R.L. Virta 2006 In 2005, four companies including H.C. Spinks Clay, Kentucky-Tennessee Clay, Old Hickory Clay and Unimin mined ball clay in four states. Based on a preliminary survey of the ball clay industry, production reached 1.32 Mt valued at $53.3 million. Tennessee was the leading ball clay producer state with 61% of domestic production, followed by Texas, Mississippi and Kentucky. application/pdf en Ball clay article