Quartzite: Why Is It So Popular These Days?

Every now and then the zeitgeist, the dominating thought, force or mood and attitude of our society moves in one direction or another. Same thing in the natural stone industry. While Quartz, or "engineered countertops", dominated the scene in recent years, Quartzite seems to be the hottest thing around these days, and there are plenty of reasons why.

First of all it's easy to get Quartzite and Quartz confused because both they contain the mineral quartz and they both have "Quartz" in their names. But it also easy to confuse Quartzite with Marbles and Dolomitic Marbles. Sometimes, unfortunately Marbles and Dolomitic Marbles can be (mistakenly or fraudulently) sold as Quartzite even though they all have very different chemical and physical properties. The sad truth is that Quartzite is commonly mislabeled. Even Sandstone, its precursor, has been mislabeled as Quartzite which is trickier because their chemical composition is the same but with a different chemical arrangement. Quartzite is very robust and behaves differently than Marble, Dolomitic Marble, Sandstone and Quartz.

Quartzite behaves differently from Marble and Dolomitic Marble. Quartzite resists etching while many types of Marble, as anyone who have had it as their Kitchen countertops, has a potential to etch and stain if one isn't careful. Even though they are all metamorphic rock that have been physically changed from their pre-existing form by intense heat and pressure, their mineral components are different. Quartzite has metamorphosed from the sedimentary rock Sandstone which is made of primarily quartz grains of sand. Marble is metamorphosed from calcite (calcium carbonate crystals) in limestone that has undergone intense heat and pressure. Dolomitic Marble is made from calcium carbonate along with magnesium carbonate that has metamorphosed under intense heat and pressure to become Dolomitic. Both of these types of Marble can be very beautiful and useful, but require a little more care and maintenance. There is no such thing as "soft Quartzite".

Engineered Quartz -or E-stone- countertops resist most scratching and etching and are extremely durable, but can chip and scratch occasionally and are not resistant to heat. Quartz is not a natural stone and is created through a patented process by mixing polyester resins, styrene dyes and colorants with leftover fragments of the mineral quartz from the quarrying industry. It is very robust too and engineered to look like natural stone.

How robust is Quartzite? MOHs scale of hardness is used to determine the relative hardness of mineral and rock. Granite ranges from 6-7 on the MOHs scale whereas Quartzite is 7, which is harder than a knife blade and harder than glass. In fact a good mini test to see if it is true Quartzite is to try to scratch a small piece of glass or glass Coca-Cola type bottle with it. The small piece of glass should be easily scratched by it, or it isn't quartzite. For reference, diamond is at a 10 and Marble is 3 on MOHs scale.

Why else is Quartzite so popular now? It has always been there. The answer is fairly simple. The great benefit of Quartzite, until recently was the greatest reason it wasn't used as readily. Its toughness, durability and hardness. Recent advances in diamond saws and cutting technology of quarrying Quartzite have made it both easier and more economical to produce. What used to take diamond saws and other technology hours to days has now been reduced. Quartzite is now more readily available because it more easily assessible. The beauty, incredible durability and its availability and relative ease of access have made it one of the hottest stones around.