Paper

Columbia River Carbonates has been serving the paper industry in the Western United States and Canada for over 30 years. Our dedication to customer service and exceptional product quality has ensured us stable long term relationships with many paper manufacturers. Our product development, flexibility and ability to react quickly to the ever-changing paper industry has provided us opportunities to provide solutions to a growing number of paper customers in new markets.

Columbia River Carbonates’ ability to provide world class customer support at the local level is one of our key strengths. Our production facility and technical center in Woodland Washington interacts with our partners, Omya, to provide product development innovation and superior technical services.

The use of high brightness fillers is now necessary for most producers of any paper grade. Our products contribute to the functional components of brightness, opacity and smoothness, which are needed for printing, writing and packaging grades.

Mineral fillers are also a vehicle to reduce the production cost of many paper grades. Since the mineral dries easier than fiber, steam demand is reduced and production increased. Replacing more expensive fibers with filler also reduces raw material costs. Depending on the grade, fillers can be used at levels from 1% to over 30%.

Columbia River Carbonates is currently one of the only manufacturers of cationically charged ground calcium carbonates fillers. This novel cationic grinding process yields a charge and narrow particle size distribution that allow for high retention and excellent optical response.

The pigments used for paper coating bring brightness, a smooth printable surface and other functional properties to the final product. Columbia River Carbonates offers a range of particle sizes to suit your needs.

Paper coatings today are applied in a variety of ways, all with different requirements for the pigment. From blade metering to roll coating to pigmented size press, Columbia River Carbonates has the products and expertise to help you achieve your goals.