Yellow ochre forms from the weathering of limonite. This yellow ochre has been screened but is otherwise as collected. It comes from the Whiteside Mine, a former silver and lead mine in Inyo County, California. This mine shipped ore in 1925 & 1929 that was 26.8% lead and which also contained 14 ounces of silver per ton. The underground workings were comprised of around 2,000 feet of adits and a 50 foot shaft.
Limonite naturally has water attached to its molecule. The amount of water is variable, and as it increases the limonite alters from hard, brown and vitreous to soft, earthy and mustard yellow, forming yellow ochre.
Limonite is common at the top of metallic veins. As it weathers it stains the surface yellow brown. Prospectors examined the rock under this "iron hat" for the economically valuable metals lurking below. Here the area of economically valuable ore was limited and mining became unprofitable. In some areas at the surface of the vein the limonite has weathered enough to form small deposits of yellow ochre.
We also have red ochre. You can purchase it separately, or you can ask us to substitute red ochre for any number of the tubes of yellow. Use the message box in the cart and tell us what you would like.
Artists! An artist customer milled some of our red ochre in his coffee grinder (!) and was happy with the result. He found it slightly redder. We are now milling ochre, so if you would like yellow ochre with a fine powder-like consistency, please request the artist's version. You can ask for some tubes milled, others not milled, to get a mixed set of 5 tubes. Just let us know how many of which type you want us to ship. Note that the yellow ochre is a fairly fine powder as it comes from the mine, but after milling it's flour-like.
Shipping: By Priority Mail or USPS Ground Advantage, whichever is cheaper, unless we find a better rate. Click > here < for shipping rates. Use back button to return to this page.
Making multiple purchases? Click on the "combine shipping" button in the shopping cart. We'll send an invoice with combined shipping. A link in that invoice will bring you back to checkout, no hassle.
