Ceramic raw materials on the Island of Belitung (Indonesia)

The island of Belitung covers an area of about 5000 km 2 and is situated between the southern reaches of the China Sea and the northern part of the Java Sea. From the geological point of view it consists almost entirely of granitic rocks and their primary and secondary (sedimentary) alteration products. The island is well known for its tin deposits and its deposits of semiplastic and plastic ceramic raw materials. This study has therefore concentrated on some samples taken from functioning quarries in order to determine their chemical and mineralogical nature and investigate their technological (ceramic) behaviour with a view to the production of tiles.