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 customer-oriented 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 and slurry processing with dissolvers and filter presses or spray dryer.

The company sells all end and intermediate products. It is capable of suppling clays and bodies in the following forms: shredded, rolled into flakes, ground into powder, ground and granulated, liquid in the form of slip, plastic in the form of filter cakes, vaccum extruded into clots or sheets, also with chamotte, and spray-dried into spray granulate.

The various raw and processed materials are supplied to all branches of the ceramics industry and are also used in non-ceramics applications, e. g. wall and floor tiles, sanitaryware, facing bricks and clinkers, roof tiles and common bricks, tableware and decorative ceramics, refractory applications, stove tiles, engobe and glazing clays, advanced ceramics, sealing clays for dumpings and landscaping, fire-retardant additives for dry construction materials etc.

The raw materials are shipped by truck ex works or pit, by rail from Meudt station, and by ship from nearby Bendorf harbour on the Rhine.

About 40 % of total output makes its way abroad via this route.