Mineral: Montmorillonite, Bentonite

Notes

A clay mineral of extremely small particle size and high plasticity. Raw bentonite is generally a pale green, buff, cream, or grey material composed of the clay mineral montmorillonite. It is used to plasticize clay and porcelain bodies, often used in amounts of 1-5%.

Its origin can be traced to ancient volcanic eruptions where fine volcanic ash particles were carried by winds and deposited in discrete layers which altered over time from the glassy state to claystone. In North America, bentonites are mined in Montana, Wyoming, South Dakota and Saskatchewan and used in things like porcelain, toothpaste, tablets, cosmetics, oil drilling mud, oven cleaners, insecticides, putty, paint, ink, paper, polishes, cleansing agents, explosives, detergents, plastics and rubber.

Out Bound Links

• (URLs) Montmorillonite at Wikipedia
  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montmorillonite
• (Typecodes) 14: CLM - Clay Minerals
• (URLs) Montmorillonite micrograph at minersoc.org
  http://www.minersoc.org/pages/gallery/claypix/smec...
• (URLs) Montmorillonite mineralogy
  http://www.handbookofmineralogy.org/pdfs/Montmoril...

In Bound Links

• (Materials) Bentonite

  Montmorillonite

• (Materials) Big Horn CE 200 Bentonite - Wyoming Bentonite
• (Minerals) Attapulgite, Palygorskite

  Attapulgite is a magnesium aluminum silicate clay ...

• (Materials - Parent mineral) Bentone MA - Glaze Suspender, Hectorite

  Macaloid

• (Minerals - Related) Hectorite

  An uncommon fine grained highly plastic clay miner...

• (Minerals - Related) Smectite

  A highly plastic clay mineral related to montmoril...