**1. Introduction**

The significance of solid mineral resources has been of profound value to man since time immemorial. A mineral is (most of the time) an inorganic crystalline solid, natural, homogeneous, with a structure and a composition that give it defined macroscopic properties. Clays are minerals categorized under the clastic sedimentary rocks. Clay is a naturally occurring material composed of layered structures of fine-grained minerals which exhibit the property of plasticity at appropriate water content but becomes permanently hard when fired [1]. The clay material is formed from chemical alteration processes on the earth's surface and accounts for approximately 40% of the first-class grained sedimentary rocks (mudrocks) which incorporates dust stones, clay stones and shales. Clayey minerals are usually composed of aluminum silicates that are made up of tetrahedral and octahedral leaves that are bound together collectively via sharing of apical oxygen atoms [2]. The formation of clayey minerals depends on the physicalchemical conditions of the environment of the immediate altering environment, the nature of the raw materials and other related external environmental factors [3]. As such resulting in different types of clay materials. Hence, the potential for application of any clay mineral type in nature will depend on its will depend on its chemistry, structure and other intrinsic properties [1]. Natural clay minerals are widely recognized and acquainted to mankind since the first days of civilization. Owing to their low cost, plenty in most continents of the world, high sorption capability for ion exchange, clay substances are solid candidates as adsorbents [4]. Clay minerals share a fundamental set of structural and chemical traits but yet has its very own precise set of properties that determine its interplay with other chemical species. The variability of chemistry and structure between clays leads to their application in a wide variety of fields.
