• ‘China clay’ and ‘Kaolin’ are often used almost

synonymously.
• The word ‘Kaolin’ originates from Chinese ‘kauling’
(meaning high ridge). China Clay (kaolin) is a general term
applied to naturally occurring clay.
• Specific gravity 2.6
• Fusion point is 1785°C.
• It is produced by the weathering of feldspathic constituent of
different rocks
 RESOURCES
• China clay resources in the country as per UNFC system as
on 1.4.2005 have been placed at 2595.66 million tonnes,
• The reserves are only about 8% rest resources at 222
million tonnes.

Out of the total reserves

• About 102 million tonnes under proved category.
• About 121 million tonnesunder probable category.
• Spread over in a number of States
Kerala holds about 24%;West Bengal (16%) ; Rajasthan
(14%) ; Orissa (11%) and Karnataka (10%).
 Reserves/ resources of China Clay as on 1.4.2005
000 Tonnes
  Reserves Remaining resources Total resources
All India : Total 222121 2373540 2595661
Andhra Pradesh 11908 61767 73675
Assam 131 3912 4043
Bihar 0 1438 1438
Chhattisgarh 2678 12088 14766
Delhi 79 5210 5289
Goa 0 16 16
Gujarat 67190 43958 111148
Haryana 36 12029 12065
Jammu & Kashmir 0 28122 28122
Jharkhand 30647 159493 190140
Karnataka 7687 249369 257056
Kerala 9551 621101 630652
Madhya Pradesh 1386 11774 13161
Maharashtra 772 6477 7248
Manipur 0 2520 2520
Meghalaya 0 88875 88875
Orissa 39373 238789 278162
Punducherry 0 2940 2940
Rajasthan 42292 329418 371710
Tamilnadu 0 56897 56897
Uttar Pradesh 0 25065 25065
West Bengal 8390 412281 420671
 STATE WISE RESOURCES OF CHINA CLAY
700000

600000
500000

400000
Tonnes

300000

200000
100000

States
 Kaolin is commercially valued for:
• whiteness
• fine particle size
• brightness,
• glossiness,
• abrasiveness
• viscosity.
• chemically inert
• Do not swell with the addition
• of water.
 PRODUCTION
• Kaolin is produced in the country in crude & processed forms.
Crude Production 2006-07
• Gujarat 46%
• Kerala 20%
• Rajasthan 15%
• West Bengal 8%
• Jharkhand 5%
• Andhra Pradesh 4%
• Chhattisgarh, Karnataka,
Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra
and Orissa 2%.
Processed Production 2006-07
• Kerala 75%
• Jharkhand 11%
• Gujarat 9%
• West Bengal 2%
• Orissa 1%
• Karnataka 2%
 Production of Kaolin,Total
TONNES

State 2004-05 2005-06 2006-07

All India : Total 933654 1335744 1301199

Andhra Pradesh 53170 29628 47059

Chhattisgarh 2970 1405 2149
Gujarat 226063 417188 503783
Jharkhand 60685 118931 79398
Karnataka 12372 12166 4090
Kerala 334111 474594 398428
Madhya Pradesh 15522 16835 14319
Maharashtra 890 380 372
Orissa 8006 4431 2712
Rajasthan 152699 178936 162516
West Bengal 67166 81250 86373
 PR0DUCTION OF CHINA CLAY,Total,2006-07
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 Production of China Clay
Natural and Processed
In tonnes
State 2005-06 2006-07
Natural Processed Natural Processed

India 934263 401481 1049707 251492

Andhra Pradesh 29628 - 47059 -
Chhattisgarh 1405 - 2149 -
Gujarat 388605 28583 479915 23868
Jharkhand 48313 70618 51159 28239
Karnataka - 12166 - 4090
Kerala 192620 281974 210446 187982
Madhya Pradesh 16835 - 14319 -

Maharashtra 380 - 372 -

Orissa 2751 1680 1017 1695
Rajasthan 178936 - 162516 -
West Bengal 74790 6460 80755 5618
 PRODUCTION OF NATURAL AND PROCESSED
CHINA CLAY,2006-07

NATURAL

PROCESSED

Kerala Jharkhand Gujarat

West Bengal Karnataka Orissa
Andhra Pradesh Chhattisgarh Madhya Pradesh
Maharashtra Rajasthan
 Resources v/s Production
000 Tonnes
States Resources Production
1.4.2005 2006-07
Andhra Pradesh 73675 47
Assam 4043 NIL
Bihar 1438 NIL
Chhattisgarh 14766 2
Delhi 5289 NIL
Goa 16 NIL
Gujarat 111148 504
Haryana 12065 NIL
Jammu & Kashmir 28122 NIL
Jharkhand 190140 79
Karnataka 257056 4
Kerala 630652 398
Madhya Pradesh 13161 14
Maharashtra 7248 0.3
Manipur 2520 NIL
Meghalaya 88875 NIL
Orissa 278162 3
Punducherry 2940 NIL
Rajasthan 371710 163
Tamilnadu 56897 NIL
Uttar Pradesh 25065 NIL
West Bengal 420671 86
 RESOURCES v/s PRODUCTION

