Ball clay, for its definition, is a mineral that is used in many industries including ceramics and its export market is expected to grow in 2022. Ball clay is an extremely rare rock, found only in a few places in the world. Ball clay is particularly valued as an essential material in the manufacture of ceramics. Ball clay is of sedimentary origin. Ancient rivers and streams washed kaolinite (formed from decomposed granite) from its parent rock. When streams flowed down from the highlands, they mixed with other clay minerals, sand, pebbles, and vegetation before settling in low-lying basins to form overlapping layers of clay balls. Ball clays typically contain three predominant minerals: 20-80% kaolin, 10-25% mica, and 6-65% quartz. In addition, other "extra" minerals and some carbonaceous substances (derived from ancient plants) are present. The wide variation in both mineral composition and clay particle size leads to different properties of individual clay layers within the sediment. Ball clay is very plastic and its grains are much finer than kaolin. Easily sprayed into the water when dry. 
Few people fully appreciate how "sticky" and plastic these materials are until they mix some with water and work with them neatly. The fine size of the particles also makes them impervious to water (a small test strip can take a long time to dry). While potters only purchase the ball of clay in powder form, industrial users have access to the material in many forms (crushed, spaghetti, partially deflated, crushed filter press cake, vacuum minced extrusion, and crumbled with about a 10 % moisture). These shapes allow for a more consistent supply and a lot of flexibility, especially when making slip molds (as clay balls are the most difficult material to disperse into objects). Ball clays exhibit highly variable compositions and consist of a mixture consisting primarily of kaolinite, mica, and quartz, each of which contributes to the different properties of the clay. The crystallization of the main component, kaolin, has a noticeable effect on the performance of the ceramic. The ball clay acts as a binder and contributes to the plasticity, workability, and strength of a preferred ceramic body. Some of them are highly valued for their flowability and casting properties, particularly in the sanitary ware industry. Ball clays are relatively rare worldwide due to the unusual combination of geological factors required for their formation and subsequent preservation. 
ball clay
Ball clay or plastic clay is a very fine-grained sedimentary clay of microplastics that turns light in color or almost white. They are mainly used in the manufacture of white ceramics and are valued for their main properties of plasticity, sheer strength, and light color. Ball mud is extracted using mechanical equipment, most famously hydraulic "backhoe" excavators, which act as "benches" cut into the quarry to reach the mud layers. Individual selections of raw clays are carefully blended according to pre-set recipes to provide the product with a consistent and predictable set of properties and behavior. The first stage in processing, then, is grinding (or "crucking") the blended clay into smaller, more uniform clumps the size of a golf ball. Many mixed clays are sold in this powdered form. Further processing through drying and grinding produces crushed plastic slurry, and ceramic manufacturers (particularly in the sanitary ware sector) have benefited from the development of refined spherical slurries that offer improved performance and lower manufacturing process costs. Refined ball clays are available in "noodle" and suspension forms. Ball clay is also sold in a partially dry form, and consists of unmilled golf ball-sized material. Internationally, high-quality spherical clay deposits are much rarer than those of kaolin. Ceramics: Clay balls are used in many different industries, but in particular they are a vital component of the ceramic industry. Kaolin ("Chinese clay") produces a very white color when fired, but when used alone it is brittle and weak and must be mixed with plastic clay to produce a workable and malleable raw material. 
As a result of its sedimentary origin, raw spherical clays have a wide range of colors. However, many are valued by the ceramics industry for their white burning properties, which are determined by the levels of iron and other coloring/melting oxides within the clay. Sanitary ware: The "ceramic body" of sanitary ware typically includes 30% spherical clay to provide plasticity and work ability, 20% kaolin, 30% feldspar, and 20% quartz/silica. Tableware: Ceramic tableware uses spherical clay to provide high flexibility and good white color, combined with kaolin, feldspar, and quartz. Wall and floor tiles: With talc, feldspar, quartz/silica, and kaolin, spherical clays are used for their plasticity and bonding properties. Glaze and Clay: Spherical clays are also used in the production of coatings for ceramic products to ensure a perfect finish. Refractory Clay: The ability to resist the effects of extremely high temperatures makes spherical clay ideal for use in refractory products such as furnace and furniture insulation. Building ceramics: Building materials such as bricks, clay pipes, and roof tiles contain plastic clay. Porcelain Electrical Insulators: You'll find spherical clay in ceramic electrical components that provide insulation from high voltage currents. Non-ceramic applications include the construction industry; horticultural, agricultural, and service industries; They are used as fillers and extenders in polymers, adhesives, plastics, sealants, fertilizers, and pesticides. 
ball clay ceramics
Ball clays are used in ceramics objects (porcelain, stoneware and earthenware, slips, pressure objects) due to their plastic nature combined with their high combustion temperature. Clay is a term that refers to any type of naturally occurring soil-like material rich in aluminum phyllo silicate. The balance of these silicate plates together with other compounds, together with the conditions of formation and crystalline structure, determines the physical type of clay, which is grouped into kaolin type (including kaolin itself), smectite type (including montmorillonite), and illite type (of which illite is the only important example). Ceramics are everywhere, from the bricks that build houses and the tiles on the bathroom wall to the plates that the scientist brings to dinner and the laundries in which we wash. Pottery is an ancient craft. Today, many valuable items are made from clay by skilled artisans, and it is even used in home crafts. Ceramic materials are ubiquitous and, in many cases, require high-quality clay for their production, perfectly suited to the intended use. African Pegmatite is the leading industrial partner for the supply and processing of the widest range of clay materials, as part of an uncompromising range of high-quality minerals suitable for any project. Porcelain is a broad term that includes a long list of materials such as glass, bricks, cement, ceramics, porcelain, stoneware, earthenware, graphite, and diamonds. Simply put, pottery is anything made from fired clay. In general, clay can be classified based on several factors, such as geological origin and the temperature at which the clay must be fired, to achieve optimum hardness and strength. Regardless of the classification method, there are five common types of clay, namely; Kaolin, stoneware, clay balls, and earthenware. Different types of clay are used for different purposes including ceramics. Perhaps most useful is to group clays by their type of use, which is indirectly related to their chemical and physical compositions. 
