What is Asphaltite?

Asphaltite

• Asphaltite (also called Gilsonite) is used in more than 160 products, primarily dark-colored printing inks and paints, oil well drilling muds and cements, asphalt modifiers, foundry sand additives, and a wide variety of chemical products.
• Asphaltite is mined much like any other mineral and sold essentially in its native state.
• Asphaltite for use in asphalt is currently sold all over the world as an asphalt modifier in the form of a dry bulk solid granular powder.
• Just a few countries are known to produce asphaltite, including the US (Utah), and more recently Colombia and Iran.
• AM’s target market is asphaltite-modified asphalt producers. Such asphalt provides:
  • more stability
  • less deformation
  • lower sensitivity to temperature
  • resistance to water stripping
  • increased load-bearing capacity.
• Asphaltite currently sells for around US$400 per ton, 10 times more than coal.