Landmark Book on the Clay Resources of Saskatchewan

Written by W. G. Worcester and published in 1950. He was the first head of the University of Saskatchewan’s one-man Department of Ceramic Engineering and had a lab equipped with clay processing and testing equipment that many would admire today! He outlines clay geology in general, then the geological history of the province of Saskatchewan in that context. He describes the technology of ceramic materials, the major clays used in industry and the equivalent materials in the province. He submits hundreds of samples with physical test data clearly describing them and their locations (using extensive maps and diagrams). His work inspired Luke Lindoe, who continued it during the 1950s to 1970s. That inspired us to develop the testing methods used at Plainsman Clays to this day. And it gave us several clay quarries that have served the company for 50 years. It also alerts us that there of clay of much higher quality further east.

Related Pictures

Another Saskatchewan Outrop:

We need to pay more attention

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This one is saying: "I am the whitest kaolin in Saskatchewan. And, I am so plastic that even though I am mixed with 50% sand, I can be modelled and formed with no problem. Just remove the sand and you will have a world-class kaolin that is Canadian". W. G. Worster, called these kaolinized sands, which can be found in south central part of the province, "splendid". This outcrop is in Halbrite, a small town southeast of Weyburn. There are lots of other deposits, especially in the Wood Mountain, Flintoft and Claybank area that are also much whiter than anything we currently can get in Ravenscrag. But this one is king so far. Should we keep importing from Georgia or develop our own Canadian kaolin?

We Have Been Overlooking Better Clay Deposits

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An update of the book "Clay Resources of Saskatchewan". The cover photo is titled "Kaolinized sand of the Whitemud Formation". The writers are lamenting the underutilization of this resource and almost pleading for industry to recognize its value! The cover shows the mining face at the historic Claybank brick plant. This clay is far whiter than what Painsman Clays mines at Ravenscrag, Sask (about 250km west of this). This site was mined from the 1800s to 1970s. Bricks were made in half a dozen large beehive kilns and, even though reduction-fired with gas, they burned far too white. The company increased reduction to the point that soot formed on the bricks to darken the color and turn them brown!

We are finally listening and rediscovering how much whiter and more pure clays are further east in Saskatchewan (compared to our current mining site in the west). This hill is kaolinized sand, that sand can be removed to produce a Canadian raw kaolin that could replace much the hundreds of thousands of tons that are currently imported each year from Georgia, USA.

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Mother Nature's Porcelain - Plainsman 3B
This Saskatchewan clay contains natural feldspar, quartz and a variety of clay minerals, all blended by nature, to produce a porcelain, that although not white-burning, rivals or exceeds the strength achievable using industrial imported minerals

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