Pacific Fertiliser supply natural high swelling sodium bentonite clay for utilisation in the civil, agricultural and stock feed industries. Available as fine powder or granular, we can supply a bentonite product to suit your needs in bulk, bulkbags or pallets of small bags.
Bentonite is characterised by exchangeable cations such as Ca2+, Mg2+, Na+ or Li+ which affect its designation and properties. For example, bentonite is generally described as either swelling or nonswelling bentonite.
Swelling bentonite (aka western bentonite in Aust) is sodium bentonite that swells in water and is generally used in its natural state.
Non-swelling bentonite is calcium bentonite (aka southern bentonite in Aust) that is generally used after treatment with soda ash to produce sodium-exchanged bentonite, or treated with acid to produce bleaching clay. Li-rich bentonite is known as hectorite and is commercially mined only in the US. It is also used in earthing materials in electrical installations.
Bentonite is truly a versatile mineral and is utilised for its high surface area, bonding, swelling, sorptive, sealing and rheological properties. These properties may be modified by treatment with acids, soda ash or other chemicals in addition to calcination, milling and sieving. Bentonite finds application in diverse markets including metalcasting, oil well drilling, iron ore pelletising (‘IOP’), edible oil purification, paper, ceramics, detergents, cat litter and civil engineering.
