Quarry adventure for primary school

November 2007

Children from Bickleigh Primary School in Plymouth were treated to a close-up look at a working china clay quarry on a recent visit to Cornwood in south Devon. More than fifty Year 6 pupils donned hard hats and fluorescent vests as they learned all about the extraction and processing of kaolin at Sibelco UK’s Headon Quarry.

The visit was arranged as part of the school’s science curriculum to show the children first-hand how materials can be dissolved and separated. Staff at the quarry explained how kaolin is produced for use as a raw material in a broad range of consumer products including paper and ceramics.

“The children enjoyed a great day at the quarry and asked plenty of good questions,” commented Sibelco‘s Wayne Russell who helped to manage the visit. “It was a great opportunity for the pupils to see the scientific principles they’d learned in the classroom put into practice.”

Kaolin is a nationally important mineral used in a broad range of applications. Sibelco has been working kaolin deposits in the Devon region since 1873.