Arumpo Bentonite

What Arumpo Bentonite does

Arumpo Bentonite Pty Ltd is a privately held, family-owned Australian industrial minerals company incorporated in 1980 that mines, processes, and distributes natural sodium bentonite clay. The company operates a mine approximately 95km north-east of Mildura in Victoria and a processing, milling, laboratory, and packing facility at Buronga, NSW, with reserves exceeding 70 million tonnes at over 90% Montmorillonite purity and very high cation exchange capacity. The shallow deposit allows mining with minimal environmental disturbance, and raw bentonite is sundried on-site seasonally before being processed and packed at Buronga.

The product portfolio spans five use cases. Civil & Industrial bentonite covers impermeable barriers, electrical earthing, roads, geotechnical barriers, drilling, and a specifically formulated saline/saline-sodic water variant. Agriculture bentonite addresses dam and channel sealing and sandy soil improvement. Arumpo Stockfeed Bentonite is supplied in milled, fine, and granular grades as a livestock feed additive. Enviro Litter is the company's own NASAA-certified organic premium pet litter brand, and Arumpo PaperBen serves papermaking and wastewater treatment as a colloidal formation aid. Products are offered in milled, sun-dried, and kiln-dried granular forms in packaging from small bags through to bulk pneumatic tankers.

The business operates a direct sales model, despatching multiple loads daily to industrial, agricultural, and consumer customers across Australia and overseas markets, with quote-based pricing and engagement through a website contact form segmented by application area. Revenue is not publicly disclosed and the company maintains no external investors, holding ISO 9001 certification since 2002, NASAA organic input certification for over a decade, AMAG Australian Made licensing, and FIAAA membership. Key management is led by Joe McBrien as Mine Manager, with no broader management team publicly disclosed.

Name

Arumpo Bentonite

Legal name

Arumpo Bentonite Pty Ltd

Website

https://arumpo.com.au

Company type

Private

Founded year

1980

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Arumpo Bentonite is a family-owned Australian miner and processor of high-purity sodium bentonite (>90% Montmorillonite) supplying civil engineering, agriculture, stockfeed, pet litter (Enviro Litter), and papermaking (PaperBen) customers across Australia and overseas from its Buronga, NSW facility.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Industrial Minerals and Bentonite Mining

NAICS

Sand, Gravel, Clay, and Ceramic and Refractory Minerals Mining and Quarrying (21232), Coal and Other Mineral and Ore Merchant Wholesalers (42352)

SIC

Mining & Quarrying Of Nonmetallic Minerals (No Fuels) (1400), Wholesale-Metals & Minerals (No Petroleum) (5050)

akta.pro industry

PRIMARYIMAEAFAE

Bentonite & Other Smectite Clays

Industrials, Manufacturing & Construction/Chemicals & Industrial Materials/Industrial Minerals & Functional Fillers

SECONDARYIMAKAGAJ

Kaolin & Industrial Clay Mining (Bentonite, Ball Clay, Fuller’s Earth)

Industrials, Manufacturing & Construction/Metals & Mining/Industrial Minerals Mining (Phosphate, Potash, Sulfur, Borates, Barite, Talc)

SECONDARYIMAEAFAB

Kaolin & Ball Clay

Industrials, Manufacturing & Construction/Chemicals & Industrial Materials/Industrial Minerals & Functional Fillers

Keywords

• Bentonite mining
• Industrial minerals supply
• Civil engineering materials
• Agricultural soil amendments
• Pet litter manufacturing

Headquarters

HQ city

Buronga

HQ country

Australia

HQ region

Oceania

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Operations, Supply Chain, Infrastructure, Personnel, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Bentonite Product Sales: Direct sales of bentonite products in various forms including milled, sun dried, and kiln dried granular products. Products are sold in formats ranging from small bags to bulk pneumatic tankers to industrial, agricultural, and consumer customers in Australia and overseas markets.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels2 records

Core offering

Arumpo Bentonite mines and processes premium natural sodium bentonite clay from its deposit near Mildura, Victoria, and supplies milled, sun-dried, and kiln-dried granular bentonite products to industrial, agricultural, and consumer customers in Australia and overseas. Products include civil engineering and environmental containment bentonite, agriculture and water storage sealing bentonite, livestock stockfeed bentonite, the Enviro Litter pet litter brand, and PaperBen for papermaking, sold in formats ranging from small bags to bulk pneumatic tankers.

Product overview

Arumpo Bentonite is a family-owned Australian company (incorporated in 1980) that mines, processes and supplies premium bentonite products. The company operates from deposits near Mildura, Victoria, with reserves exceeding 70 million tonnes and purity over 90% Montmorillonite. Their product portfolio includes Arumpo PaperBen (for papermaking formation aid and wastewater treatment), Enviro Litter (NASAA-certified organic pet litter), Arumpo Stockfeed Bentonite (animal feed additive), Civil & Industrial Bentonite Products (for civil engineering, environmental waste containment, and industrial absorbents), and Agriculture Bentonite (for water storage sealing and soil improvement). Products are available in various formats from milled and sun-dried to kiln-dried granular grades, supplied in formats from small bags to bulk pneumatic tankers.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Enviro Litter: Arumpo Bentonite's own brand of premium grade pet litter, certified with NASAA as an organic input.

