SMSftf&IIISHLOMNL SURVEY 3 3051 00005 8770 6i >.16 ) { ILLINOIS STATE GEOLOGICAL SURVEY Urbana, Illinois Jotin C. Frye, Ciiief V ILLINOIS INDUSTRIAL MINERALS NOTES N ) Number 16, August 14, 1S52 ILLINOIS GEOLOGICAL SURVEY LIBRARY SEP 5 i962 REFRACTORY CLAY RESOURCES CF ILLINOIS W. Arthur White ABSTRACT This report is designed as a guide to prospecting for refractory clays in Illinois, Refractory clays are known to occur in the Caseyville, Abbott, Spoon, Carbondale , and Modesto Formations of the Penney Ivanian Series and in the Cretaceous Series of rocks. The clays and shales are classified into four levels of refractori- ness—super duty, P.C.E. 33 and above; high duty, P.C.E. 31 to 33; medium duty, P.C.E. 29 to 31*; and low duty, P.C.E. 15 to 29. INTRODUCTION At present, clays are being mined for refractory purposes in four counties: Grundy, LaSalle, Massac, and Scott. The clays are used for making refractory brick, shapes, and cements, for a bonding material in synthetic molding sands where refractoriness is desired, for linings where refractory monolithic walls are needed, and for various other uses. This report may be used as a guide to further prospecting for refrac- tory clay and as an aid in industrial zoning problems of the community. GEOLOGY Most of the refractory clays in Illinois have been mined from the Spoon and Abbott Formations of the Pennsy Ivanian Series and from rock deposits of the Cretaceous Series in Union County. Other Pennsy Ivanian formations that contain refractory clays are Caseyville, Carbondale, and Modesto; and other Cretaceous deposits in Massac, Pope, Pulaski, and Alexander Counties also are a source of refractory clays. MINERALOGY RELATED TO GEOLOGY Work with recent sediments (Grim and Johns, 1954; Brown and Ingram, 1954) indicate that kaolinite is more abundant near shore than farther out in - 2 - a deposit ional basin. Recant work by Parham (1962), Groot and Glass (1960), Waage (1961), Grim et al. (1957), and Pryor and Glass (1961) suggests that in ancient sediments, kaolinite-rich sediments occur near the periphery of a sedimentary basin, and that the nonrefractory clay minerals — illite, mont- morillonite, chlorite, vermiculite, and mixed-layer clay minerals, increase in relative abundance with increased distance from shore. However, this is true only if the contributing source area originally coutained kaolinite. Most of the outcrop areas of the clays of the Caseyville, Abbott, and Spoon Formations and the Cretaceous deposits in Illinois, contain enough kaolinite to be considered refractory, whereas in subsurface areas they may not. Usually the shale3 of the Pennsylvanian formations are less refractory than the closely associated clays. In addition to these formations, the underclay below the Danville (No. 7) Coal of the Carbondale Formation in Grundy County and the underclay below the Chapel (No. 8) Coal of the Modesto Formation tnat extends along the outcrop belt starting east of Paris in Edgar Coanty and continuing northwest to west of Danville near Oakwood in Vermilion County, contain enough kaolinite for low heat-duty refractories. MINERALOGY AND REFRACTORINESS The refractoriness of clay materials in Illinois tends to be con- trolled by the quantity of kaolinite in relation to the other minerals. The more kaolinite, the more refractory the clay material tends to be. Large quantities of quartz may increase or decrease the refractoriness of a clay material. The particle size of the quartz also may influence the refractori- ness of a clay material — the larger the pariicle size the more refractory the clay material. Large particles leave less surface area to enter Into the reaction between the clay particles and the quarts. However, a mixture of kaolinite and quartz will be less refractory than either one alone. In some sandy clays, where the nonrefractory clay minerals and kaoli- nite are about equal and where the quartz content is sufficiently great, the quartz may contribute to the refractoriness. Pyrice, siderite, gypsum, and lime will tend to reduce the refrac- toriness of clay materials and these minerals are most effective in lowering the refractoriness if they are finely disseminated throughout the clay mass. Large crystals cause either iron or lime pops in the fired brick. Iron pops occur during the firing, but lime pops occur after they have been fired and are allowed to stand in the atmosphere. If the clay is allowed to weather, any pyrite present will oxidize forming ferrous sulfate and sulfuric acid. The sulfuric acid will react with any lime that might be present to form gypsum. These soluble salts will re- duce the refractoriness of the clay since they would be distributed throughout the clay mass by the addition of water to form the ware. Such weathering will change the plastic properties of the clay by making the clay more plastic which, in turn, will require more water for plasticity. The shrinkage of the final product will also be greater. The refractoriness of the clays will vary from one geographic loca- tion to another and from one stratigraphic unit to another in any given for- mation. These differences may be due to variations in clay mineralogy, to the nonciay mineralogy, or both. These lateral variations, particularly in the nonciay components, can change over distances of only a few feet. Any component can vary markedly in the vertical direction. Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2012 with funding from University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign http://archive.org/details/refractoryclayre16whit REFRACTORINESS OF CLAY Cone 33 min. ( Super duty ) Cone 31-33 ( High duty Cone 29-31 ( Med. duty Cone 15-29 2A ( Low duty ) Miles 25 1 M M l-= Fig. 1 — Outcrop areas of refractory clays in Illinois - 3 - CLASSIFICATION The American Society for Testing Materials has classified refrac- tory clays according to their ability to withstand hsat. The refractoriness of the clay is measured in pyrometric cone equivalents (P.C.E.). A cona of clay and standard cones are heated together and the fusion is ccmparad. When the clay melts its refractoriness is recorded as, for example, P.C.E. 30, above 30, 30-31, or below 30. The uses are (American Society for Testing Materials, 1958): Super heat duty P.C.E. 33 minimum Eigh heat duty P.C.E. 31 minimum Medium heat duty P.C.E. 29 minimum Low heat duty P.C.E. 15 minimum The information (fig. 1) shot-ring the locations for refractory materials was ta-cen frort published reports (Purdy and De'Jolf , 19C7; Par- melee and Schroyer, 1921; Ilolfe et al., 1908; Lamar, 1931; Willman and Payne, 1942; Lamat , 1S4&; Parham, 1959; Parbam, I960; White and Lairar, 1960; and Tarham, 1961). and from unpublished data, The areas for which no P.C.E. values exist are filled in from the mineralogical data and from the geological data. In areas where only one P.CE. value is krewn, that class ie used. In areas where several P.C.E. values are known and where the majority falls in the maximum class, the whole araa is given to that class. If one or two values are above the majority, the araa ir* indicated by the symbol of the majority and a dot indicates the maximum class. In any area seme samples may be found which may fall below the class indicated. Anyone interested in any of these areas may write to the Illinois Geological Suivey and obtain more specific information. REFERENCES Brown, C. Q., and Ingram, R. L., 1954, The clay minerals of the Neuse River sediments: Jour, of Sed. Petrology, v. 24, no. 3, p. 196-199. Grim, R. E., Bradley, W. F., and White, W. A., 1957, Petrology of the paleo- zoic shales of Illinois: Illinois Geol. Survey Rept. Inv. 203, 35 p. Grim, R. E., and Johns, W. D., 1954, Clay mineral investigation of sediments in the northern Gulf of Mexico, in Clays and Clay Minerals: Natl. Acad. Sci., Natl. Research Council Pub. 327, p. 81-103. Groot, J. J., and Glass, H. D. , 1960, Some aspects of the mineralogy of the northern Atlantic Coastal Plain, in Clays and Clay Minerals: Proc. 7th Natl. Clay Conf., New York, Pergamon Tress, p. 271-284. Lamar, J. E., 1931, Refractory clays in Calhoun and Pike Counties, Illinois: Illinois Geol. Survey Fept. Inv. 22, 43 p. Lamar, J. E., 1948, Clay and shale resources of extreme southern Illinois: Illinois Geol. Survey Rept. Inv. 128, 107 p. Parham, W. E., 1959, Light-burning clay resources in LaSalle County, Illinois: Illinois Geol. Survey Circ. 277, 27 p. Parham, W. E., 1960, Lower Pennsyivanian clay resources of Knox County, Illinois: Illinois Geol. Survey Circ. 302, 19 p. Parham, W. E., 1961, Lower Pennsyivanian clay resources of Rock Island, Mercer, and Henry Counties: Illinois Geol. Survey Circ. 322, 40 p. Parham, W. E., 1962, Clay mineral facies of certain Pennsyivanian underclays: Ph.D. thesis, University of Illinois, 122 p. Parmelee, C. W., and Schroyer, C. R. , 1921, Further investigations of Illinois fire clays: Illinois Geol. Survey Bull. 38D, 149 p. Pryor, W. A., and Glass, H. D. , 1961, Cretaceous -Tertiary clay mineralogy of the Upper Mississippi Ernbayment: Jour, of Sed. Petrology, v. 31, p. 38- 51. Purdy, R. C, and DeWolf, F. V7. , 1907, Preliminary investigation of Illinois fire clays: Illinois Geol. Survey Bull. 4, p. 129-175. Rolfe, C. W., Purdy, R. C, Talbot, A. N., and Baker, I. 0., 1908, Paving brick and paving brick clavs of Illinois: Illinois Geol. Survey Bull. 9, 316 p. Waage", K. M. , 1961, Stratigraphy and refractory clay rocks of the Dakota Group along the Northern Front Range, Colorado: U. S. Geol. Survey Bull. 1102, 154 p. White, W. A., and Lamar, J. E., 1960, Ceramic tests of Illinois clays and shales: Illinois Geol. Survey Circ. 303, 72 p. Willman, H. B., and Payne, J. N. , 1942, Geology and mineral resources of the Marseilles, Ottawa, and Streator Quadrangles: Illinois Geol. Survey Bull. 66, p. 372-376.