Gallium hydroxide, Ga₃, is the normal mineral form of gallium

Gallium

Gallium is a chemical element that has the symbol Ga and atomic number 31. Elemental gallium does not occur in nature, but as the gallium salt in trace amounts in bauxite and zinc ores. A soft silvery metallic poor metal, elemental gallium is a brittle solid at low temperatures. As it liquefies...

 in the Earth's crust.

Gallium hydroxide is very rarely found as a discrete mineral called söhngeite. More commonly, gallium replaces aluminium

Aluminium

Aluminium or aluminum is a silvery white member of the boron group of chemical elements. It has the symbol Al, and its atomic number is 13. It is not soluble in water under normal circumstances....

 in ore

Ore

An ore is a type of rock that contains minerals with important elements including metals. The ores are extracted through mining; these are then refined to extract the valuable element....

s such as bauxite

Bauxite

Bauxite is an aluminium ore and is the main source of aluminium. This form of rock consists mostly of the minerals gibbsite Al3, boehmite γ-AlO, and diaspore α-AlO, in a mixture with the two iron oxides goethite and hematite, the clay mineral kaolinite, and small amounts of anatase TiO2...

. Rich sources may contain almost 1% Ga replacing Al, but a more typical value is a hundred times less.

Gallium hydroxide is amphoteric. In strongly acidic conditions, the gallium ion

Ion

An ion is an atom or molecule in which the total number of electrons is not equal to the total number of protons, giving it a net positive or negative electrical charge. The name was given by physicist Michael Faraday for the substances that allow a current to pass between electrodes in a...

, Ga³⁺ is formed. In strongly basic conditions, Ga(OH)₄⁻ is formed. Salts of Ga(OH)₄⁻ are sometimes called gallates.