The cerite supergroup is established and includes the cerite group (silicates) and merrillite group (phosphates). Cerite-group minerals are cerite-(Ce), ferricerite-(La), aluminocerite-(Ce) and taipingite-(Ce). The merrillite group is subdivided into two subgroups: merrillite (merrillite, ferromerrillite, keplerite and matyhite) and whitlockite (whitlockite, strontiowhitlockite, wopmayite and hedegaardite). Cerite-(La) has been renamed ferricerite-(La). The new nomenclature has been approved by the International Mineralogical Association Commission on New Minerals, Nomenclature and Classification.

a b s t r a c tThe Ceramic District of Santa Gertrudes (CDSG) is the largest producer of ceramic floor and wall tiles in Brazil. Tile manufacturers in the CDSG use the single raw material, clayey rocks from the Corumbataí formation. Mineralogical, chemical, thermal and microstructural characterization of the clayey rocks from the Corumbataí formation have been performed in order to better understand effect of the studied properties on dry route tilemaking process. The results revealed different compositional features among the studied clayey raw materials. The bulk samples were dominated by clay minerals associated with quartz, feldspars and minor amount of hematite. All samples were complex mixtures where different types of clay minerals (illite, smectite, illite-smectite, kaolinite-smectite, chlorite, sometimes kaolinite) coexist in variable amount. The amount of clay minerals increased with a higher degree of weathering of studied samples. Different technological behavior was expected for studied raw materials due to their heterogeneous nature, in terms of mineral composition and weathering degree. To improve technological behavior of studied materials during tilemaking process an upgrade of the currently used raw materials preparation is recommended (raw materials maturation, more aggressive milling of raw materials, addition of plastic component and homogeneous mixing of plastic and non-plastic components).

A Formação Corumbataí na região de Rio Claro - Limeira - Araras é representada por uma sucessão de siltitos, constituídos principalmente por filossilicatos (predominando illita, embora também ocorram montmorillonita, biotita, clorita, caulinita e interestratificados regulares e irregulares, quartzo, plagioclásios e feldspatos potássicos, carbonatos, hematita, goethita e zeólitas, de origem autígena e/ou detrítica. Quimicamente as rochas da Formação Corumbataí são classificadas principalmente como wackes e secundariamente como folhelhos, cuja principal fonte são rochas ígneas félsicas e/ou rochas sedimentares quartzosas. A aplicação de índices de maturidade química nas rochas analisadas sugere que estas são quimicamente imaturas e que a fonte foi submetida a condições de intemperismo moderado. Diagramas discriminantes para ambientes tectônicos sugerem que a fonte dos sedimentos da Formação Corumbataí são rochas quimicamente semelhantes a rochas formadas em margem ativa e/ou arcos de ilha, embora depositados em outro contexto geotectônico (bacia intracratônica).