Minerals Technologies Inc's Business Segments

The Specialty Minerals segment produces and sells the synthetic mineral product precipitated calcium carbonate ("PCC") and processed mineral product quicklime ("lime"), and mines mineral ores then processes and sells natural mineral products, primarily limestone and talc. This segments products are used principally in the paper, building materials, paint and coatings, glass, ceramic, polymer, food, automotive and pharmaceutical industries.

The Refractories segment produces and markets monolithic and shaped refractory materials and specialty products, services and application and measurement equipment, and calcium metal and metallurgical wire products. Refractories segment products are primarily used in high-temperature applications in the steel, non-ferrous metal and glass industries.

The Performance Materials segment is a leading supplier of bentonite and bentonite-related products. This segment also supplies chromite and leonardite and operates more than 25 mining or production facilities worldwide.

The Construction Technologies segment provides products for non-residential construction, environmental and infrastructure projects worldwide. It serves customers engaged in a broad range of construction projects, including site remediation, concrete waterproofing for underground structures, liquid containment on projects ranging from landfills to flood control, and drilling applications including foundation, slurry wall, tunneling, water well, and horizontal drilling.

The Energy Services segment provides services to improve the production, costs, compliance, and environmental impact of activities performed in oil and gas industry. This segment offers a range of services for off-shore filtration and well testing to the worldwide oil and gas industry.

Energy Services Segment

The Energy Services segment provides services to improve the production, costs, compliance, and environmental impact of activities performed in the oil and gas industry. The composition of customers within this segment varies from year to year and is significantly dependent on the type of activities each customer is undertaking within the year, regulations, and overall dynamics of the oil and gas industry. Due to the weak market conditions in the oil and gas sector, the Company exited U.S. on-shore Nitrogen and Well Testing services. As a result, the Company currently provides services for off-shore filtration and well testing to the worldwide oil and gas industry. Services are provided through subsidiaries located in Australia, Brazil, Malaysia, Nigeria, Mexico, Indonesia, the United Kingdom, and the U.S., in the Gulf of Mexico.
Principal Services

The Company provides the following principal services:

Water Treatment / Filtration: The Company helps customers comply with regulatory requirements by providing equipment, technologies, personnel and filtration media to treat waste water generated during oil production.

The Company specializes in water treatment processes and technologies to remove oil, hydrocarbons, heavy metals, solids, toxic materials and other contaminants from customers’ operation wastewater stream.

Well Testing: The Company provides equipment and personnel to help customers control well production, as well as to clean up, unload, separate, measure component flow, and capture fluids from oil and gas wells.

The Company delivers complete well testing solutions and effective operations in all testing environments.

Construction Technologies Segment

The Construction Technologies segment provides products for non-residential construction, environmental and infrastructure projects worldwide. It serves customers engaged in a broad range of construction projects, including site remediation, concrete waterproofing for underground structures, liquid containment on projects ranging from landfills to flood control, and drilling applications including foundation, slurry wall, tunneling, water well, and horizontal drilling.

This segment has two product lines – environmental products, and building materials and other products.

Environmental Products and Markets

The Environmental Product line includes bentonite and polymer lining technologies, as well as, other environmental remediation applications.

The Company sells lining and other products for a variety of applications, most of which are directed to preserving or remediating environmental issues. The Company helps customers protect ground water and soil through the sale of geosynthetic clay liner products containing bentonite. These products are marketed under the RESISTEX® and BENTOMAT® trade names principally for lining and capping landfills, mine waste disposal sites and industrial waste storage sites, such as, bauxite residue and coal ash waste. The Company also provides associated geosynthetic materials for these applications, including geotextiles and drainage geocomposites.

