2024-03-05
Mica-KAOLIN, CURIOUS USES AND APPLICATIONS
China was precisely the first country to use white clays in ceramics and in the 16th century it acquired great fame in the manufacture of porcelain among the Western nobility of the time. Therefore, its industrial use has always been very important throughout the world.This mineral is extracted from a mining operation and once extracted it must go through a beneficiation process to obtain washed kaolin as an industrial raw material.Kaolin is very versatile due to its qualities, not only industrial but also medicinal and healing when ingested. Although the most important application of kaolin is in the paper industry as a filler or coating pigment. In fact, estimates suggest that 45% of the total kaolin produced is destined for this industry. The rest is distributed between the production of ceramics, refractory products, paints and varnishes; creation of polymers and fiberglass, manufacture of pesticides and fertilizers and to a lesser extent, for the production of cosmetics .