Quantification of halloysite and kaolinite in clay deposits from X-ray diffraction (XRD) commonly requires extensive sample preparation to differentiate the two phyllosilicates. When assessing hundreds of samples for mineral resource estimations, XRD analyses may become unfeasible due to time and expense. Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) analysis is a fast and cost-effective method to discriminate between kaolinite and halloysite; however, few efforts have been made to use this technique for quantified analysis of these minerals. In this study, we trained machine- and deep-learning models on XRD data to predict the abundance of kaolinite and halloysite from FTIR, chemical composition, and brightness data. The case study is from the Cloud Nine kaolinite–halloysite deposit, Noombenberry Project, Western Australia. The residual clay deposit is hosted in the saprolitic and transition zone of the weathering profile above the basement granite on the southwestern portion of the Archean Yilgarn Craton. Compared with XRD quantification, the predicted models have an R2 of 0.97 for kaolinite and 0.96 for halloysite, demonstrating an excellent fit. Based on these results, we demonstrate that our methodology provides a cost-effective alternative to XRD to quantify kaolinite and halloysite abundances.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
customersupport@researchsolutions.com
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
Copyright © 2025 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.