The Beauty of Marble

Marble is one of the favorite types of rock used in formal settings. People really like the swirled look that most marble has. Also, the fact that it is easy to work with makes it useful for many different kinds of projects. The Romans and Greeks were the first people to use marble for their sculptures. The main reason that marble was used such a long time ago was because of its soft nature. It was easy for the Greeks and Romans to use their primitive tools to cut intricate shapes from the marble. Marble has always been mined from quarries, and is processed today in much the same way as it has been for thousands of years.

Discovering the Marble Rock experts and geologists use prospecting methods to discover where marble exists in the earth. There are many different marble quarries all over the world. Italy, Egypt and the United States all have marble quarries. The United States' quarries are largely located in Vermont, Arizona and Tennessee. Marble is made up of limestone and calcite, and is a very soft rock.

Extracting the Marble Once the marble has been discovered, it is time to take it out of the earth. Quarries are built, and then the marble is taken out. Quarries are unlike other mines because they are open to the air. Marble is extracted from the earth by drilling, sawing and pulling huge chunks of marble from the earth. A basic shape of a large rectangle is aimed for, so that it is easier to shape the marble into useful objects later on.

Transporting the Marble Once the marble is removed from the earth, it is examined for quality. All the marble of a particular color is placed together. Cracks and impurities are eliminated from the marble. Next the marble is transported to the processing plants by truck. This can take anywhere from a few hours to a few days, depending on where the plant is located.

Forming the Marble Once the marble arrives at the processing plant, it is set up so that different pieces of marble can be cut out of the larger blocks. A giant saw is used to cut up the marble into more manageable pieces. Some of the blades on the giant saws are up to 18 feet wide. It can take up to a week to cut the marble enough to break into usable sections. The person running the giant saw has to be very skilled at his job because the different qualities of rock can change the way the saw cuts into the marble.

Processing the Marble Once the marble is cut into more usable shapes, it is run through epoxy processes as well as polishing processes to make it usable. The marble is cut into different shapes for different tasks. Some of the most common types of marble are: sculpture marble, marble tiles, countertop marbles and others. Finally, the marble is shipped to different places where it can be sold.