(April 2013) The Vitória Stone Fair (February 26th to March 01st 2013) in Brazil’s Espírito Santo province had more than 24,000 visitors from 56 countries and 420 exhibitors. It is the largest event of its kind for import and export of stone blocks and slabs. In a joint venture with the fair’s organizers Vitória simultaneously hosted the Association of Brazilian Designers and Interior Decorators (ABD) meeting. At the fair’s fringe it was announced that the Brazilian Mining Institute (IBRAM) will present a new edition of its study on emission of greenhouse gas by the stone industry (1, 2).
Welsh Slate was the topic of a BBC report.
Small sandstone cubes as decorative elements are shown by Spanish Areniscas Company on their webpage.
A granite mouse pad is Lundhs Company’s calling card.
„Exploring the marvelous attributes of Marble“ is the title of an article on the DesignBuild-webpage.
Traces of work on ancient Egyptian quarries are proof that soft stone (sandstone and limestone) was also quarried using pickaxes, not only chisels, wooden mallets and wedges according to archeologist Per Storemyr.
A mammoth or more precisely, its remains, were found in a quarry in the French Département Seine-et-Marne. The skeleton is in surprisingly good condition and almost complete. It was discovered in 2m deep sediment deposited by the Marne river some 200,000 to 50,000 years ago (French).
The Marble Institute of America (MIA) and studiomarmo, an Italian expert on natural stone graphic and web design, have released iStone, a natural stone swatch application originally designed for the iPad, for iPhone and iPod.
Video of the month: Global warming: scientists from New Zealand are analyzing boulders to reconstruct the path of glaciers and their recession during past ice-ages.