Press Release
For Immediate Release

IMERYS Minerals Japan Establishes New Joint Venture Company with Hokuetsu Paper

March 16th 2007

IMERYS Minerals Japan is pleased to announce that it has formed a joint venture company with Hokuetsu Paper - Niigata GCC Company, Ltd. The company, for which Imerys Minerals Japan is the majority shareholder, will be responsible for the on-site production of ground calcium carbonate supplying 100% of Hokuetsu Niigata mill's requirement for GCC. The plant will be supplied with raw materials from IMERYS operations in Malaysia and Vietnam.

A ground breaking ceremony for the plant was held on March 6th 2007. IMERYS is delighted to have been chosen by Hokuetsu as their partner for the supply of ground calcium carbonate to the Niigata mill. Niigata is one of the most renowned paper producing sites in Japan. It is also one of the largest paper producing locations in the world, producing 980,000 mt of paper products a year.

IMERYS brings the technology of its products and applications, its local presence in Japan with two well established GCC plants, and an unsurpassed access to raw materials in the Asia Pacific region to a partnership with Hokuetsu that has lasted over the past 20 years.

IMERYS looks forward to working with Hokuetsu in this venture and becoming a member of the Niigata community.

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For further information please contact:
Spencer Farmer, Global Marketing Director, IMERYS Pigments for Paper.
Phone +44 (0)776 664 1967
Email: spencer.farmer@imerys.com

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