We Have Been Overlooking Better Clay Deposits

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.

Related Pictures

Landmark Book on the Clay Resources of Saskatchewan

Book cover and picture of Prof Worcestor

This picture has its own page with more detail, click here to see it.

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.

A Highly Plastic White Burning Kaolinized Sand:

This proves we can have a Canadian kaolin

This picture has its own page with more detail, click here to see it.

This is kaolinized sand from Flintoft, Saskatchewan. It is among clays we are currently rediscovering. This is far more plastic and fires much whiter than our Ravenscrag quarry equivalent. Consider highlights of physical tests to characterize it (data shown lower left):
-Super refractory (thus theoretically pure). The SHAB test bars (lower right from cone 10R and 10 down to 6 oxidation) correspond to the SHAB test results in the chart. Even at cone 10, this has an amazing 19% porosity. With almost zero shrinkage.
-Plasticity: Excellent (notice the texture of the plastic material in the close-up photo on the upper left).
-The DFAC test disk upper right shows perfect drying performance and very low soluble salts.
-White burning: The top bar is reduction-fired yet barely darker than the one below it at the same temperature in oxidation (indicating low iron content).
-Centre-bottom: G1947U clear glaze on it fired at cone 10R.
-Easy-to-access in new and old quarry sites.
I compared this with about 10 other clays in the area, doing the same for all of them, preserving a treasure trove of data for clays we have been overlooking.

Whiter Clays and Grinding Capacity:

Two problems solved in one place!

This picture has its own page with more detail, click here to see it.

This is at the Whitemud Resources metakaolin (MK) site midway between Scout Lake and Wood Mountain, Saskatchewan. They mine ore that is separated into kaolin (reject material is silica sand) then dehydroxylated into metakaolin; an SCM (Supplementary Cementing Material), MK itself is a natural aluminosilicate pozzolan. They have a giant plant (the dome is big enough to play soccer in) and are capable of processing an order of magnitude more than we can. The mining face in their quarry appears to have the same layers that we mine in Ravenscrag. But, there are very fortunate differences:
-This deposit is near Flintoft, these clays will be much purer and whiter than what we can get in our Ravenscrag quarry (pending testing, of course).
-We need what is above the coal seam, they need what is below (their garbage is our gold).
-The layers appear to be the same as those in our existing quarry.
-Their grinding plant is capable of micron-sizes and is gigantic.
-Their by-product is silica sand!
-They are working on a mining plan for August extraction.
This is close to a "marriage made in heaven", we shall see. It is certainly going in the direction of enabling us to improve product quality. And hopefully, soon make an all-Canadian porcelain.

Videos

Links

URLs	https://claybankbrick.ca/ Claybank Brick Plant National Historic Site A refractory brick manufacturer, cradled in the Dirt Hills of Southern Saskatchewan, for 75 years (from 1914-1989).

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