Assessment of Egyptian serpentinite rocks for ceramic industries

Mineralogy of five technological talc serpentinite rock samples, collected from two areas occurring in the Egyptian Eastern Desert were investigated b y polarizing microscope, EMPA, XRD, DTA as well as XRF methods. In order to assess their suitability for ceramic manufacturing, their firing character istics were studied by following up their vitrification on firing up to 150 0 degreesC. Phase composition and pore size distribution as well as microst ructure and microchemistry of selected vitrified samples were investigated using XRD, Poresizer as well as SEM and EDAX techniques. Also, dense cordie rite and forsterite bodies were processed from talc and serpentinite sample s after correcting their chemical composition by adding calculated amounts of recycled Al-oxides residue and fumed silica to the former sample as well as used magnesite bricks to the latter one.