Mineral treatment and composition

A method for treating a phyllosilicate mineral comprising:

• (a) forming a slurry comprising up to about 40 weight percent of phyllosilicate mineral particles in an organic liquid having a dielectric constant less than 35 and in the absence of a liquid having a dielectric constant of at least 35;
• (b) grinding the slurry at a sufficiently low temperature to avoid substantial loss of the liquid through vaporization and with sufficient force to form a particulate composite of the phyllosilicate mineral particles and an organic material present in or formed from the organic liquid during grinding and to fracture the particulate composite and thereby to produce first particulate composite materials having a greater specific surface area than the phyllosilicate mineral particles from which they were formed;
• and
• (c) separating the first particulate composite materials from the organic liquid;
• and
• (d) treating the separated first particulate composite materials with a polar fluid having a dielectric constant of at least 60 to form second particulate composite materials having a greater specific surface area than the first particulate composite materials.