Minerals help magazines: deliver strong advertiser returns.

Magazine advertisements have a higher return on investment than television spots (1), as demonstrated by studies of ad campaigns from leading branded products. So said Phil Jones, vice president of technology for IMERYS, the global kaolin and carbonates producer. "white minerals deserve considerable credit for the power of magazines, because advances in our understanding of minerals--and their application--make images in print more life-like, if not larger than life," he added. "The same applies to catalogs, direct mailers, and many other forms of print today."

Jones is a strong proponent of paper's potential as a scaling media in the "digital age." Once advertisers better understand the possibilities for impact and recollection based upon "designer" paper properties, he believes, they will shift dollars away from television. Recognizing the commercial importance of television, he stresses the special emotive potential of paper. For a fashion designer, this translates to communicating the texture of a wool suit--accomplished by a decidedly matte grade. Point-of-purchase displays featuring images of movie stars promote greater DVD and video sales, too. The display papers are often enriched with double-coated formulations with improved printability for images that snap.

In terms of coating formulations made possible by advances in understanding of kaolins, carbonates, additives, and fiber, Jones said, "It's time to think about the paper business in a different way. We need to harvest the full potential of the building blocks within the process to provide even more effective print and packaging media. Look for white minerals to play an increasing role in interactive media, as paper and electronics grow even closer together:"

"Some frozen food packages are becoming appealing enough to eat the box!" Jones added. "Minerals are ever more effective at getting the 'bite' into the message."

David Skuse, director of product development at 1MERYS' Georgia R&D facility, believes that the close connection between the surface properties delivered by minerals and the power of the message delivered by advertisers is where the excitement is. "Understanding the dimensional possibilities in your paper sheet is the key," he said. "Some degree of roughness can help communicate texture. At the same time, smoothness on a nano-scale can evoke an upscale feeling."

MINERAL LAUNCH PADS

A generation ago, minerals were used mostly to lower costs and fill the sheet. In those days, kaolins were mined and marbles were ground, followed by some processing before being shipped to the paper mill. Steady enhancement in the appearance of paper and hoard were made, but hardly the color and texture revolutions that prevail today.

Fundamental changes in technology explain the "ratcheting Lap" of mineral value. First, modest processing has been replaced with significant capital investment at the mine sites and satellite plants. Parallel in principle to refineries for the oil industry, delamination or grinding (cracking), particle size selection (distillation), precipitation (synthesis), and aggregation (polymerization), represent billions of investment dollars.

These investments, when combined with nano-structure applications know-how, have yielded tangible gains in productivity, product attributes, printability, and even the logistics of mineral-paper distribution efficiencies.

Productivity can be documented in better drainage and pressing, coater runnability, and calender runnability. Product attributes include surface appearance gains such as brightness, gloss, and printability. Minerals in paper and inks contribute to better image definition (dot shape) and equal or better performance with lower qualities of minerals.

The logistics advantage is complex, but begins with a broader range of options now available through "mother" and satellite locations of kaolin and carbonate facilities, which can reduce transportation costs by a significant factor. Mills--having more options for the way they receive minerals and the way they use them--can reduce raw material costs while producing lower basis-weight grades, saving their customers' shipping and postal costs.

THE MINERAL VALUE CHAIN

Reduction in pulp bleaching through the application of bright minerals is becoming commonplace. On the pulping side or at the paper machine wet end, minerals contribute to pitch control and continue to serve as fillers--at levels sometimes as high as 40% of the sheet. The value added factor is probably most apparent in coating formulations. Coater runnability from control of water retention and rheology of minerals is gaining ground. Calendering efficiency from easier to apply finishing is growing with the use of "platey" kaolins for coverage and fine kaolins for gloss.

In some cases, coating costs can be dramatically reduced at a single mill due to multi-pigment formulation efficiencies, further enhanced by the control of ink interactions and penetration. "Sometimes a high-end look comes from a sleek LWC sheet, which costs far less than fine paper," Jones said. "In other cases, an exquisite fine paper supports their pricing, and advances their appeal."

In a 1998 study conducted by Robinson, McPheters & Scott for the Advertising Research Foundation, magazines were proven more cost effective than television by a wide margin. In this study, which measured advertising awareness and spending of more than 100 leading brands, magazine contribution to awareness was 29% vs. television at 36%--but at about one-third of the cost.

Magazines have evolved considerably in quality and cost efficiency. They are brighter with higher ink gloss. They can be lighter weight for distribution and mailing efficiency, made glossier or mattier, and "tuned" for a particular look.

RESPONSE TO A DIGITAL WORLD

Because of the revolution in computer-driven "print on demand," whether from home or business, paper components have required significant re-formulation.

