Kaolin pigments, their preparation and use

The present invention relates to pigment products, and their production and use in coating compositions for preparing gloss coated paper, especially lightweight and ultra-lightweight coated paper. More particularly, the invention relates to paper coating pigments made from a crude feed comprising a naturally platy clay having a particle size distribution such that greater than 50% by weight of the particles have an esd less than 2 microns and less than 25% by weight of the particles have an esd less than 0.25 microns and a shape factor of 15 or more. A pigment product suitable for use in a coating composition to provide a gloss coating on paper, the pigment product comprising a processed particulate kaolin produced from a naturally platy kaolin clay having a particle size distribution such that about 50% to 60% by weight of the particles have an esd less than 2 m and less than 25% by weight of the particles have an esd less than 0.25 m and a shape factor of at least 15. In processing, the crude kaolin is ground to a shape factor greater than 50 to produce even greater "platy" clay. The pigment product has a particle size distribution such that at least 80% by weight of the particles have an esd less than 2 m and greater than 12% and less than 35% by weight of the particles have an esd less than 0.25 m and whose surface area is greater than 12 m/g when measured by the BET method.