With over 50 years developing kaolin-based hydrous and calcined solutions from the finest kaolin clay deposits and reserves in Asia, EICL is considered one of the key players in the market. EICL has Asia’s largest mining and processing facility with an installed capacity of 300,000 Tonnes per annum producing hydrous and calcined clays. EICL’s mines in Trivandrum are spread over 41.88 hectares located at Melthonnakkal, Karemood, Veiloor and DBH. Matrix of the finest quality china clay with grades of White, Pink, Grey and Sandy white.

The clay deposits of Trivandrum are considered one of the best in the world with 96 per cent kaolinite. According to the Department of Mining and Geology (DMG),Kerala, the two major China Clay (kaolin) zones in the state have an estimated reserve of 172 million tonnes. The DMG has categorised the zones as the southern china clay zone between Thiruvananthapuram and Kundara (Thiruvananthapuram and Kollam districts) and the northern china clay zone between Kannapuram Madayi -Cheruthazham in Kannur district to Nileswarm – Manjeshwaram in Kasargod district.

In fact, the DMG notes that Kaolin marketed by English Indian Clays Ltd. (EICL), Thiruvananthapuram claims to have similar or even better properties compared to imported clays. It further states that Kerala china clay is one of the finest quality clay and is world class.

According to a research paper by A Prabhakumar and Sughada Pradeep a clay investigation in Trivandrum district where parts of Melthonnakkal, Veilur, Pallipuram, Andoorkkonam villages in Mangalapuram Panchayat and seven potential blocks were surveyed nearly 75.13 million tonnes of high-grade paper coating clay was revealed in the area. The chemical analysis and physical tests of clay samples carried out indicate the china clay is of high grade and suitable for the production of paper coating material, synthetic zeolites and for pharmaceutial industries.

EICL’s clay business has an installed capacity of 300,000 tonnes per annum and the largest integrated clay facility in Asia that mines and refines high-end calcined and hydrous clay.

EICL has normal, fine and ultrafine grade hydrous clays for use across different industries including paint, paper, paper board, rubber, etc. EICL Grades are among the best in the world in terms of brightness, rheology and fineness. These grades are designed to give excellent coated surface properties like gloss, shade and smoothness. Specialty grades like Delaminated Clays give excellent results in terms of opacity and gloss.

For instance, hydrous clay is used in wet end, pre-coat and top coat formulations of Paper and Paper Boards and as a functional filler in high PVC water-based paint. The Ultrafine grade Hydrous clay with narrow particle size distribution, close to that of Titanium dioxide, enhances the effective spacing of Titanium dioxide particles and helps partial replacement in high sheen water-based paints and solvent-based glossy enamel paints.

EICL hydrous clays are normally used as a functional filler in newsprint paste ink formulation, Gravure publication, Packing ink (rotogravure) and flexographic inks. The platy structure, fine particle size distribution and medium oil absorption property of hydrous clay provide thixotropy and improve the print texture, ink holdout and print gloss.

EICL has normal, fine and ultra fine grade Calcined clays that are used in Wet end, pre-

coat and top coat formulations of Paper and Boards and as opacifying extender in water- based paints. High brightness and micro porous structure with controlled particle size makes normal Calcined clay suitable for wet end application for enhancing opacity and brightness of paper/ Board .This quality also enhances the light scattering property which imparts higher opacity and brightness of paint film.This improved opacifying property of Calcined Clay enables partial replacement of Titanium dioxide in paint formulation.

– Our performance enhancement pigments have been classified into ‘# 1 Fine grade

and regular grade’.

– Our kaolin derived products are used for in multiple industries like paper, plastic,

paint, rubber, printing ink, ceramic and glass fibre industries.

– ISO 9001 and 14001 accreditations

EICL Kaolin products have a wide range of industrial applications. In the paint industry, kaolin is used very extensively in water based paint system as a functional extended pigment with moisture content exceeding 1%. Resistivity test using the conductivity bridge gives an indication of residual soluble salts in paints due to the presence of kaolin. In the rubber industry, kaolin is used because of its reinforcing and stiffening properties. Fine kaolin gives good resistance to abrasion. The ceramic industry is a large consumer of kaolin clay in white ware, insulators and refractory. The paper industry is the largest consumer of kaolin. Kaolin is used both as filler and as a coating. In petroleum and related cracking industries, kaolin is used as a catalyst to break down long chain hydrocarbon to gasoline.