Classic Neuburg Siliceous Earth is a natural combination of corpuscular Neuburg silica and lamellar kaolinite: a loose mixture impossible to separate by physical methods. As a result of natural aging, the silica portion exhibits a round grain shape and consists of aggregated primary particles of about 200 nm diameter. Such a unique structure is responsible for a relatively high specific surface area and oil absorption, which result, besides rheological activity, also in a whole range of application properties.
When 95 million years ago the Neuburg Siliceous Earth was created, large parts of South Germany were covered by the sea. In a bay within what is now Bavaria, the various strata of Neuburg Siliceous Earth were deposited on limestone sediment dating from the later Jurassic period (fig. 1). After the sea receded, the limestone strata collapsed, forming so-called karst funnels into which the siliceous earth fell and was preserved (fig. 2). This is where a raw material was created which - wherever one looks for it on this earth - is totally unique (fig. 3).
Stratum 1: Overburden | Stratum 2: Fine sand | Stratum 3: Siliceous Earth | Stratum 4: Clay | Stratum 5: Limestone