Natural Stone In The World: About Famous Deposits And Ways Of Extraction

Natural stone is one of the first building and finishing materials that a person began to use to arrange the surrounding space. Despite the centuries-old history, the natural stone does not lose its relevance: its popularity does not depend on time, country, fashion trends. Today, when artificial materials are trying to replace everything around, the craving for a natural product is stronger than ever.

Ready stone - the result of centuries of labor of nature. The stone pattern created by nature is unique. On the whole planet, you can not find two identical fragments of solid granite, solid marble, aristocratic onyx. From the interior items made of natural stone, whether it's a marble statue or an onyx lamp, bows with special reliability, confidence, tranquility, and therefore they are very popular.

About deposits of natural stone

Today the undisputed leader in the field of natural stone production is Italy. The rich deposits of this country were discovered many centuries ago, accordingly, the traditions of stone processing here are honed to perfection. The majestic temples of the Roman Empire, made of natural stone, survived not one human generation, they remained in the centuries.

Secrets of the skill of stone processing in Italy were passed from grandfather to father, from father to son. It is no coincidence that one of the most famous Italian proverbs says: "Every Italian feels a stone."

It is not for nothing that this country is considered a kind of "stone brand": only the fact that granite, travertine or onyx are processed in Italy, gives these stones a special attraction, causes unconditional confidence. And this is one of the reasons why more than half of all natural stone extracted in different parts of the world is brought to Italy for processing.

In huge quantities, granite, marble, travertine, onyx arrive, and the craftsmen laboriously work on every millimeter of material, creating real works of art. Customers, satisfied with the result, are proud to say that the stone was processed in Italy.

Today, Italian technology and equipment have spread around the world: they are used in Pakistan, Brazil, China, India.

Of course, different rock types can be found in different parts of the globe. For example, granite - the strongest natural material, which is actively used by designers around the world - is mined in Bulgaria, Portugal, Brazil, Spain. Meet this amazing material can also be in North, South America, Australia.

In Mongolia, India, Uruguay, you can find a noble onyx with original streaks of bizarre shape. Particularly generous nature endowed with onyx Minas Gerais, the Brazilian state.

Travertine - a natural stone of warm colors with a porous structure - can be found in Pamukkale, the Turkish province, and Stuttgart, a German city.

As for the marble deposits, they are dispersed almost all over the world: Uzbekistan, Georgia, Greece, Italy, the USA, Cuba, and Russia. By the way, it is Russian marble that is famous all over the world for its rich color shades, overflows.

On the prospects of marble mining in Russia

A striking example of the sustainability of the traditions of construction from natural marble in Russia is the Marble Palace, located in St. Petersburg, - a unique monument of architecture and history.

Of particular value is the Ural uniformly-granular marble of delicate ivory, which is mined in the Koelga deposit. The glorified marble of the Kibik-Kordonsky and Pershinsky quarries is also valued all over the world. Irkutsk region is famous for its red and delicate pink marble.

Despite the fact that marble resources in Russia are very rich and extensive, until recently, marble in our country was mined in small quantities. The main reason for such economical use of stone resources in our country is the very high costs of mining stone. For example, it is difficult to approach the rich deposits of marble on the Kola Peninsula and in Southern Yakutia - it is cheaper to buy Italian marble.

However, modern technologies allow to provide optimal conditions for the extraction of marble, and today domestic marble is used on a par with natural stone from other countries.

Granite - a stone that glorified the country

Granite, which is mined in Russia, can boast not only a dark color, characteristic of marble.

So, for example, in the North-West of Russia you can find a unique granite-rapakivi, which differs in a dark pink shade. In the Urals and Transbaikalia, found amazonite granite, which in its color, bluish-green and green, resembles an emerald. In the Leningrad Region, in the Republic of Karelia, pink and blood-red granite is extracted on the Kola Peninsula. A pink and yellow stone, which can be found in the Shokshinsky quarry, has won world fame, because it was made at once three monuments of world history: it is the sarcophagus of Napoleon Bonaparte (France, Paris), the monument to Nicholas I (Russia, St. Petersburg), the grave Unknown soldier (Russia, Moscow).

About the best facing materials - travertine and onyx

It was in our country that an amazing stone was found, differing not only in excellent performance characteristics (strength, frost resistance), but also with special beauty, marble onyx. The variety of soft tones is amazing: it seems that nature used only a pastel palette, painting this stone. Color shades of onyx vary widely: from milky to golden, from soft green to brownish, from light pink to amber.

In Russia, deposits of this amazing stone are not too extensive: onyx can be found in Primorye, Kolyma, Chukotka.

As for travertine, an excellent facing and building stone, it is a kind of symbol of the Caucasus. The travertine produced in Pyatigorsk is also popular. Since ancient times, this stone was adorned with public city buildings and houses. You can find travertine in Kamchatka, in the Gatchina district of the Leningrad Region.

How is a natural stone extracted?

Today there are three methods of extracting natural stone:

Blasting method. In the mass of stone, a hole is drilled, into which explosives are laid. During the explosion, stone fragments are broken off. The main drawback of this method is a large percentage of material damage: waste often reaches a third of the produced weight. Advantages of the method include extremely low costs;

Air cushion method . In a stone mass, a hole is drilled, instead of an explosive, a huge "pillow" is inserted there, which is subsequently pumped with air. Thus, an explosion is obtained, but more sparing, due to which a large part of the material remains intact, there are no microcracks in the stone. However, here too there were shortcomings: it is impossible to accurately predict which places will affect the explosion and in which area there will be a break-off;

- Stonecutter method. The stone-cutter is a special high-tech equipment, with which today the most rational extraction of stone is carried out. The stone-cutter spares the structure of the material, allows you to accurately predict the result of human actions. And most importantly, with the help of a stone cutter a valuable natural resource is used without waste and as efficiently as possible. As for the shortcomings, the only drawback of this method is its high cost. Making and using stone cutters is not a cheap pleasure.

Material of the future

To date, the area of extraction of natural stone, its use is developing rapidly. Special attention is given to the fact that the resources of natural stone on the planet are inexhaustible. Nowadays the methods of extraction of granite, onyx, marble are becoming more and more perfect, the transition to efficient technologies is being implemented, the cost of professional mining equipment is being reduced, which makes it possible to actively develop this industry. That's why for the material such as natural stone, the future.