Working Saturday.

Been busting at it trying to perform what I was hired "Part Time" for last March, Boss been working to get me lined up at every availed moment to haul clay so can fill barges at the Hermann Sand Plant Yard.  Been all manner of blockages, Low Rivers, Rains that did not aid the rivers but muddied the clay piles, extra work for other clients that seemed to not ever ease off.

Hubert (Ga)engine7 wrote: You have done your part and more. Take some time for yourself and enjoy it while you are still able.

Is that company with any unions?

All Non Union Doug.  Worked today, boss was in office as we all returned as got to Dark time, he was ecstatic we got so much moved today, also said if snow is on in morning give it a rest, No Need for Accidents as the Barge Crews should have more than enough now.

Are several grades of Mineral Clays. Numbers 1&2 are high enough mined purity to be Kiln dried and sold as Medical or Personal Use products base materials. Many typical compressed OTC meds and a few prescription med pills have these type clay as the “Inert” carrier material. It passes thru the digestive system as is not absorbable.
Personal products as Women’s (or men’s) make up has clay base carrier they add dyes and other materials to, cake makeup is primarily Number Two Clay.
Then is filtration media for removing acids from other fluids, the refined Clay is called Diamataceous Earth, spelling may be off. Are cement use clays again Kiln Separated and powdered, used for the plasticity value in cement mixes.
Supposed to be some fifty to sixty different uses of Mineral Clay including Pottery or Tile or such as the ceramic applied materials for sinks and bath tubs. Millions of Tons of MO clays are shipped nationally and world wide as to their quality levels. Clay soil is essentially organic dirt with these mineral clays in it.

The clay been hauling is “White” or basic rock form clay that can be from stark white to blue or yellowish, the other is “Red Shale Clay” which can be from really Red to Brownish sticky as play doh where contains a alkaline value that when ran thru the kilns cleans residues on the inside of the kilns and the clay base in it is then reclaimed. A remnant in the kilning is calcite, used in brick making. The Kilns are from two to three feet in diameter to the cement kilns where they add base clay as at Continental Cement is almost 10’ in diameter internally. The use of High BTU Coal is being attacked by the EPA as emits SO2 or sulphur dioxide, problem is the BTU value cannot be attained from any other fuel. The larger cement kilns also are ‘digesters’ of hazmat liquid chemicals that have no residual value so are burned in the cement making process.

The clays we are barge loading are Cement Grade low value yet have enough value a Tile Company is buying the material in mass loads of close to twenty barges a year for their production of flooring products. Shipped from here on MO River to MS River to the Arkansas River and across into OK. Cheaper than Rail or Truck and more efficient than either.

Edited by DMiller - 30 Nov 2024 at 4:12am

Well DMiller, 

Hey DMiller,

ac hunter wrote: Hey DMiller,      That link gives quite an education about clay and its uses. More than I can absorb but interesting. Guess I will look at clay differently now. Before I mostly thought of clay as a spot in a field where there was no topsoil.      You said that Indian mounds were used as sources for clay in the past. There must be some really large mounds out there.