Some of the sources are commercial, but there are a great number of abandoned quarries and talc mines that may allow you to find your own stone. Carry a file or knife to test the potential hardness of the rock. I been given have a number of possible sources over the years, which I have included. As I receive further information on sources of soapstone, I will include them in this page.

•Shingle Springs (four miles from), El Dorado County, California - the Harold Mine (Soapstone) "The Harold Mine was an undeveloped prospect for soapstone (used in wood stoves and sculpting), four miles from Shingle Springs." •Shingle Springs (southwest of), El Dorado County, California - the Hayden Property (Soapstone) "Hayden Property. Location: sec. 7, T. 9 N., R. 10 E., M. D., 1 ¾ miles southwest of Shingle Springs; leased to Industrial Minerals and Chemicals Company of Berkeley "The deposit is a lensoid body of iron oxide-stained greenish soapstone which is on the west side of a small body of metasedimentary rock enclosed in greenstone. The soapstone is quarried from an open cut which is about 100 feet long, 40 feet wide, with a 20-foot face at the north end. A jackhammer is used in drilling. the excavated material is loaded into trucks with a Caterpillar loader. Frank Harris of Livermore has the contract to mine and haul the ore to plant." •Shingle Springs (1 ¾ miles south of), El Dorado County, California - the Hayden Mine (Soapstone) (From "Mines of El Dorado County," by Doug Noble, El Dorado County Library web site. This soapstone mine was operated by the Industrial Minerals and Chemical Company for many years on and off. "The soapstone was quarried from an open cut about 100 feet long and 40 feet wide, with a 20-foot face at the north end (1956 figures)." •Shingle Springs (one mile east of), El Dorado County, California - the Shingle Springs (Rossi) Mines (Soapstone) (From "Mines of El Dorado County," by Doug Noble, El Dorado County Library web site. "One mile east of Shingle Springs was a soapstone mine known as the Shingle Springs (Rossi) Mine. Lenses of green soapstone in serpentine was developed by an open pit. The mined material was shipped for use as a roofing coating."

Updated August 15, 2010 {Showdates Past and Future} {Biography} {Introduction to Carving} {Basics of Carving} {Sources of Soapstone} {Sources for Tools}{Soapstone} {Quarrying Soapstone} {Repairing Soapstone} {Carve a Loon} {Carve a Polar Bear} {Carve an Eagle} {Carvings on Hand} {Archived Carvings} {Malvina Hoffman} {Ropey Atsiqtaq} {Links} {Inuit Art Beginnings} {50 years of Inuit Art}