OUR PRODUCTS
The right raw material for your application
Our products
Quality by tradition
One of the most important mineral resources in the southern Westerwald region is ball clay. With its numerous ceramics factories, the region has been known for centuries as the Kannenbäckerland—an area famous for some of the largest and highest‒quality clay deposits in Europe.
These deposits still form the basis for numerous ceramic manufacturing processes today. With the help of modern analysis techniques and comprehensive quality control, we are now able to supply clays for a wide range of applications. This enables us to offer an extensive range of products for a wide variety of ceramic applications. Our raw material portfolio ranges from standardized clay mixtures and special clays to clay‒thinning and secondary raw materials.
These deposits still form the basis for numerous ceramic manufacturing processes today. With the help of modern analysis techniques and comprehensive quality control, we are now able to supply clays for a wide range of applications. This enables us to offer an extensive range of products for a wide variety of ceramic applications. Our raw material portfolio ranges from standardized clay mixtures and special clays to clay‒thinning and secondary raw materials.
Product excerpt
- clays
- clay-thinning agents
- chamottes
- special refractory clays
- ground clays
- granulates
- secondary raw materials
- betonite
Westerwald clays
A raw material shapes a region
The Westerwald clays were formed by weathering of the approximately 400 million‒year‒old Slate Mountains of the Rhine. However, the actual deposition of the clays took place much later, mainly in the Tertiary Period about 15 to 30 million years ago. At this time, the weathered rock components were transported by water and deposited in depressions in the landscape.
Many Westerwald clays originate from secondary deposits. After weathering, they were relocated, which is why they are particularly homogeneous and have high‒quality ceramic properties. Clays that are found at the original site of weathering, and show traces of the old weathering crust of the Rhine Slate Mountains, are referred to as primary deposits.
One such primary deposit is our Mehl clay quarry in Nentershausen. The soft shale clays extracted there correspond to rarer clay deposits and have special properties making them interesting for numerous ceramic applications.
Fields of application
Proven in numerous sectors and industrial applications
Building ceramics
Tiles & slabs
Utility ceramics
Technical ceramics &
high-performance ceramics
refractory ceramics
creative or individual applications
Secondary raw materials
Sustainable, homogeneous, available for years to come
Interest in secondary raw materials and their use in the manufacture of ceramic products has increased significantly over the last two decades. The concept of sustainability and more efficient use of our planet's resources are now on everyone's lips. We as well endeavour to exploit as much as possible from our deposits when selecting raw materials. The washing process for rocks often produces sludge, which is filter-pressed by us and returned to the market as a cake. At the beginning of this century, Hubert Gerharz GmbH marketed KFK, a carbon black that made a significant contribution to cost optimization in the firing process. We still have such raw materials in our range today.
