Soaking it up: Bentonite’s global reach
By IM Staff
Published: Saturday, 21 May 2016
Recent growth in bentonite consumption has been driven largely by foundry, oil drilling and iron ore pelletising markets. However, the latest downturn in oil and steel prices is likely to see volumes in the latter two markets decrease in the short to medium term. Andrew Scogings* gives an overview of worldwide bentonite production
and consumption.
The name bentonite was first suggested in 1898 for clay
hosted by the Benton Shale in Wyoming. It was initially
described as clay formed by the alteration of volcanic ash, but
the most widely used commercial definition is that bentonite is
clay consisting essentially of smectite minerals (usually
montmorillonite) regardless...