RESOURCES

PRODUCTION

Gujarat Kerala Rajasthan

West Bengal Jharkhand Andhra Pradesh
Madhya Pradesh Karnataka Orissa
Chhattisgarh Maharashtra Assam
Bihar Delhi Goa
Haryana Jammu & Kashmir Manipur
Meghalaya Punducherry Tamilnadu
Uttar Pradesh
 MINING
•China clay deposits worked in India are mostly of pocket-type.
•Opencast manual mining is followed in most kaolin mines.
•The most common practice is to dig trial pits for locating clay pockets
or beds which are gradually enlarged into pits of various dimensions.
• Clay and overburden are quarried in benches.
 PROCESSING
•The natural china clay is being processed in the country
mostly by the conventional method of levigation
/washing.

• In addition, hi-tech processes, such as,

Mozeley hydrocyclone separator,
high-intensity magnetic separator,
bleaching (chemical decolourisation),
spray drying and calcination are being practised.

•There is a need to use more sophisticated processing

techniques like ultra froth-flotation, cryo-filter, etc.
PROCESSING (contd.)

China clay exhibits a marked whiteness and fine particle

size in its natural size in its natural state, which properties
are optimised during subsequent processing.
These two key properties principally determine the
commercial value of china clay and distinguish it from
other clays, such as ball clay and fireclay. Though the
clays have been since ancient times in pottery industry,
production of modern whiteware commenced in India in
the middle of 19th century at Pathargatta in Bihar.
PRODUCTS OF
CHINA CLAY
 USES

• China clay (Kaolin) is used in a number of industries in

both crude and processed forms. Major use for crude chinaclay is
in cement industry insecticide and refractory are other user .

• ceramic industry is Major consumer of processed form of

chinaclay. Besides ceramics, paper, paint, rubber, plastic, fibre
glass,cosmetics,
pharmaceuticals and textiles consume processed china clay.

• Other uses of chinaclay are in ink, ultramarine, synthetic zeolites,

catalyst, water filter candles, soaps and detergents and explosives
and pyrotechnic industry.
 Uses of China Clay
Major Uses Minor Uses
• Adhesives
• Ceramic & • Cement
refractories • Fabrics
• Paper filling • Ink
• Paper coating • Leather
• Rubber filler • Medicines
• Plastic filler • Oil secondary recovery
• Paint filler • Pozzolana
• Pesticides
• Soaps
• Cardboard coating
• Fire retardant building material
 Specifications of China Clay required in Different
Industries
 
Industry Bureau of Indian Standard
Specification No.

Ceramics 2840(1993)
Grades I
II
III
Paper Coating Gr.-1 505(1995)
Filler in Paper,
Rubber, textile Gr. II
Paint Grade Gr. I & II 68(1979)

Cosmetics 1463(1983)

Explosives 7589(1974)

 
 CONSUMPTION
• The main consuming industry for raw china clay is the china clay
processing/refining plants.
• Cement, refractories and pesticides industries are other consumer of
raw china clay
• The consumption of kaolin by various industries increased to 486
Thousand tonnes in 2005-06, from 438, Thousand tonnes in
2004-05.
• Cement accounted for 49%,
• Ceramic 30%,
• Pesticide 5%,
• Paint 5%,
• Refractory 5%
• Paper 4%
• Cosmetics, rubber, abrasive, asbestos products, chemical, dry cell
batteries, electrical, electrode and glass industries together about
2%
 CONSUMPTION OF CHINA CLAY
(In ‘000 tonnes)

