The Use of Saudi Silspar as a Ceramic Raw Material

Feldspar and quartz are essential ceramic raw materials, with feldspar acting as a flux and quartz as a structural filler. Feldspathic sand derived from granitic masses of the eastern Arabian Shield represents a promising local source. This study evaluates upgraded granitic detritus, commercially termed silspar, from the Khurs granite of the Dawadimi terrane. Twenty-five samples were chemically and technologically characterized; one compositionally anomalous sample (S2) was retained in the analytical tables for transparency but excluded before resource-level statistical preprocessing. Pearson correlation, principal component analysis and Ward hierarchical clustering were applied to 24 representative samples using eight chemical variables, while shrinkage, loss on ignition (LOI), whiteness (L*) and water absorption were used for external technological validation. Four chemistry-defined groups were identified: S1 and S3 form a dark impurity-rich pair; S4–S9 form the cleanest ceramic-grade group; S10–S13, S15–S17 and S24 define a transitional Ca-Fe-influenced group; and S14, S18–S23 and S25 form a more coherent potassic group. The firing variables differ significantly among the chemistry-defined groups under the standardized laboratory procedure. The results support controlled ceramic use of the representative Khurs-derived silspar, subject to stockpile homogenization and impurity control. Because phase proportions are normative estimates rather than direct XRD determinations, the work is presented as an integrated preliminary industrial-mineral screening assessment rather than a complete quantitative mineral-phase characterization.