• Journal of the Mineralogical Society of Korea
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.271-281
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• 2008

The "Noerog", a traditional green mineral pigment occurs as veins or cavity-filings in the basaltic pyroclastic rocks of Quaternary Epoch in Mt. Noeseong in Janggi-myeon, Pohang. The "Noerog stone" mainly consists of celadonite with minor chlorite/smectite, mordenite and opal. Celadonite grains are several hundreds to several tens of ${\mu}m$ in size. The particle sizes under several tens of fm are likely to coagulate to aggregates. The coloring rate increases rapidly with decreasing particle size under $71{\mu}m$. The hiding power is maximum in the particle sizes of $0.2\sim0.3{\mu}m$. The resistance properties of the Noerog to both the light and the bacteria are absolutely superior to ordinary chemical pigments. The transparency of the Noerog is maximum in the nano-powders under 200 nm. Examination of the color of the Noerog pigment which has been prepared by traditional technique for "dancheong" shows that the best coloring effect is found in the particle sizes under $32{\mu}m$ and that the painting was not successful for the Noerog of particle size over $32{\mu}m$.