History and Usage of Bentonite
One of bentonites first documented uses was as a bleaching and washing agent by the Indians. As the pioneers ventured west, bentonite was utilized as an emergency substitute for axle grease, as a curative pack for inflamed horses hoofs and as waterproofing for the roofs of dwellings.
Bentonite was originally called Taylorite for William Taylor of Hock Creek, who made the first commercial shipments of clay in 1888. Dr H. "Sam" Knigh, state geologist of Wyoming, renamed the clay bentonite when he learned that the name taylorite had been previously used in England as the name for another mineral. The term bentonite comes from the Fort Benton shale member, of the Mowry Formation, in the vicinity of Fort Benton, Wyoming, where one of the first occurrences of bentonite was noted.
The first bentonite mill in Wyoming was constructed at Cheyenne in 1920 and it processed bentonite from the Medicine Bow Area.
The first sales of Wyoming bentonite were to eastern plants in 1888 for the use in the manufacture of cosmetics. Production remained at a low level until the 1920’s when bentonite’s usefulness as a binding agent in foundry sand and as an additive to oil well drilling mud was discovered. This may be the first exported mineral from Wyoming. Bentonite has been produced contiously for over 100 years, an achievement experienced by few other natural resources anywhere in the world.
The United States is the world’s largest bentonite producer and exporter and Wyoming contains over 70% of the world’s supply of Sodium type bentonite. |