ball clay ceramics definition
Ball clay can be used in the ceramics industry and has two definitions. The first definition is a highly combustible plastic clay that burns white to light orange and is used specially to plasticize ceramic bodies containing short clays. It is also a soft, dark kaolinite clay that turns white or nearly white when burned and is used in the manufacture of a variety of ceramic items with other clays for its exceptional binding and plastic properties. Due to its unique properties, it is reasonable to assume that spherical clay is a specific clay mineral. this is not true. Technically, all clay balls are made primarily of kaolin, the same clay mineral that kaolin is made from. Kaolin is the majority of ceramic clays used throughout the world. If ball clay is mainly kaolin, what makes spherical clay different from normal kaolin? The answer is particle size. Although clay mineralogy is complex and kaolin can be formed in other ways as well, it is helpful to think of kaolinite simply as altered feldspar. Most clays on Earth began life as the molten rock that slowly solidified into feldspar and mica. In cases where those minerals are exposed to water for long periods of time, the flux atoms slowly leach out leaving the relatively pure aluminum silicate crystal structure. In this way, the feldspar becomes kaolin clay. Leaching or alteration leaves flat, sheet-like kaolinite crystals that appear stacked at high magnification. When this kaolin (weathered feldspar) is found where it was formed, the clay deposit is kaolin. In addition to kaolin, kaolin also contains quartz, feldspar, mica, and other minerals found in parent rocks. Sometimes the kaolin is too close to the ground or exposed over time. Surface deposits of kaolin are very soft and can be eroded by wind or, more often, by water. 
Erosion moves the kaolin crystal stacks down or downwind. In this transportation process, the batteries literally disintegrate. The piles are divided into shorter piles or individual slabs and the slabs are divided into smaller pieces. The large accumulations of kaolinite transported by erosion are what we call clay balls. It is very important that the clay balls have a very wide mix of particle sizes, including very fine clay particles. Spherical clays settle in relatively uncontaminated sediments with the exception of plant material. A common misconception is that contaminated sediments are usually porcelain. The main mineral for tableware is usually mica, not feldspar. Therefore, earthenware is high in iron, and the clay minerals tend to be primarily aite and chlorite rather than kaolin. Ball clays share four common properties: particle size, shrinkage, variable quartz, and organic content. All affect the performance of spherical clay in a particular clay body or glaze. Due to the wide range of particle sizes in the clay balls, they are particularly plastic and thus facilitate the handling of the clay body. The fine particles present also increase the green strength of the dry clay body, making dry tools more stable. 
However, the finer particle size also means that clay balls require more water than plasticity. Having to add more water to make a particular clay plastic means more water will evaporate as it dries. This causes the drying shrinkage to be greater. Due to the higher shrinkage, spherical clay is almost not used alone in a clay body but mixed with kaolin and non-plastic materials such as quartz sand. When spherical clay deposits form, there may be large fine quartz sand that is transported in the same way and to the same location as spherical clay. As a result, clay balls are highly variable in their quartz content, which can range from 15% or more. In cases where the glaze is important, it is necessary to adjust the quartz added to the clay body recipe if ball clay is to be substituted. This is because the higher quartz content reduces the expansion of the burned body. In the process of transfer and sedimentation, the clay balls can become contaminated with plant matter (organic matter). Although organic matter burns when burned, excessive amounts of organic matter can dislodge a ball of clay. It can significantly reduce the elasticity of the body. 
ball clay export
Ball Clay is marketed all over the world. The data in the export analysis shows that approximately 31 countries and territories are actively importing Ball Clay from India. The total value of the total exports is $3.08 million. So, if any exporter wants to export Ball Clay, Connect2India gives a complete guide on how to export Ball Clay from India. From the perspective of Ball Clay export data, the top 5 trading partners of India importing Ball Clay from Indian exporters are Mexico, Canada, China, Japan, and the US. It is estimated that clay and shale exports increased by 4% in 2019 after remaining essentially unchanged in 2018. In 2019, the United States exported 820,000 tons of bentonite mainly for pet waste absorbent, drilling mud, and iron ore binder smelting sand and granulated. applications, with Canada, Japan, and Mexico being the main destinations. About 2.5 million tons of kaolin were exported mainly as paper fillers and coatings, a component in ceramic bodies. and fillers and extenders in coatings, plastics, and rubber products, with China, Japan, and Mexico being the main destinations. 
Less plastic clays, heat-resistant clays and steel earth were exported for ceramic, refractory, and absorbent uses, respectively. The export rate of ball clay mostly depends on its applications in different industries. The common applications of ball clay are everyday items, including Wall and floor tiles, sinks, toilet bowls, plates, cups and saucers, linoleum, acoustical ceiling tiles, insulated electrical cables, faded bricks, mud drains, windshield wipers [citation needed], spark plugs, and motor mounts, hoses and fertilizer, pharmaceuticals, polymers and many more and oven furniture.