Ball Clay: Bikaner, Rajasthan
M Grade – This grade clay available in few mines in Bikaner is very high plastic in nature. The shrinkage is very high for this clay; in some cases it goes up to 18 to 20%. The colour after firing is normally dark due to the presence of iron and titanium impurities.
The special characteristics of this clay are its very high plasticity and its green strength. However this clay has got the flocculating character and the response with de-flocculants is very poor. This property makes it problematic clay in slip casting ceramic products manufacturing process and limiting the percentage addition in the body formulation. However this clay can be used in Porcelain Insulator Industries, where the turning process is adopted for the manufacturing process.
