The Application Of Bentonite In The Mining Industry

2021-06-24

In the mining field, bentonite is mainly used in metallurgy, casting, drilling and wastewater treatment, as an inorganic binder, thickener and rheology control agent for aqueous media systems.

1. Foundry Industry

The foundry industry mainly uses the plasticity and cohesiveness of bentonite, which can be used as a binder for the production of mold materials and a suspending agent for alcohol-based coatings.

2. Petroleum Drilling Industry

Drilling mud mainly uses the dispersibility, suspension, cohesion and thixotropy of bentonite. During drilling, the drilling mud can clean the bottom of the well and carry cuttings, cool and lubricate the drill bit and drill string, and balance the formation pressure, which is very important in drilling operations.

3. Metallurgical Industry

Metallurgical pellets utilize the cohesiveness, swelling and cation exchange properties of bentonite. After bentonite and iron concentrate are bonded, there will be no chemical change, nor will it affect the chemical properties of pellets. The bonding properties will not change at high temperatures, so it is widely used in the bonding of metallurgical pellets at home and abroad. Agent.

4. Mine Wastewater Treatment

In the treatment of mine wastewater, it uses the adsorption performance and ion exchange capacity of bentonite, and has a large specific surface area, which can be combined with other materials to form a mineral composite material.

5. Other Applications

In addition to the above four main uses, bentonite has other applications in the mining industry. For example, in the case of metal tailings ponds, long-term storage tailings ponds are potentially dangerous due to the seepage of heavy metal ions. The bentonite waterproof blanket can be used as a liner in the metal tailings pond to reduce the penetration of metal ions and is effectively used. In addition, bentonite can also be used to bond coke powder to prepare coke powder briquette and soil remediation.