This paper aims at utilizing mineral waste red ochre in the design and development of welding electrodes for offshore welds. Red ochre has been characterized to ascertain its suitability for acting as electrode coating constituent. Thermo Gravimetric Analysis was done to observe its behavior upon heating to high temperature and red ochre was found to be 97.8% stable upon exposure to 900 °C. Thermal Conductivity measurement done using hot disk gives value of thermal conductivity, diffusivity and specific heat. Red ochre has an enthalpy of 15454.0782 J/g, conductivity 0.2961 W/mK, diffusivity of 0.2130 mm2/s and specific heat 1.39 J/kgK. The electrodes were manufactured by adding red ochre to coating mixture containing minerals: silica, calcite, rutile, and fluorspar. Multi pass beads were made and characterized to estimate the performance of developed electrodes. Bead appearance, arc stability, reduced blow, slag detachability and micro hardness measurement supports the use of red ochre in developing welding consumables. © 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.