the carbon should range from about 5 to about 50 mesh and of the alumina from about 25 to about 200 microns . in a preferred embodiment , the carbon particle size is between about 10 to about 20 mesh . more preferably , the particle size of the carbon is about 15 mesh . preferably , the particle size of the alumina is from about 50 to about 100 microns , and more preferably is about 75 microns . the interlaticed carbon and alumina may be produced by a number of conventional methods , including cracking coke material in the presence of alumina particles . the anode material -- that is , the particulates -- of this invention should be maintained under compression during electrolysis . preferably , the compression forces are applied externally . the compression should be adequate to deform the carbon and alumina particles to cause increased contact area therebetween . preferably , the compression force is at least 5 psi , and more preferably the force is at least 10 psi . the portion of the anode which comprises metal should be maintained to cause the process to avoid the anodic effect . in an aluminum process in which the source of alumina is the anode , the ratio of reducing agent to aluminum oxide should be above 0 . 4 : 1 parts by weight . preferably , for purposes of the present invention , the amount of aluminum oxide in the mixture should be about 0 . 5 : 1 to 0 . 7 : 1 by weight reducing agent to alumina . in the case of aluminum as aluminous material , hydrated or calcined aluminum may be used . anodes formed from hydrated aluminum particulates have improved conductivity compared to calcined aluminum . the material for cathode is preferably a carbon block . to avoid electrolytic attack of hollow structure 30 , its lower portion in contact with molten cryolite is preferably made of an electrically nonconductive refractory material such as boron nitride or aluminum nitride . the particulate material 24 is fed through hollow structure 30 on demand . in the prior art , the size and surface area of the particles making up the anode have not been disclosed to have any sensitivity regarding reaction rate . it is an important aspect of this invention , however , that the size of the carbon particles and the alumina particles be controlled such that the electrical conductivity is maintained . it is another important aspect of this invention that the contact surface area of both materials be controlled for the particulates . it is generally desired to utilize aluminum with a surface area in the range of 10 to 125 meters per gram and a carbon reducing agent having a surface area of between 10 to 125 meters per gram . in the design of the inventive anode , a conductive core of aluminum or other conductive material is unnecessary , since the particulates are selected such that they , together with the compressive means , cause the anode to be as conductive as that disclosed in &# 39 ; 177 . it is therefore seen from the above that the present invention provides an improved process and apparatus for recovery of aluminum from aluminous ore by combined metallurgical and electrolytical techniques . it is also estimated that the capital cost for such a process is about the same or slightly less than that of the conventional hall - heroult process and that the process and apparatus of this invention may be economically retrofitted into the current commercial hall - heroult process apparatus . it is understood that , although the present invention has been described in terms of particular materials and process steps , changes and modifications can be made in accordance with known techniques and materials by one skilled in the art within the scope of the following claims .