Industry 2005-06 %

CONSUMPTION OF CHINA CLAY BY

All 486 - INDUSTRIES,2005-06
Industries

Cement 238 49 250

200
Ceramics 147 30

150
Paint 23 5
100

Paper 20 4
50

Pesticides 25 5 0

Pesticides

Others
Paint
Ceramics

Refractories
Cement

Paper
Refrac- 23 5
tories

Others 10 2
 Industry-wise uses of China clay
Ceramics
Ceramic products are porcelain-wares, table wares, sanitary wares,
glazed tiles, flooring & wall tiles and electrical insulation. The
properties required for use in ceramic industry are :
• Plasticity
• Drying capacity
• Amenability to firing
• Firing colour.
In the manufacture of insulators electrical properties such as
conductivity, dielectric content, power factor and others are
important. Manufacture of ceramics needs various combinations of
these properties to suit the particular manufacturing process to
achieve certain properties in the finished products.
 Paper
• China clay is used for paper coating to
provide a smooth even surface and to impart glaze.
• Various grades of better quality china clay of
fine mesh are used depending upon the quality
of the paper required to be manufactured.
• The whiteness, ink absorption, chemical
inertness, uniformity of particle size and
retentive properties determine the suitability
of china clay for use in paper coating.
Rubber and plastic
In rubber and plastic industry, it is used as a filler
and as a reinforcing and stiffening agent. China clay
gives good electrical resistance and improves the
resistance of plastic sheet(PVC) in cable.
Thus it operates as a functional extender
rather than just a filler. Electrical impact resistance,
gloss and stiffness and brittleness are other
properties which are imparted to plastic (PVC) by china clay.
 Paint
China clay is used as a filler extender in paint manufacture with
titanium dioxide, talc and calcium carbonate. The advantage of china
clay as a filler used in exterior paints over the other filler materials
mentioned above is due to its superior weatherability and dry-hiding
power. Water washed china clay is compatible with water-based
paints which are used to over-come the pollution problems and health
risks associated with solvent based paints. The properties like
antisetting and tinting effect, colloidal nature, softness, freedom from
grit, white colour and fine size are some of the qualities of china clay
which make it suitable for use in paint and distemper manufacture.
 Insecticides, pharmaceuticals and cosmetics
• Used in the manufacture of disinfectant like
D.D.T. It is also utilized for the manufacture of
cosmetics and pharmaceutical products like face
powder, talcum powder, tooth paste, tooth powder,
adhesives, surgical plaster, lotion and ointment
for external use and porcelain in the dental preparation.
It is used in the purification of substances like caffeine,
cantheridin and santouin in toxicological analysis.
China clay absorbs toxins and bacteria responsible
for various types of intestinal infections hence it
is used in the therapeutic intestinal absorbent preparations.
Textile
Mixed with some adhesives,
china clay is used for filling,
sizing and backing textiles
of various kinds.
 Refractory
In the manufacture of refractory bricks, the coarse fraction of china
clay from the sedimentation tank is used. Refractories used as kiln
furniture are produced from china clay and talc with suitable calcined
grog. China clay has limited uses in refractories industry, its main
application being in the production of insulation bricks.

Cement
China clay is invariably used in the manufacture of white cement. The
ordinary portland cement industry requires alumina and silica as
constituents in the manufacture of cement to maintain silica module.
China clay with other clays provides a low cost source of raw material
to the cement industry. Calcined china clay is also used as pozzolanic
material in the manufacture of portland pozzolana cement.
 Other Uses
Ink : Water washed and chemically bleached
china clay is used largely in printing inks.

Ultramarine : The purer type of china clay forms

the essential raw material for the manufacture of
ultramarine.

Synthetic zeolites : New uses of china clay are in the manufacture of

synthetic zeolites. It is a major breakthrough in the industrial
application of china clay. Calcined china clay is used as a source of
alumina and silica to produce zeolites. Synthetic zeolites are used in
the refineries and petrochemical industries as molecular sieves
which are becoming widely used.
Catalyst: The relatively new field is the chemical
modification of china clay to make it an effective
catalyst for use in petroleum refining. China clay is
treated with sulphuric acid and calcined to produce the
catalyst.
Water filter candles : They are prepared from china clay
which is mixed with wood powder, burnt and made into
moulds used in water filtering. It is an extended product
of ceramics.
Explosive and pyrotechnic industry : Widely used in
explosive formulations, both commercial and military.
Soaps and detergent : In the manufacture of soaps and
detergents as dehydrating agent.
Fibre glass :Air floated or spray dried china clay is used in
the fibre glass manufacture as a filler.
TRADE
 Exports of Kaolin (Total),2005-06
(In ‘000 tonnes)

Major Qty
Country EXPORTS OF CHINA CLAY ,2005-06 (000 tonnes)

All 65
Countries
30
Bangladesh 30
25

UAE 20 20

15
Srilanka 2
10

Nepal 2 5

0
UAE

Nepal

Jordan
Srilanka

Others
Jordan 2
Bangladesh

Others 9
 Imports of Kaolin (Total),2005-06
(In ‘000 tonnes)

Major Qty IMPORTS OF CHINA CLAY ,2005-06 (000 tonnes)

Country

All 41
Countries 14

USA 13 12

10
Ukraine 12 8

6
China 5
4

Brazil 5 2

0
USA

China

Brazil

Others
Ukraine

Others 6
CHINA CLAY ART WORK