Products and services

• Arumpo PaperBen Highly colloidal, plastic clay with high surface area developed specifically as a formation aid in paper production and for treating wastewater from paper manufacturing processes. Targeted at paper mills and industrial wastewater treatment operators.
• Enviro Litter Premium grade pet litter made from bentonite that absorbs pet effluent and forms discrete clumps for easy disposal, carrying NASAA certification as an organic input. Targeted at pet care retailers, distributors, and end consumers seeking clumping, odour-controlled, environmentally safe pet litter.
• Arumpo Stockfeed Bentonite Bentonite product available in milled, fine, and granular grades for inclusion in animal feeds, used to improve adaptation to high-concentrate diets and to prevent acidosis and the effects of aflatoxins in sheep and cattle. Targeted at stockfeed manufacturers and livestock producers.
• Civil & Industrial Bentonite Products Specially formulated bentonite products for civil engineering (impermeable barriers for highly permeable native soils, electrical earthing, roads, geotechnical barriers, drilling mud), environmental waste containment, and industrial absorbent applications. Includes formulations engineered to perform in saline and saline-sodic waters. Targeted at civil contractors, engineering firms, and industrial users.
• Arumpo Agriculture Bentonite Bentonite used for water storage sealing (dams, channels, water storage facilities) and as a soil improver with very high cation exchange capacity to improve soil fertility and water retention in sandy soils, reducing fertilizer wash-out. Targeted at agricultural producers, horticulturists, and water infrastructure operators.

Quantifiable outcome

• Bentonite purity exceeding 90% Montmorillonite content
• +1 more outcomes

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves4 records

Expansion highlights2 records

Broad incumbents

• Clariant (Bentonite & Specialty Minerals): Global specialty chemicals giant with a dedicated Bentonite Performance Minerals business (formerly Süd-Chemie, including CETCO). Directly competes in drilling muds, civil engineering bentonite, and offers the broadest portfolio and geographic reach of any bentonite player — the benchmark incumbent Arumpo competes against in export markets.
• Minerals Technologies Inc. Large US-listed specialty minerals producer with bentonite, chromite, and other industrial mineral product lines serving construction, environmental, and consumer end markets. Competes with Arumpo in specialty bentonite applications and represents the listed, scaled incumbent alternative.
• Imerys: Global leader in mineral-based specialty solutions with a portfolio that includes bentonite and other clays for industrial, environmental, and consumer applications. Comparable through its broad industrial minerals footprint and competing for many of the same civil engineering and specialty customer accounts as Arumpo.

Direct peers

• Wyo-Ben Inc. US-based bentonite miner and processor supplying drilling, civil engineering, environmental, and agricultural markets from Wyoming deposits. Closest direct comparable to Arumpo in product mix (multiple bentonite grades for industrial and environmental use), customer segments, and pure-play bentonite business model.
• Black Hills Bentonite: Family-owned (multi-generational) Wyoming bentonite miner and processor with diversified product lines across oilfield, civil engineering, agriculture, and specialty applications. Highly comparable in family-owned profile, deposit-driven economics, and horizontal product diversification — a like-for-like small/mid bentonite specialist.
• Laviosa Group: Italian bentonite miner and specialty processor serving pet litter (including clumping cat litter brands), civil engineering, and industrial absorbent markets globally. Highly comparable in product diversification across pet litter and civil engineering applications, with overlapping customer segments.
• Tolsa Group: Spanish specialty clay and bentonite producer with strong positions in pet litter (Sanicat brand) and industrial absorbent applications. Comparable through dual focus on branded consumer pet litter and industrial bentonite — directly overlapping Arumpo's Enviro Litter and absorbent product lines.

Emerging players

• Ashapura Group: Indian-headquartered mining and mineral processing group with significant bentonite and industrial clay operations supplying Asia-Pacific markets. Competes with Arumpo in regional export channels and on cost-driven commodity bentonite grades.
• Dr. Elsey's Pet Products: US premium cat litter brand built on clumping bentonite clay, competing in the same premium/natural pet litter category as Arumpo's Enviro Litter. Comparable as a downstream bentonite consumer brand that sets market expectations for clumping performance and organic positioning.

Regional players

• Bentonite Australia (PB Mining): Australian bentonite producer operating in Western Australia, supplying drilling, civil, and environmental markets. The closest geographic competitor within Australia, directly competing for domestic civil engineering and drilling contracts that Arumpo targets.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/arumpobentonite
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/arumpo-bentonite-pty-ltd

Compliance4 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Arumpo Bentonite