Geological Evaluation of a Commercial Ball Clay Deposit

The geology and mineralogy of a range of kaolins from the Santa Cruz and Chubut Provinces, Patagonia (Argentina)

“…Even though kaolinite is the major mineral in most deposits, there are significantly different mineralogical assemblages and kaolinite characteristics in the different mines. These features need to be clearly understood in order to manage daily changes during extraction and to fulfil the strict clay type requirements for the ceramic industry (Eichlin, 2001). The first part of this study herein describes geology, mineralogy, major and trace elements -including one new stable isotopic datum -grain size distribution, and surface area of natural and washed primary and secondary kaolins.…”