Joseph-Marie has become a savvy businessman. To expand the business, he wants to make the factory as self-sufficient as possible. He starts off by gaining permanent rights, in 1812, to extract local deposits of kaolin, known as white earth: an essential component in the manufacture of sandstone. Then, in 1829, he goes on to buy Le Battoir, site of the former flour and oil mill, on the banks of the canal branching off from the Galaure river, for the preparation of pastes and enamels.