For most industrial minerals, the economic value of the product is directly associated to its optical properties, like color, brightness, etc. These optical properties can also be used as auxiliary tools in the mine planning and mineral processing. In this work, the Kubelka-Munk Theory was used in an attempt to create a method for the determination of contaminant concentration in kaolin. Due to practical difficulties, it was necessary to develop some mathematical relations involving the model to obtain the two constants needed for each material. The obtained results were satisfactory, making possible the realization of more detailed studies about the application of these mathematical relations, as much for the kaolin as for industrial minerals in general.
Brightness; kaolin; Kubelka-Munk; contaminants
