The only large sedimentary deposit in China is located near Maoming in
western Guandong Province (Fig. 33). This kaolin is actually a kaolinitic
sand of Late Tertiary age. The Bureau of Geology andMineral Resources of
Guandong estimated the kaolin reserves in this large kaolinitic sand are over
200 million tons. The kaolinitic sand body ranges from 20 to 45m in thickness
and extends horizontally for about 50 km (Yuan and Murray, 1993).
The mineral content of this large Tertiary body is 75–80% quartz and
20–25% kaolinite. The genesis of theMaoming kaolin is attributed to in situ
alteration of feldspar in an original arkosic sand. The arkosic rocks were
derived from intensive weathering of Precambrian gneisses and Cretaceous
acidic igneous rocks which were transported a short distance and deposited
in theMaoming sedimentary basin (Lin et al., 1989). The kaolinite recovered
from the friable kaolinitic sand has a particle size of 95% finer than 10 mm
and 60%finer than 2 mm (Yuan, 1994). The kaolinite particles are platy and
have a sharp pseudo-hexagonal morphology. This kaolin is used as a ceramic
raw material and as a filler and coating clay for paper. Wilson (2002)
estimates the annual production of kaolin in China is about 2,000,000 tons.