Opening a new mine

Where we live in GA is right in the middle of the Kaolin clay belt. Area called the Fall Line, stretches from Augusta across towards Columbus. Kaolin is a white clay that is used for many purposes, from coating paper, medical uses, rubber and plastic products to paint pigment. A couple miles from home, on the way to work, they are opening a new mine. Thought I would share a few pictures...


The clay here isn't very deep, don't know how good this first layer is.
Just beginning to see the white clay here...
I stopped by a morning a couple days later...
One of the 50 ton trucks was moving dirt that morning
Excavator is getting it done...
It only takes about 4-5 buckets to fill the truck
A lot more of the clay bed is exposed now...
I'll try to keep up with the progress...

 

Not use to seeing excavation being done with out rocks. That's all we seem to have around here.

 

This being a firewood forum did you manage to scrounge any of the wood when they were clearing to get to the clay? Sorry looking at the pictures thats the first thing that came to mind.

 

Knowing you Jeff I thought that you found a new giant "honey hole" good enough to be called a mine!

 

The next county north of us has lot of granite.

 

Interesting pics

 

No, it was a hay field. Don't think they have removed many trees yet. I'll keep an on it though.

 

...not yet...

 

X2!

 

I too hail from a famous clay deposit area. Only one mine left that I know of now. Roof tiles primarily. McCoy Pottery was made about 5 miles from my home. Several other makers as well.

 

My brother lives in Washington and bought our mother's headstone from that area.

 

That was my thought too and asked why he was posting it here.

 

Yep, lots of granite in that area

 

Well, this is the "Everything Else" forum for "off" topic things......

 

Stopped by the new mine this morning on the way home. They have already reached the good clay and were loading trucks to haul it to the plant for processing.
Just loaded a 10 wheeler...
Next up is an 18 wheeler.
Takes less than 2 minutes to load him...

That is ground water in the hole. Water will seep thru the red clay, but not the kaolin. This is one of the shallowest pits I've seen, I bet on the far side it's only 6 or so ft down to the kaolin. Ive seen some that were over 100' deep.

 

Must be fun to watch. I always marvel at big machines doing their job.

 

How deep would the kaolin clay layer be? When they finish extracting the clay, do they fill it in or create something else there?

 

It depends on the tract of land. Some pits have multiple layers of kaolin. And the amount of soil on top of clay varies too. The land is reclaimed, usually in the contract, the landowner has a say-so in what's done. I've seen a few that were completely filled in. Usually there will be a pond left.

 

Stopped by the mine site on the way to work yesterday evening.
Woodwidow at the top pf this road, where the excavator is sitting, was the original pit...
It has been backfilled, they have removed the dirt from the next section and have started hauling the Kaolin
This is where they are loading the trucks...probably 8-10' deep to the bottom

Better view of the pit

 

T.Jeff Veal thanks for sharing the pics. makes sense to fill the old pit with the material from the top of the new pit.