Document And Entity Information (USD $)	9 Months Ended
Oct. 02, 2011	Oct. 17, 2011	Jun. 30, 2010
Entity Registrant Name	Minerals Technologies Inc
Entity Central Index Key	0000891014
Current Fiscal Year End Date	--12-31
Entity Well-known Seasoned Issuer	Yes
Entity Voluntary Filers	No
Entity Current Reporting Status	No
Entity Filer Category	Large Accelerated Filer
Entity Public Float			$ 737,000,000
Entity Common Stock, Shares Outstanding		17,661,570
Document Fiscal Year Focus	2011
Document Fiscal Period Focus	Q3
Document Type	10-Q
Amendment Flag	false
Document Period End Date	Oct. 02, 2011

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The end date of the period reflected on the cover page if a periodic report. For all other reports and registration statements containing historical data, it is the date up through which that historical data is presented. If there is no historical data in the report, use the filing date. The format of the date is CCYY-MM-DD.

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A unique 10-digit SEC-issued value to identify entities that have filed disclosures with the SEC. It is commonly abbreviated as CIK.

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