Upgrades and roadblocks
Black Hills Bentonite is evaluating its properties to find additional reserves , Thorson says . He notes that the plants do not have any value by themselves , other than salvage , as the equipment is specialized for bentonite processing . The company recently updated several of its locations .
“[ We ] put in some newer screening capabilities basically to update our granular capabilities ,” he notes .
At its Worland , Wyo ., plant , Black Hills Bentonite removed a battery of existing screens and replaced them with a single Megatex . The same was true of its Mills plant , and the Megatex has resulted in greater productivity .
Environmental challenges
Black Hills Bentonite also is coping with a challenge in its local environment . “ We have a bird out here called a sage-grouse ,” Thorson says . “ The environmentalists have wanted to get the sage-grouse [ recognized ] as an endangered species .”
This means new permits are required for mining . “ Certain areas have been declared core areas [ for the sagegrouse and ] carry with it an owner ’ s permitting requirements ,” Thorson continues . “ We don ’ t know what the basic end of it ’ s going to be .
“ Certainly , we see it as being another roadblock ,” Thorson says , noting that sage-grouse hunting is still allowed and its population has decreased . “[ But ] between the predators and the hunter , they come after the miners .”
A strong market
Looking forward , Thorson says Black Hills Bentonite sees the cat litter market as a
strong sector in its future . The sector has recently grown at a rate of 6 percent annually .
“ The clumping cat litter has been around for 20 years and it is well known by cat owners ,” he says . “ The split between clumping [ which bentonite is used for ] and non-clumping [ which common clay is used for ] has stabilized on about a 70:30 ratio .”
Thorson expects that to eventually reach a plateau and for it to grow only by 1 or 2 percent annually . “ I don ’ t see it continuing to grow at 6 percent a year ,” he says . ■
[ Details correct at time of writing ]
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