UNITED STATES MINERAL RESOURCES 



PIGMENTS AND FILLERS 



By C. Ervin Brown 



CONTENTS 



Page 



Abstract of conclusions 527 



Introduction 528 



Terminolo^ 528 



Natural pigments 528 



Iron oxide pigments 528 



Iron oxide pigment market in the United States — 529 



Competitive material 529 



Prospecting and field tests 529 



Resources of iron oxides for pigments 530 



Miscellaneous pigments 530 



Manufactured pigments 530 



Zinc pigments 530 



Titanium dioxide 530 



Carbon black 531 



Outlook for pigments 531 



Mineral fillers 531 



Industrial filler uses and requirements 532 



Asphalt or bituminous compositions 532 



Paint 532 



Plastics 532 



Rubber 532 



Paper 532 



Pesticides 533 



Other uses 533 



Filler minerals 533 



Wollastonite 535 



Miscellaneous fillers 536 



Outlook for fillers 535 



Selected references 535 



FIGURE 



63. 



Graph showing consumption trends of seven 

 major mineral fillers in the United States, 

 1957-69 



TABLES 



107. Approximate composition of earth pigments, in 

 percent 



533 



Page 



528 



108. 

 109. 



Natural iron oxide pigment colors and sources- 

 Properties, value, and industrial utilization of 

 the principal mineral fillers used in the 

 United States in 1969 



Page 

 529 



534 



ABSTRACT OF CONCLUSIONS 



Mineral fillers are finely ground, generally white, mineral 

 or rock additives that impart necessary or desirable physical 

 properties to a product. Mineral pigments are mineral-de- 

 rived iwwders added for the sole purpose of giving color. 

 The functions of fillers and pigments overlap inasmuch as 

 one of the common purposes of a filler is coloring. 



The principal natural pigments are iron oxides, mainly 

 hematite and limonite, that include various quantities of 

 clay and some manganese dioxide. Production of natural 

 iron oxide pigments is small and is decreasing and is being 

 replaced by production of synthetic iron oxide from proc- 

 esses using scrap iron, or copperas from Ti02 production. 



The manufacture of pigments from zinc ore, from rutile 

 and ilmenite, and from petroleum products is a major in- 

 dustry. Zinc oxide is the principal zinc pigment made from 

 zinc ore. Manufacture of zinc oxide consumed 16 percent 

 of zinc mine production in 1969, and the consumption trend 

 is growing. Manufacture of Ti02 pigment from ilmenite 

 and rutile is the main use of these minerals and consumed 

 96 percent of titanium ore production in 1969. Production 

 of carbon black as a pigment and rubber reinfprcing agent 

 consumed more than 98,000 million cubic feet of natural 

 gas and 524 million gallons of liquid hydrocarbon. Together 

 the value in sales of these three manufactured pigments in 

 1969 totaled $426 million. 



Mineral fillers are made from many rocks and minerals, 

 but kaolin, limestone, and talc make up about 84 percent 

 of the total consumption. Fillers are essential components 

 in paint, paper, plastics, pesticides, rubber, roofing, and 

 fertilizer. Many fillers can be substituted for each other, 

 but some have unique properties needed by certain products. 

 The use of wollastonite as a filler is a recent innovation. 

 More than 15 rocks or minerals are commonly used as fillers, 

 and in 1969 more than 7,000,000 short tons of fillers valued 

 at more than $350 million was used in the United States. 



Consumption of pigments and fillers is intimately tied to 

 the needs of a complex industrial society. The demand for 

 these materials is expected to grow. Resource data for the 

 basic ingredients of many pigment and filler commodities 

 are given in other chapters of this volume. 



U.S. GEOL. SURVEY PROF. PAPER 820 



627 



