Attapulgite minerals are almost all over the world, but the proportion of deposits with industrial significance is small, which is limited to the United States, China, Spain, France, Turkey, Senegal, South Africa, Australia, Brazil, Israel, Saudi Arabia, Switzerland, Britain, Russia (Irkutsk), Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Ukraine and Armenia.
In p>1976, Xu Jiquan, a scholar from China, discovered the deposit in Xiao Panshan, Zhuzhen, Liuhe County, Jiangsu Province, China. Xu Jiquan translated it into "attapulgite" according to the voice of Otterborg and taking into account the crystal structure characteristics of the mine. In 1982, Yong Xiaoshan, Xuyi County, Jiangsu Province, discovered the attapulgite clay mine, which was evaluated by the geological prospecting department of Jiangsu Province as a large-scale deposit. In 1984, with the help of Nanjing Institute of Geology and Mineral Resources, attapulgite clay was also found in Mingguang area of Jiashan County, Anhui Province, and then attapulgite clay deposits (spots) were found in 14 provinces and regions of China.
Xuyi area has high grade and large reserves. The proven reserves of high-quality attapulgite clay in this area are over 67 million tons, and the total amount of useful clay is 5 million tons. Shenzhen Haiyang powder attapulgite is the most famous.
composition
attapulgite clay refers to a clay mineral with attapulgite as the main component. Attapulgite is a kind of crystalline hydrated magnesium aluminum silicate mineral, which has a unique layered chain structure. There is lattice replacement in its structure, and the helper crystals contain an indefinite amount of Na+, Ca2+, Fe3+ and Al3+, and the crystals are needle-shaped, fibrous or fiber-aggregate. Attapulgite has unique colloidal properties such as dispersion, high temperature resistance, salt and alkali resistance and high adsorption and decoloration ability. It has certain plasticity and cohesive force, and its ideal chemical molecular formula is: mg5si8o2 (oh) 2 (oh2) 4 4h2o. It has an intermediate structure between chain structure and layered structure. Attapulgite is soil-like, dense and massive, produced in sedimentary rocks and weathering crust, and its color is white, grayish white, bluish gray, grayish green or weak silky luster. The soil is fine, oily and slippery, light and brittle, with a shell-like or jagged fracture and strong water absorption. When wet, it is sticky and plastic, and after drying, it has little shrinkage and no big cracks, and it collapses when soaked in water. Suspension does not flocculate and precipitate when it meets dielectric.
Attapulgite is hair-like or fibrous in shape, usually a blanket-like or earth-like aggregate. Mohs hardness 2-3, heated to 7 ~ 8 C, hardness >: 5。 The specific gravity is 2.5 ~ 2.32.
because of its unique crystal structure, attapulgite has many special physicochemical and technological properties. The main physical and chemical properties and technological properties are cation exchangeability, water absorption, adsorption decoloration, large specific surface area (9.6 ~ 36 m2/g), colloid value and swelling capacity. These physical and chemical properties are similar to montmorillonite.