Jun 13, 2025
Excursion 2025
Group photo from the Caminau open-cast mine
This year's excursion by the Institute of Geotechnical Engineering took us to Lusatia. The Caminau kaolin plant of the Quarzwerk Group was visited near Bautzen. The Caminau deposit was formed geologically from the Lusatian granodiorite. Kaolinitic weathering in the humid Tertiary climate created a deposit that has been mined since 1904.
The production manager, Mr. Klichowicz, first gave us a tour of the open-cast mine. We were able to observe the extraction of the kaolin by the bucket wheel excavator at close range.
We then took a look at the kaolin's journey through the individual processes. We saw the sorting according to the degree of whiteness, the classification to separate the individual grain sizes, the settling and drying of the kaolin through to the end product.
The Institute of Geotechnical Engineering would like to thank Mr. Klichowicz and Caminauer Kaolinwerk GmbH for the insights into the plant.