Imerys in Austria

Talc for paints, paper and polymers

Talc, the softest mineral on earth, has been mined in the Austrian province of Styria for over a hundred years. Today, Imerys continues to operate the Rabenwald talc deposit (around 100,000 tons of talc per year) along with the Kleinfeistritz underground mine, which yields a rare coalescence of minerals, known as leucophyllite, particularly prized by the paint industry under the trademark Plastorit®. The crude ores are milled into high-end products that range from coarse to ultra-fine powders at our Oberfeistritz and Weisskirchen processing plants.
Our Austrian talc grades are valued by customers worldwide: they enhance the optical and mechanical properties of paints and coatings; improve the stiffness and heat resistance ofplastics; boost flowability in animal feed and dry foodstuffs; and are used as fillers, coatings and deposit-control agents in paper and board production —to name a few. 
About 125 employees work at the four industrial sites and the Graz head office.

Corundum for abrasives and refractories

Our Villach plant has been producing aluminum oxides since the mid 1940s. We acquired the business in 2000. Fused alumina or electro corundum is produced by fusing alumina or calcined bauxite to produce a material which demonstrates superior mechanical strength, chemical resistance and thermal stability. Today, our facility employs about 300 people and produces approximately 90,000 tons of minerals for the abrasives and refractories market, mainly based on brown and white fused alumina and synthetic ceramic (sol-gel) corundum.

Close to the production site in Villach, the Imerys Technology Center (ITC) employs a team of 35 engineers and technicians who work on developing new materials, technologies, manufacturing processes and applications for the abrasive, advanced ceramics and refractory industries. ITC Austria is involved in multinational projects for several Business Areas across the Imerys Group.