Alkaline treatment of clay minerals has been widely studied topic in past decades, due to potential forming geopolymers – an alternative to Portland cement with lower environmental impact and higher durability, and zeolites – microporous materials used as sorbents and catalysts. Most of the research in this area is focused on 1:1 clay minerals, such as kaolinite. While studies suggest that illite does have capacity to react and form alkali alumosilicates, required conditions for that are still not clear. Alkaline treatment with Ca, Na and K hydroxides and following curing at low temperatures for extended period of time is common method for producing geopolymers from kaolinite. Due to structural differences producing geopolymers and zeolite from illite requires more intense treatment process, such as using high concentration hydroxides and curing at elevated temperatures [1]. Combination of methods such as alkaline-hydrothermal can be more effective method for obtaining zeolites. [2]. This study investigates structural changes of illite and possibility of obtaining geopolymer and zeolite from illite clay by alkaline and alkaline-hydrothermal activation. In this study raw material was fractioned illite clay from Kuprava pit (Latvia). Chemical treatment was done on illite calcined at 500-600°C using NaOH solutions with concentration of 1M, 2M and 3M, with following curing process at 20-150°C, alkaline-hydrothermal method at 180°C for 24-72h was also tried. Samples of obtained material were analysed with XRD, and SEM.