The main reserves of bentonite clays in Brazil are located in the states of S. Paulo, Bahia, Piauí and Paraíba, the latter being as a major national producer. Large deposits of these clays are found in Boa Vista, PB, which is currently in depletion phase due to uncontrolled exploitation. Other deposits were discovered in Districts of Cubati, and Pedra Lavrada, PB, and recently in the Sossego district, PB, Brazil, was discovered a new deposit which may represent an interesting alternative technology to future shortages of Paraíba bentonite clays, expansion of mineral production in region and consolidation of the state as the largest producer in the country. This work aims to study the smectite clays from Sossego District, PB. Initially the samples were submitted to characterize physical, chemical and mineralogical through the following techniques: granulometric analysis by laser diffraction, chemical composition by X-ray fluorescence, X-ray diffraction, thermal differential and thermogravimetric analysis. After those tests, were determined the rheological properties, based on standard Petrobras, for drilling water based fluids. The results showed that mineralogical composition clays were smectite, kaolinite, feldspar and quartz. The rheological properties results indicated that some samples were promising for use in drilling fluids.
bentonite; rheology; characterization
