France
The Ardennes, Nièvre and Vaucluse are three ocher-producing regions in France.
Ardennes
The only site quarried in the Ardennes is in Villers le Tourner. 'Le Moulin à Couleurs' (the colour mill) still excavates Sienna. It is France's second largest production site for coloured earth (approximately 700 tonnes per annum).
Contact:
Le Moulin à Couleurs
08130 Ecordal - France
phone: +33 (0)3 24 71 22 75
website
 |
 |
 |
|---|
Nièvre
Solargil - Comptoir des ocres extracts ochre, hematite and ochreous sands at Saint-Amand-en-Puisaye from the 'Carrière des Beaux-Arts'.
Contact:
Solargil - Comptoir des ocres
La Bâtisse
89520 Moutiers-en-Puisaye - France
phone: +33 (0)3 86 45 50 00
website
 |
 |
 |
|---|
Vaucluse
Close to Apt, two famous places where coloured earth is extracted are Gargas and Rustrel. A company still extracts large quantities of ochreous sands in opencast quarries. Their colours vary from yellow to red, with sometimes greenish or purplish seams.
The quarries of Roussillon and Jean-Jean have been closed. The old galleries have been transformed into mushroom beds.
Vaucluse is France's main production area (approximately 2,000 tonnes per annum).
 |
 |
 |
|---|