Askangel Alliance

The company ASKANGEL ALLIANCE LLC, Georgia (AAG) was founded with the aim of resuming the production of bentonite products from the raw materials of the Askan deposit, which has been developed since 1946.

The history of Georgian bentonite clay starts 20 million years ago, when underwater volcano ash sedimentation in the seawater led to formation of the clay, currently found in large quantities in the Guria region of Georgia, near Askana village.

Professor Alexander Fersman, a prominent Russian geologist, first discovered the bentonite clay in Georgia in 1913. Bentonite clay, discovered by Professor Fersman, was later named Askanian Bentonite clay after its geographical location.

In 1946 the first bentonite mine was opened in Mtispiri — a village in Ozurgeti municipality of Georgia. In the following decades a profound research of Askanian bentonite clays was conducted, including their chemical composition, unique characteristics and methods of application. The extensive research concluded that Askanian bentonite clay group is one of the best of its kind in the world. Askanian bentonite clays were quarried in large quantity during the Soviet period, amounting up to 120,000 tons annually. Askanian bentonites were considered the highest quality bentonite in USSR.

Later, due to collapse of the Soviet Union, clay quarrying was paused for decades. However, despite many problems, a new phase of bentonite quarrying commenced in 2011. The clay from the Tsikhisubani and Vaniskedi mines is considered to be of the highest quality, as its natural chemical composition excels over counterparts from other mines worldwide.

In the last 10 years the products from Askanian bentonite clay were actively introduced to the European market. Presently, the demand has been rapidly growing, involving post-Soviet and West European countries (Germany, Italy, Finland, etc.), as well as Serbia, Turkey, Israel and other prominent markets.