Arno Witgert has been engaged in the mining and refining of Westerwald clays since 1820 – which makes it the oldest Westerwald clay mining company still in operation. Now in its eighth generation, the family business is currently managed by Dipl.-Ing. (FH) Michael Liebig.

Originally, the company was devoted entirely to mining, i.e. the extraction of clays.However, in more recent decades, it has turned its attention increasingly to the development of customeroriented products and the processing of clays into ready-mixed ceramic bodies. Today, with 30 employees, Arno Witgert generates annual sales of about 5 million € and sells 150,000 t of ceramic raw materials, almost half of this ready-processed. This is carried out using all processing methods:

• Dry processing with grinding/drying installations
• Semi-dry processing with precision fine roller mills
• Slurry processing with dissolvers and filter presses or spray dryer

The reserves belonging to Witgert at the Mathias and Wahnscheid clay pits, both in Herschbach, and the Steudter grants of mining rights near Wirges were extended in 2005 by the takeover of the Wirth Glückauf pit in RuppachGoldhausen.This means that Witgert now again has access to the familiar white-firing Goldhausen clays distinguished not only by their high plasticity, but also by their early sintering.Witgert was actively involved in clay mining in Ruppach-Goldhausen from the 19th century to the Fifties of the 20th century, but had to sell these resources at the time due to the difficult market situation.The purchased reserves consist of highgrade clays with a content of 10 to 35 % Al2O3, which is mainly used for the production of wall and floor tiles, but also for the production of tableware and decorative ceramics, stove tiles, engobes and glazes, advanced ceramics and refractory products.Coloured clays are also mined here, and these are processed by manufacturers of facing bricks and plant vessels.

Um den Anforderungen der Kunden gerecht zu sein, werden auch Tone aus den neuen Bundesländern, Tschechien, Frankreich oder England, ja sogar aus Neuseeland, zugekauft. Kein Aufwand ist zu groß, um dem Kunden die geforderte Lösung zu präsentieren. Damit die dazu notwendige Beratung und Betreuung sowie die Qualitätssicherung gewährleistet werden kann, wurde der Personalstamm in den vergangenen Jahren um mehrere Anwendungstechniker aufgestockt und die produzierende Belegschaft durch fachspezifisch ausgebildete Mitarbeiter wie Aufbereitungsmechaniker aus eigener Ausbildung sowie Keram-Stoffprüfer ergänzt. In Zukunft werden die Kunden noch höhere und spezifischere Anforderungen an den Lieferanten stellen, um im globalen Markt bestehen zu können. Der Lieferant darf sich daher nicht mehr als Rohstofflieferant, sondern als Dienstleister verstehen. Witgert hat diese Situation verstanden und ist für die Zukunft gerüstet.