| Summary: | The high kaolinite content of metakaolin makes it valuable to other industries, thereby affecting its availability and affordability for the production of limestone calcined clay cement (LC<sup>3</sup>). This work presents a study on the potential utilization of low-grade clay in place of pure metakaolin in the preparation of LC<sup>3</sup> for mortar formulations. CEM I was partially substituted with calcined clay and limestone by 20, 30, 40, and 50 wt.%. The weight ratio of calcined clay and limestone was maintained at 2:1 for all mixes and the water-to-binder ratio was 0.48. X-ray diffraction (XRD), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), and isothermal conduction calorimetry were used to study the hydration process and products after 28 days. Mechanical and durability assessments of the LC<sup>3</sup> mortar specimens were conducted. LC<sup>3</sup> specimens (marked LC20%, LC30%, LC40%, and LC50%) trailed the control sample by 1.2%, 4%, 9.8%, and 18%, respectively, at 28 days and 1.6%, 2.3%, 3.6%, and 5.5%, respectively, at 91 days. The optimum replacement of OPC clinker, calcined clay, and limestone was 20% (LC20%).
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