Environmental Products also includes specialized technologies to mitigate vapor intrusion in new building construction. The Company’s innovative vapor barrier systems prevent potentially harmful vapors from entering occupied space, thus facilitating low-risk redevelopment. The Company also provides reactive capping technologies and solutions to effectively contain residual contamination, reduce costs associated with ex-situ remedies, and aid in environmental protection. Products offered include Liquid Boot®, a liquid applied vapor barrier system; REACTIVE CORE-MAT™, an in-situ sediment capping material; ORGANOCLAY®, which absorbs organic containments; and QUIK-SOLID®, a super absorbent media.

Performance Materials Segment

The Performance Materials segment is a leading supplier of bentonite and bentonite-related products. Bentonite is a sedimentary deposit containing greater than 50% montmorillonite and is volcanic in origin. It is surface mined and then dried, crushed, sent through grinding mills where it is sized to customer requirements, and transferred to silos for automatic bagging or bulk shipment. The processed bentonite may be chemically modified. Bentonite’s unique chemical structure gives it a diverse range of capabilities, enabling it to act as a thickener, sealant, binder, lubricant or absorption agent. From a commercial standpoint, there are two primary types of natural bentonite, sodium and calcium. Sodium-bentonite is characterized by its ability to absorb large amounts of water and form viscous, thixotropic suspensions. Calcium-bentonite, in contrast, is characterized by its low water absorption and swelling capabilities and its inability to stay suspended in water. Each type of bentonite has its own unique applications. This segment also supplies chromite and leonardite, which is primarily used in metalcasting, drilling fluid additive, and agricultural applications. The principal products of this segment are marketed under various registered trade names, including VOLCLAY®, PANTHER CREEK®, PREMIUM GEL®, ADDITROL®, ENERSOL®, and Hevi-Sand®.


The Performance Materials segment has three product lines – metalcasting; household, personal care and specialty products; and basic minerals and other products.

Refractories Segment

The Company offers a broad range of monolithic and pre-cast refractory products and related systems and services.

The Companys technical service staff and application equipment assist customers to achieve desired productivity objectives. The Companys technicians are also able to conduct laser measurement of refractory wear, sometimes in conjunction with robotic application tools, to improve refractory performance at many customer locations. The Company believes that these services, together with its refractory product offerings, provide it with a strategic marketing advantage.


Over the past several years the Refractories segment has continued to develop, reformulate, and optimize its products and application technology to maintain its competitive advantage in the market place. Some of the products the Company has developed and optimized in the past several years include:

HOTCRETE®: High durability shotcrete products for applications at high temperatures in ferrous applications such as steel ladles, electric arc furnaces (EAF) and basic oxygen furnaces (BOF) furnaces.
FASTFIRE®: High durability castable and shotcrete products in the non-ferrous and ferrous industries with the added benefit of rapid dry-out capabilities.
OPTIFORM®: A system of products and equipment for the rapid continuous casting of refractories for applications such as steel ladle safety linings.
ENDURATEQ®: A high durability refractory shape for glass contact applications such as plungers and orifice rings.
DECTEQ™: A system for the automatic control of electrical power feeding electrodes used in electric arc steel making furnaces.
LACAM® Torpedo: A laser scanning system that measures the refractory lining thickness inside a Hot Iron (Torpedo) Ladle. The torpedo ladles transport liquid iron from a blast furnace to the steel plant.
LACAM®: A new, fourth generation Lacam® laser measurement device for use in the worldwide steel industry that is 17 times faster than the previous version. This new technology provides the fastest and most accurate laser scanning for hot surfaces available today.

Specialty Minerals Segment

PCC Products and Markets

The Companys sales of PCC have been, and are expected to continue to be, made primarily to the printing and writing papers segment of the paper industry. The Company also produces PCC for sale to companies in the polymer, food and pharmaceutical industries.

PCC Products - Paper

In the paper industry, the Companys PCC is used:

As a filler in the production of coated and uncoated wood-free printing and writing papers, such as office papers;

As a filler in the production of coated and uncoated groundwood (wood-containing) paper such as magazine and catalog papers;