Pottery and Art Industries

Missouri has been blessed with some of the finest fireclay in the world. Our clay formations began over 300 million years ago. Wind-blown sand was deposited on carbonaceous rock followed by water carrying finely ground sediments. Over many years, the water percolated through the sand and eroded this rock which then acted as a filter, trapping the finely ground particles which accumulated and weathered over millions of years to create clay. Five glaciers extended down to what is now Missouri causing erosion, scrubbing off all but the deeper deposits south of the Missouri River, and burying the deposits north of that with glacial till. This resulted in the clay Christy Minerals mines today as Missouri Fireclay in three districts.

Christy Minerals Hawthorn Bond^® is a plastic fireclay specifically mined and carefully separated for the Pottery and Ceramic Art Industries. This is a light to buff burning Missouri Fire Clay available ground and screened to 20mesh, 35mesh, 40mesh, and 50mesh. Hawthorn Bond is supplied in bulk, 50lb bags, 100lb bags, or bulk bags.

Christy Minerals Calcined Flint Clay, available in a variety of sizes, is a calcined fireclay well-suited for use as a grog for the Pottery and Ceramic Art Industries. We select the highest quality clays and fire them in our rotary calcining kiln under controlled conditions to optimize density and mullite formation. The Calcined Flint Clay is then crushed and screened to size and packaged in bulk, 50lb bags, 100lb bags, or bulk bags.