Clay raw materials for production of mineral paints
Clay raw materials used for production of mineral paints are powder and earthen versions of oxidic and hydroxide iron minerals containing the addition of clayey minerals. There are several coloristic variants and their traditional names are: raddle – yellow or red, umbra – dark brown, terra di Siena – camel and ochre – gold-brown. These pigments are used for production of oil paints, varnishes, enamels, putties etc. The production of natural pigments has been of less importance lately, with artificially produced pigments being used more often – they are characterized by stable physico-chemical properties.
In Poland two deposits of ochre, argils and ochre claystones have been documented so far: Buk in Mazowieckie Voivodeship and Baczyna in Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship. In these deposits, in argilic measures of Rhaetic–Liasseic, ochre makes lens accumulations.
In Baczyna deposit there are three types of ochre occurring, documented in C1 category: yellow, red and brown. This deposit has never been exploited. Buk deposit was exploited till 1976 and due to the resources depletion the production was abandoned. Nowadays there are only anticipated sub-economic resources documented in this deposit (table 1).
Prepared by: Robert Bońda