Earth India Minnerals

Madhapar, Bhuj, Gujarat

Bentonite are very fine grained clays. They vary in color from cream to olive green. Bentonite shows conchoidal or subconchoidal fracture; can be easily cut with knife into thin shavings. It shows waxy luster on freshly cut surface and are soapy to feel. Bentonite is an important naturally occurring clay of great commercial importance. Based on water absorbing qualities in industry, Bentonite are know as swelling and non-swelling types.

Attapulgite or Palygorskite is a magnesium aluminium phyllosilicate with formula (Mg, Al)2Si4O10(OH)4(H2O) which occurs in a type of clay soil. Gel grade, dry processed attapulgites are used in a very wide range of applications for suspension, reinforcement and binding properties. Paints, sealants, adhesives, tape-joint compound, catalysts, suspension fertilizers, wild fire suppressants, foundry coatings, animal feed suspensions and molecular sieve binders are just a few uses of dry process attapulgite

Baryte, or barite, (BaSO4) is a mineral consisting of barium sulfate. Baryte itself is generally white or colorless. Baryte occurs in a large number of depositional environments, and is deposited through a large number of processes including biogenic, hydrothermal, and evaporation, among others. Baryte commonly occurs in lead-zinc veins in limestones, in hot spring deposits, and with hematite ore. In all 77% worldwide is used as a weighting agent for drilling fluids in oil and gas exploration and other uses are in added-value applications which include the car, electronics, TV screen, rubber, and glass ceramics and paint industry, radiation shielding and medical applications (for example, a barium meal before a contrast CAT scan). Baryte is used in the manufacture of paints and paper.

Bauxite is the aluminium ore from which most aluminium is extracted. Bauxite is usually strip mined i.e. surface mining because it is almost always found near the surface of the terrain, with little or no overburden at all. Approximately 95% of the world's bauxite production is processed first into alumina, and then into aluminium by electrolysis. Bauxite rocks are typically classified according to their intended commercial application: metallurgical, abrasive, cement, chemical, and refractory.