page_title: Quartzite
section_title: Uses
hierarchical_section_title: Quartzite / Uses
caption_attribution_description: Different views of the same specimen.
context_page_description: Quartzite is a hard, non-foliated metamorphic rock which was originally pure quartz sandstone. Sandstone is converted into quartzite through heating and pressure usually related to tectonic compression within orogenic belts. Pure quartzite is usually white to grey, though quartzites often occur in various shades of pink and red due to varying amounts of iron oxide. Other colors, such as yellow, green, blue and orange, are due to other minerals.
  When sandstone is cemented to quartzite, the individual quartz grains recrystallize along with the former cementing material to form an interlocking mosaic of quartz crystals. Most or all of the original texture and sedimentary structures of the sandstone are erased by the metamorphism. The grainy, sandpaper-like surface becomes glassy in appearance. Minor amounts of former cementing materials, iron oxide, silica, carbonate and clay, often migrate during recrystallization and metamorphosis. This causes streaks and lenses to form within the quartzite.
  Orthoquartzite is a very pure quartz sandstone composed of usually well-rounded quartz grains cemented by silica.
context_section_description: Quartzite is a decorative stone and may be used to cover walls, as roofing tiles, as flooring, and stairsteps. Its use for countertops in kitchens is expanding rapidly. It is harder and more resistant to stains than granite. Crushed quartzite is sometimes used in road construction. High purity quartzite is used to produce ferrosilicon, industrial silica sand, silicon and silicon carbide.
  During the Paleolithic, quartzite was used, along with flint, quartz, and other lithic raw materials, for making stone tools.
caption: Quartzite biface hand axe from Stellenbosch, South Africa
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