Potentiality of some lateritic clayey material from Meiganga as raw material in fired bricks making
Michele Stella Ngono Mbenti,
Roger Firmin Donald Ntouala,
Rodrigue Cyriaque Kaze,
Marie Thérèse Nanga Bineli,
Arnaud Ngo'o Ze,
Vincent Laurent Onana
Affiliations
Michele Stella Ngono Mbenti
Department of Earth Sciences, Faculty of Science, University of Yaounde I, P.O. Box 812, Yaounde, Cameroon
Roger Firmin Donald Ntouala
Department of Mining and Geological Engineering, Advanced School of Mines Processing and Energy Resources, University of Bertoua, P.O. Box 416, Bertoua, Cameroon
Rodrigue Cyriaque Kaze
Department of Mineral Engineering, School of Chemical Engineering and Mineral Industries, University of Ngaoundere, P.O. Box 454, Ngaoundere, Cameroon
Marie Thérèse Nanga Bineli
Department of Earth Sciences, Faculty of Science, University of Yaounde I, P.O. Box 812, Yaounde, Cameroon
Arnaud Ngo'o Ze
Department of Earth Sciences, Faculty of Science, University of Yaounde I, P.O. Box 812, Yaounde, Cameroon
Vincent Laurent Onana
Department of Earth Sciences, Faculty of Science, University of Yaounde I, P.O. Box 812, Yaounde, Cameroon; Corresponding author.
The Meiganga lateritic clays and termite mounds were characterized for their use as construction materials. The six collected samples were subjected to mineralogical, geochemical, and physico-mechanical tests. Quartz, kaolinite, hematite, goethite, gibbsite, muscovite, and anatase are the main minerals in raw materials, while after firing at 1050 °C, mullite is formed. The SiO2/Al2O3 ratio greater than 1 indicates a high SiO2 content, which is consistent with the presence of quartz as an associate mineral to kaolinite. Considering linear shrinkage globally less than 5 % and flexural and compressive strengths greater than 2 and 7 MPa, respectively, four clay materials are suitable to produce bricks at all the studied temperatures, whereas two others only after firing at 1050 °C. As the studied characteristics do not depend on the nature of the material, exploring termite mound material in the Meiganga area would provide additional good-quality material to make up for any deficit that might arise.
