China stone is a medium grained, feldspar-rich partially decomposed granite characterized by the absence of iron-bearing minerals. Its mineral content includes quartz, feldspar and mica; accessory minerals include kaolinite and fluorspar. It is found in one area of Cornwall in the United Kingdom and is the UK’s only indigenous source of feldspathic material currently being commercially extracted. Production levels in the four years up to 2003 averaged 2,800 tonnes per year.
Other names include Cornish or Cornwall stone. It is sometimes confused with petuntse, which although somewhat similar, is a different rock.
Famous quotes containing the words china and/or stone:
“The roof of England fell
Great Paris tolled her bell
And China staunched her milk and wept for bread”
—Karl Shapiro (b. 1913)
“... we have every reason to rejoice when there are so many gains and when favorable conditions abound on every hand. The end is not yet in sight, but it can not be far away. The road before us is shorter than the road behind.”
—Lucy Stone (1818–1893)