Study the Physical, Chemical, Mineralogical, and Geo-technical Properties of Soils Used in Pottery Industries, Kurdistan-lraq

The study area is located in Duhok and Sulaimania province in Kurdistan region, lraq. Study soils developed from parent material that has derived from limestone. Randomize, composed and disturbed surface soil samples were collected. The bulk soils were air dried, crushed and passed through 2 mm sieve. Standard methods were used for chemical, physical, geotechnical and mineralogical analyses of soil samples. The results indicated that the study soils texture were clay to loam clay, this texture was considered as suitable for ceramic and pottery industries as a result of increasing clay contents that ranged between 301 g/kg and 676 g/kg. Soil consistence depending on geotechnical properties increased the ability of study soils for resistance rapture and deformation. Existence the high amount of cementing agents in study soils such as organic matter, iron oxides and particularly total carbonate （247.2-308.8 g/kg） act to reduce the bad effect of the smectite minerals group （high shrinkage） in soils of study locations through increasing the resistance of these soils for rupture and deformation. The existing of Kaolinite, palygorskite and chlorite allows clay to be dried in ceramic and pottery industries without cracking from shrinkage. Study soils were different in their colors as a result of existence, different pigmentation materials that led to coloring soils with different colors in turn caused coloring of pottery and ceramic materials. Since, there are no available academic studies or researches about this subject in Kurdistan region in addition the clay pottery and ceramic sector still has a good market at the same time using this type of soils for arts, therefore, this study was conducted.

Exploitation and Excavation of Land for Clay as Raw Material for Potters in Vume in the Volta Region of Ghana

Clay is a precious natural resource that is used in practically every aspect of life. It has a wide range of applications, including utilitarian and aesthetic items as well as electrical and electronic gadgets. Vume is rich in clay types, which may be found in vast concentrations. In Vume, the commonest way of clay winning is the open pit method. Most clay winners usually abandoned the sites after their clay winning activities without any effort to reclaim it. As a result, the study was designed to investigate the causes of such clay over exploitation and its consequences in Vume. The study employed qualitative research method with phenomenological approach to investigate the problem. The convenience sampling as non-probabilty sampling method was adopted to select six (6) clay winners from two (2) sampling sites of clay winning, making a total sampling size of twelve (12) for this research. The justification was that these clay winners were available at the clay sites and also engaging in unsystematic clay winning activities during the visits by the researchers. The main instruments used for data collection were interviews and direct observation of sites. The study showed that if this rapid clay depletion was not addressed, it would have a negative impact on the pottery and ceramic centers in Vume. The study recommended among others that, there could be proper mechanism to organize clay winners into Small Scale Enterprises and become official distributors of clay to potters in Vume and other industries as well as institutions within the catchment area so that government could get tax revenue from the clay winning activities to develop Vume and the country at large.