Wyo-Ben, Inc.

Wyo-Ben, Inc.
TypePrivate
IndustryMining
Founded1951
FounderKeith Brown, Rockwood Brown, Neal Brown, Barbara Brown Bixby, R.E. Dansby
Headquarters
Billings, Montana
Key people
David Brown (CEO)
ProductsSodium bentonite

Wyo-Ben, Inc. is an American bentonite mining and processing company headquartered in Billings, Montana.[1] The company produces sodium bentonite for industrial applications, including drilling fluids, iron ore pelletizing, absorbents, environmental sealants, and cat litter.[2][3][4][5]

History

Wyo-Ben was founded in 1951 as Wyo-Ben Products Co.[6][7][8] The company's early operations in Greybull, Wyoming focused on supplying bentonite mud for rotary drilling and oil well cementing. In 1954, the company began supplying bentonite for iron ore pelletizing in Minnesota, and in 1963 signed a supply agreement with a plant in Sept-Îles, Quebec. The Greybull plant was upgraded in 1964, and a second facility opened in Lovell in 1969.[9][10][11]

In 1980, Wyo-Ben opened a third processing plant in Thermopolis, increasing milling capacity to 650,000 tons per year. During the 1980s and 1990s, the company expanded the use of its bentonite products to support water well drilling, environmental sealing, directional drilling, tunneling, and wastewater treatment.[10][12]

In 2020, Wyo-Ben launched Wyo-Ben Pet, a new division for the production of sodium bentonite cat litter, and opened a processing and packaging plant in Billings, Montana.[13][14][15][16]

In 2023, Wyo-Ben acquired the bentonite operations of M-I SWACO, a division of Schlumberger, in Greybull, Wyoming. The plant was renamed Magnet Cove.[17][18][19][20]

The company's mining operations are largely based in Wyoming, where it operates many surface mining pits and multiple processing plants, including facilities in Greybull, Lovell, and Thermopolis. The company produces over one million tons of bentonite annually.[21][22][23][24]

References

  1. ↑ "Wyo-Ben Honored by Montana for Workplace Safety | The Driller". www.thedriller.com. Retrieved 2025-06-27.
  2. ↑ "Wyo-Ben Inc". Bloomberg.
  3. ↑ "Wyo-Ben Inc". Default. Retrieved 2025-06-27.
  4. ↑ "Wyo-Ben 2025 Company Profile: Valuation, Funding & Investors | PitchBook". pitchbook.com. Retrieved 2025-06-27.
  5. ↑ "Wyo-Ben, Inc". THE ORG. Retrieved 2025-06-27.
  6. ↑ "About Wyo-Ben". Wyo-Ben, Inc. Retrieved 2025-06-27.
  7. ↑ "Hole Products - Wyo-Ben". www.holeproducts.com. Retrieved 2025-06-27.
  8. ↑ "Wyo-Ben announces decision to close Lovell plant". Lovell Chronicle. 2016-02-19. Retrieved 2025-06-27.
  9. ↑ Bueno, Sharon (2021-04-19). "Celebrating 70 - Wyo-Ben Continues to Look to the Future". Trenchless Technology. Retrieved 2025-06-27.
  10. 1 2 "History". Wyo-Ben, Inc. Retrieved 2025-06-27.
  11. ↑ "Introduction". Wyo-Ben Chronicles. Retrieved 2025-06-27.
  12. ↑ Farr, Andrew (2014-04-02). "Extracting HDD's Lifeblood". Trenchless Technology. Retrieved 2025-06-27.
  13. ↑ "wyobenpet – Wyoben Pet". Retrieved 2025-06-27.
  14. ↑ "Mining Company Sees 'Paws-Abilities' In Growing Cat Litter Business". Cowboy State Daily. Retrieved 2025-06-27.
  15. ↑ "Bison Capital Partners VI, LP has announced an investment in Wyo-Ben, Inc". Bison Capital Asset Management, LLC. 2023-11-14. Retrieved 2025-06-27.
  16. ↑ "Wyo-Ben and bentonite industry on solid footing as new year unfolds". Lovell Chronicle. 2025-01-30. Retrieved 2025-06-27.
  17. ↑ "Wyo-Ben Buys M-I Swaco Bentonite Operation | The Driller". www.thedriller.com. Retrieved 2025-06-27.
  18. ↑ "Wyo-Ben adds shifts, increases production | Greybull Standard". greybullstandard.com. Retrieved 2025-06-27.
  19. ↑ Staff, U. C. (2023-11-07). "Wyo-Ben Acquires Bentonite Operation of M-I Swaco". Utility Contractor Magazine. Retrieved 2025-06-27.
  20. ↑ "Wyo-Ben acquires M-I Swaco's bentonite operations". undergroundinfrastructure.com. Retrieved 2025-06-27.
  21. ↑ "Wyo-Ben, Inc. - Company Profile and Products". Metoree. Retrieved 2025-06-27.
  22. ↑ Patrick. "Wyo Ben, Inc". Lovell Chamber of Commerce. Retrieved 2025-06-27.
  23. ↑ "Wyo-Ben". Knowde. Retrieved 2025-06-27.
  24. ↑ "Local bentonite operations merge | Greybull Standard". www.greybullstandard.com. Retrieved 2025-06-27.
This page is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.