The Bargiolina, a Striking Historical Stone from Monte Bracco (Piedmont, NW Italy) and a Possible Source of Industrial Minerals

Alessandro Cavallo and Giovanna Antonella Dino
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Alessandro Cavallo: Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences—DISAT, University of Milano-Bicocca, Piazza della Scienza, 1-4, 20126 Milano, Italy
Giovanna Antonella Dino: Department of Earth Sciences, University of Turin, Via Valperga Caluso, 35, 10125 Torino, Italy

Sustainability, 2019, vol. 11, issue 16, 1-8

Abstract: The Bargiolina quartzite from Monte Bracco (western Alps, northern Italy) represents one of the most important historical ornamental stones of the Piedmont region. Known and used since the prehistoric age as substituting material for chert, it was celebrated by Leonardo da Vinci, and exploited at least since the XIII century, peaking in the XX century. It was extensively used in the construction of basilicas and noble palaces by famous architects of Piedmontese Baroque, for internal and external stone cladding. There are four main commercial and chromatic varieties, and the main technical feature is the regular schistosity, to obtain very thin natural split slabs. The different varieties have a homogeneous mineralogical composition and microstructure: A fine and homeoblastic grain size, and a granular—lepidoblastic texture, with regularly spaced schistose domains. The main rock-forming minerals are quartz, phengite, small amounts of K-feldspar and traces of plagioclase and chlorite. The yield rate of quarries is about 20%, and the poor exploitation planning of the past led to only partly exploited quarry benches, with a very poor residual yield. The large amount of quartz-rich quarry waste and the presence of kaolin-rich gneisses suggests the potential for novel applications in the field of industrial minerals.

Keywords: heritage stone; quartzite; Bargiolina; quarries; dimension stone; kaolin; industrial minerals (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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