Patent ID: 7026385

Claim:
A clay-containing mixture which comprises a powdered or ground smectite, a smectite-containing natural rock or mixture thereof, wherein the smectite is present in an activated or an inactivated state, or in a mixture of said states, 0.8–10% by weight of an at least partially water-soluble and/or water-swellable polymer, and at least 0.5% by weight of a solid activating agent, except that the solid activating agent is only optionally present when activated smectite is present in an amount of at least 30% by weight based on the total weight of smectites present, wherein the weight percentages are based on the weight of the smectite, the mixture further comprising 3–20% by weight of water based on the total weight of the mixture, wherein said polymer is a linear chain acrylamide (co)polymer with a molecular weight of at least 500,000, a hydrolysis degree of at most 30% and a particle size of 2 μm to 1 mm, and wherein the clay-containing mixture is in a non-gelled form.