AKA Mining & Minerals Company
AKA Mining & Minerals Company
Ball clay is quite malleable, and it has very little mineral impurities.
The material’s condition determines the hue it takes on. Typically, they are a dark grey while wet but a pale grey or white when burnt. They don’t require as high of a firing temperature as porcelain clays (1,280 °C) to reach their full hardness.
Because of their extreme shrinkage when dried or fried, ball clays are rarely useful on their own. When combined with other clays, however, such as porcelain, they gain a remarkable amount of workability and plasticity and become incredibly useful. Ball clays are well-known for their rheological stability and their pale tint after curing. They may be used with stoneware clays to create an entirely different aesthetic.
Ball clay in world is widely sought after because of its many valuable applications in the pottery, tile, and sanitaryware industries. Kaolinite accounts for 20%-80% of the weight of ball clays, while mica makes for 10%-25% and quartz sand or other accessory minerals make up the rest. The grain size of ball clays is often quite small.
Due to its great flexibility and strength, as well as its white-firing qualities, ball clay is the most crucial ingredient in ceramic production. Many types of ceramics, such as dishware and utensils, rely on their combination with other materials.
Ball clays are stable at very high temperatures without affecting their chemical makeup. That’s why you’ll find them in things like kiln insulation and other refractory goods everywhere.
Because of its malleability and high binding strength, ball clay in India is perfect for making tiles. Tiles are made with it and other materials including talc, feldspar, silica, and kaolin.
Ball clays, in addition to being resistant to heat, are also great insulators. That’s why they’re so common in the manufacturing of porcelain insulators and other forms of electrical insulation.
In addition to these primary uses, ball clays have a wide variety of secondary applications in the fields of building, agriculture, and horticulture. Plastics, sealants, polymers, and even fertilisers all employ it as a filler ingredient.