膨润土是一种宝贵的非金属矿产资源。自1888年作为商品投放市场以来,已有102年的历史了。在这102年中,膨润土的开采、加工、应用有了很大的发展,目前世界产量已达600万吨(1988),应用领域已扩大到24个部门,用途有1000多种。其中申请过专利的就有几百种。现在需求量以3.1％的速度递增,预计到2000年,世界产量将达到700多万吨。 Bentonite is a valuable non-metallic mineral resource. Since it was put on the market as a commodity in 1888, it has been 102 years old. In these 102 years, the exploitation, processing and application of bentonite have made great progress. At present, the world production has reached 6 million tons (1988), and the application field has been expanded to 24 departments with over 1,000 kinds of applications. There are hundreds of applications for patents. The demand is now growing at a rate of 3.1%. It is expected that by the year 2000, the world production will reach more than 7 million tons.