Active Minerals, Inc. History

History

AMI's roots go back to 1964 when its parent, ITC, Inc., was formed by Peter F. Osterchrist as a trading company whose primary business was to trade steel products from Germany and Japan to the United States. This quickly led to business on a global scale as ITC became an exporter of Georgia Kaolin Company products to Japan, Europe and South America as the exclusive export representative of Georgia Kaolin Company. ITC's focus was on serving the paper industry with high quality, low cost filler and coating grade kaolin. Mr Osterchrist's dynamic sales ability combined with an excellent support staff in administration, finance and logistics supported by Georgia Kaolin's quality and low cost supply fueled the growth of the company.

1981: Japanese Expansion

Mr. Osterchrist was a visionary leader in the introduction and use of water ground calcium carbonate to the Japanese Paper industry by establishing a joint venture with English China Clay to produce water ground calcium carbonate (WGCC) at Fuji Kaolin Co, located in Fuji City Japan in 1981. The use of WGCC has expanded greatly on a global basis as a coating and filler material replacing kaolin in many paper applications.

1983: Specialty Minerals

In 1983 ITC expanded its scope of operations from paper clays to the sales of specialty minerals to non-paper applications by hiring Dennis C. Parker as Business Development Manager based in Baltimore. Eric Bergland and Kazuhiko Sakurai joined the Business Development Team with Eric handling logistics and Kas developing sales in the Japanese markets for kaolin, attapulgite, sepiolite, silica and other minerals consumed by Japan's growing industrial base.

1988: New Markets and Industries

Through persistence and hard work the Business Development team formed the foundation for our future company. Through its efforts the company was able to expand sales into Taiwan, Korea, Southeast Asia and China. Robert Purcell and Jack Whiteford, now Senior VP's of Sales, joined the team in 1988 to expand the specialty business and enter the new fiberglass market starting in Taiwan. Their efforts continued the expansion and growth in the developing markets for kaolin and colemanite.

1990: Taiwan's Growing Market

In December 1990, Peter Osterchrist and a group of company investors acquired 50% of American Borate Company from Owens Corning Corporation. ABC owned and operated the Billie Mine located in Death Valley, CA. Production of 42% B2O3 colemanite allowed ITC to supply the growing market in Taiwan for textile grade fiberglass.

1992: New Ownership

In 1992 Mr. Osterchrist and his wife, Elizabeth, were killed in the crash of the company plane. The company was acquired from his estate in late 1997 by a group of key employees and investors.

1997: A Joint Venture

In April 1997 ITC, Inc. formed a joint venture with Engelhard Corporation and acquired the Floridin Company of Quincy, Florida. ITC and Engelhard supplied their respective operations from production facility in Quincy.

2001: Colemanite, Fiberglass, & China

In 2001 ITC introduced Turkish Ground colemanite to the newly developed China fiberglass market. ETI Maden is the world's largest producer of synthetic and naturally occurring borates. The successful introduction of high quality 42% colemanite in China has resulted in the largest market expansion for natural borates in ETI history. Development of markets and applications for natural borates is a specialty of AMI, LLC.

2003: Demand & Growth

In 2003 ITC, Inc. acquired (WKA), Wilkinson Kaolin Associates, LLC of Gordon, Georgia to support its growing sales efforts in the textile fiberglass market in Asia. WKA capacity was expanded to 450,000 stpy and bulk bagging capacity was expanded to 250,000 mtpy to meet the growing Asian demand.

2004: A New Name

In 2004 ITC Inc. was restructured and all of its subsidiary names, including the former acquisition names, Floridin and WKA, were dropped in favor of the new corporate identity, AMI.

2007: Employee Acqusition

In 2007, a group of company employees acquired AMI in cooperation with Merit Capital Partners of Chicago, IL.

2008: More Growth

In 2008 AMI, LLC acquired Southeastern Kaolin located in Aiken, South Carolina to expand its sales of kaolin in the markets for hard clay in Asian and North America. The addition of the Aiken Facility expanded kaolin capacity to over 600,000 tons. The latest addition to the AMI group of companies is the expansion of it's attapulgite operations. In March, 2009 AMI opened the Antioch Church Road Mine and Mill complex in Climax, GA. This facility is designed to produce feed stock for the Quincy operation to make fine gel clays and to produce market ready products for bulk rail and bulk truck customers of coarse gel products. When placed in full production it will have over 180,000 tons of gel clay capacity.

Today's Standards of Excellence

AMI represents more than a century of mining and processing experience in industrial minerals and has become the established standard of excellence in the production and marketing of industrial minerals in its fields in the United States.

This leadership in the industrial minerals field is complemented by a deep commitment to providing quality products, exceptional service to our customers and a safe working environment to our employees and contractors. This we accomplish through a commitment to quality, health and safety, outstanding people, and environmental responsibility while focusing on continuous improvement.

AMI's senior executives and managers are owners and directors of the company. They understand the business and make decisions for the best long term benefit of the company, its employees and its customers. They seek to strengthen their relationships with customers through their performance and quality and enhance the skill set of their employees to improve their productivity and job satisfaction. Their goal is to build a financially strong company capable of competing in the global markets they serve.