Gilsonite - Natural Hydrocarbon Bitumen Rock | Shiny Black Obsidian-like Finish, Versatile Additive For Inks, Paints, And Chemical Products

Gilsonite, also known as asphaltum, is a bitumen-impregnated rock (asphaltite). It is a naturally occurring solid hydrocarbon bitumen. Although it occurs also in other locations, its large-scale production occurs only in the Uintah Basin.

Gilsonite is mined in underground shafts and resembles shiny black obsidian. Discovered in the 1860s, it was first marketed as a lacquer, electrical insulator, and waterproofing compound about twenty-five years later by Samuel H. Gilson.

This unique mineral is used in more than 160 products, primarily in dark-colored printing inks and paints, oil well drilling muds and cements, asphalt modifiers, foundry additives, and a wide variety of chemical products.