# Kaolin & clays

Kaolin, bentonite and other clays: fine-grained minerals that whiten paper and paint, shape ceramics, bind drilling mud and fill cat litter.

Source page: https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/clays/

Industrial minerals · No. 66

- Not on a critical list
- HHI 1,009 · unconcentrated
 Industrial minerals · Foundation · Matter

Nearly half of US bentonite ends up as pet litter, while bright kaolin whitens paper and paint around the world.

Chart: Illustration: Kaolin & clays

##### Where it comes from

Chart: Map of where it comes from

Clays form where rocks weather or alter. Kaolin comes from deeply weathered granites and sediments, as in Georgia and Brazil; bentonite from altered volcanic ash. Kaolin output was about 49 Mt in 2024.

##### Three things to know

1. US common clay sells for about $21 per tonne and kaolin for about $170, so ordinary clay barely travels.
2. Bentonite forms from altered volcanic ash and swells in water; 22% of US bentonite went into drilling mud in 2025.
3. Lithium had never been produced commercially from clay before projects such as Thacker Pass in Nevada.

##### The journey

1. 1 **Parent rock**Weathered granite, sediment or volcanic ash
2. 2 **Open pit**Clay dug from shallow pits
3. 3 **Refining**Slurried, degritted, magnetically cleaned, bleached
4. 4 **Finishing**Delaminated or calcined; bentonite dried, activated
5. 5 **End uses**Paper, paint, ceramics, drilling mud, absorbents

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## Other sections

- [Overview](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/clays/overview/index.md)
- [Correlation](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/clays/correlation/index.md)
- [Extraction](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/clays/extraction/index.md)
- [Production](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/clays/production/index.md)
- [Stocks](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/clays/stocks/index.md)
- [Cycles](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/clays/cycles/index.md)
- [Trading](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/clays/trading/index.md)
- [Movement](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/clays/movement/index.md)
- [Criticality](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/clays/criticality/index.md)
- [Characteristics](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/clays/characteristics/index.md)
- [Emissions](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/clays/emissions/index.md)
- [Relationships](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/clays/links/index.md)