The present invention is directed to a process for the preparation of crystalline anionic clay-containing bodies from sources comprising a trivalent metal source and a divalent metal source comprising the steps of:

• a) preparing a precursor mixture containing a liquid, a divalent metal source and/or a trivalent metal source, at least one of them being insoluble in the liquid;
• b) shaping the precursor mixture to obtain shaped bodies;
• c) optionally thermally treating the shaped bodies; and
• d) aging the shaped bodies to obtain crystalline anionic clay-containing bodies;

  with the proviso that if no divalent or trivalent metal source is present in the precursor mixture of step a), such source is added to the shaped bodies after shaping step b) and before aging step d);

  and with the further proviso that the combined use of an aluminium source as the trivalent metal source and a magnesium source as the divalent metal source is excluded. The quintessence of the present invention is that the major part of the final amount of anionic clay is formed after shaping, i.e., in situ in the shaped body. This results in attrition resistant bodies, without the need to add a binder material.