Tony Lyons, director of technology platforms for IMERYS, stresses the importance of cooperation along the value chain--especially beyond the mill. "When a paper producer develops a grade offering a new print gloss, it's equally important that the ink maker can adjust accordingly to deliver that effect," said Lyons.

He pointed out that offset has requirements for high viscosity ink, ink gloss, ink holdout and ink set-off. Gravure demands excellent dot transfer and definition, as well as ink holdout and gloss. Digital printing--both ink jet and electro-photography--also has special needs. With ink jet color intensity, ink hold out and fastness are most important.

Progress in formulations has been aided further by the use of high tech instruments in papermaking. This includes atomic force microscopy, field emission scanning and electron microscopy, mercury porosimetry, and microcalorimetry. The waves of the future, according to Jones, will include biotechnology and nano-technology.

According to Bomi Bilimoria, director of process engineering for IMERYS, "We now have tools to explain the characteristics, electron microscopes to see the particles, chemical analysis, and advanced particle geometry techniques. We can grasp why a clay or carbonate has a certain behavior. Minerals are poised to deliver value far beyond what was possible only a few years ago."

Jones summed it up this way: "A pearl has a special appeal because of the way it interacts with light. Its make-up has molecules of similar size to its wavelength. The science of photonics will help us develop materials, or coatings, which interact with light in more precise ways."

SEEING MINERALS DIFFERENTLY

The principal divide among kaolins is between platey and blocky pigments-or the careful mix of the two genres. Depending on your performance requirements, particle shape and size selection will vary. The dimensions of shapes and pores dictate print properties, such as ink holdout, blister resistance, dot shape, water uptake in ink-jet, and thermal barrier for electro-photographic grades.

Desired qualities and material costs determine which kaolins, carbonates, or combinations make sense for a particular grade. The hierarchy today places calcined clays with newsprint, engineered filler clays with supercalendered (SC) and SC-A grades, delaminated with ultra lightweight coated (ULWC) and LWC, glossing clays with medium weight coated (MWC), and high brightness glossing clays with coated woodfree and art papers.

On the carbonate front, neutrally buffered precipitated calcium carbonates (PCCs) tend to go with newsprint; carbonate fillets with SC grades; narrow particle size dimension (PSD) ground calcium carbonates (GCCs) with ULWC, LWC and MWC; and PCC-GCC combinations for coated woodfree and art papers.

What is changing these equations is the increasing role of "image building" into end products, and greater understanding of ways to enhance mineral performance. As grades continue to evolve to meet performance expectations and achieve better price/value, the role of minerals in paper will continue to gain momentum.

(1) Robinson. McPhetors & Scott, Advertising Research Foundation 1998

IN THIS ARTICLE, YOU WILL LEARN:

* How minerals can be used to engineer surface properties and create more effective print media

* How progress in formulations has been advanced by modern, high tech instruments

* How the selection and/or combination of platey and blocky pigments affects print quality

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:

* White House report on nanostructure technology developments: itri.loyola.edu/nano/toc.htm

* A classic paper from 1959 on nanostructures by R Feynman: rpi.edu/dept/materials/COURSES/ NANO/shaw/index.html

* Paper: Dr. Phil Jones, "Pigments in the Value Chain " For a copy, e-mail to: [e-mail]

RELATED ARTICLE: shape-engineered kaolins for Coated paper and paperboard.

Susan Boss, marketing manager, IMERYS Pigment and Additives Americas Paper Division

R & D efforts in minerals science have recently commercialized "shape-engineered" kaolins. This novel pigment design platform offers a new paper coating formulation tool to change the contour of the coating basestock for a smoother surface with exceptional print properties. These new shape-engineered kaolins deliver a unique combination of surface gloss and superior print properties--ideal for lightweight publication grades and coated board.

Shape-engineered kaolins are a good example of the previously untapped potential from minerals to upgrade existing and new paper and paperboard grades, or to reduce overall cost without sacrificing quality.

Produced from Middle Georgia crudes, shape-engineered kaolins are the first to combine the coverage and print benefits derived from European clays, while maintaining the glossing characteristics of Georgia clays. This patent-pending technology has been made possible through the development of radically different pigment characterization methods and improved mining and processing techniques. It is also the entry point for clay-to-paper products into mainline nanotechnology structures.

With the development of new pigment platforms, such as shape-engineered kaolins, mineral producers and papermakers are taking steps forward in looking at their business and science differentlyto pave the future for paper as a continued value media.

Martin Koepenick of Innova International, Atlanta, Georgia, USA, has written about the paper and allied industries for more than 20 years. He can be reached at [e-mail].