What is Quartzite Natural Stone?

Quartzite is a hard, metamorphic rock which was originally sandstone. Sandstone is converted into quartzite through heating and pressure usually related to compression. Normally quartzite is white or light grey, but it may be found in a variety of other colors including yellow, light brown, blue, green, purple, black, shades of pink or red depending on the other minerals such as mica, tourmaline, zircon or iron oxide that may be present.

In true metamorphic quartzite, also called meta-quartzite, the individual quartz grains have recrystallized along with the former cementing material to form an interlocking mosaic of quartz crystals. Minor amounts of former cementing materials, iron oxide, carbonate, clay and other minerals are often recrystallized and have migrated under the pressure to form streaks and lenses within the quartzite.

Unlike sandstone, quartzite breaks through, not around the quartz grains and produces a smooth surface rather than a rough and granular one. Sandstone will shatter into many individual grains of sand, while quartzite breaks into sharp angular fragments the crystallization of the quartzite makes it harder. It is one of nature's most durable stones, non-porous and highly resistant to weathering.

Typically quartzite is obtained by surface mining, since most deposits are either exposed or located near the surface. The stone is extracted by first removing any overburden from above the stone and it is then removed using large excavators.

At times, explosives may be required to loosen the stone ledges. The detonation only bumps the stone away from the natural ledge, this way the stone mass is loosened, not blown into small pieces.

Drilling, feathers and wedges for plugging are used for breaking larger blocks into thin slabs. Miners will tap each wedge and continue down the stone until it begins to separate. Then the feathers and wedges are removed and a pry bar is used to finish separating the slab from the rest of the stone.

Once removed from the quarry, the stone is split manually using a labor intensive method of splitting the stone by hand using hammers and chisels resulting in a rustic looking natural stone with a beautiful looking naturally rough finish. Because of quartzite's hardness and mica content, it makes it difficult to cut into calibrated thickness's.

Quartzite is also a very dense stone, Unit weight of quartzite is nearly the same as granite at about 170 pounds per cubic foot as compared to sandstone at 125 to130 pounds per cubic foot. Denser means less water absorption and quartzite has less than a 1 percent absorption rate, yet sandstone can be as high as 14 percent.

Apart from it's uniqueness and natural beauty a major selling point for quartzite is its hardness and durability. as mentioned before "On the Moh's hardness scale it rates a seven" , which is a very hard stone,it has excellent anti slip properties, It's impervious to stains and it doesn't wear significantly.

Quartzite really is a lifetime product.