Bulletin No. 11. Preliminary Report on the Clays and Shales of Minnesota

Abstract

This bulletin is a preliminary paper outlining the principal results of an investigation of the clay resources of Minnesota, which was carried on during the summer of 1912. A more comprehensive report is now in progress and will be issued later. In general, the object of the work has been to assist in the development of the clay resources of Minnesota. The broader problems of ceramics are treated only incidentally. Some of the important scientific conclusions of the American Ceramic Society, of the Bureau of Standards, and of surveys of other states are briefly reviewed here in order that they may be more readily available to those whose chief interests are technical and commercial. A more extended treatment of the scientific results of the investigation will appear later. Specifically, the object has been (1) to investigate the sources of clay for every town of 1,000 or more inhabitants, and for each county of the State; (2) to ascertain the extent of several deposits now developed at only a few points; (3) to find new deposits; and (4) to determine the qualities of these deposits and of certain mixtures, to ascertain whether it is possible to produce some refractory wares, pottery, paving brick, and certain other high-grade products that are now carried considerable distances to the Minnesota markets.