Table Of Contents
Stones of Zimbabwe for construction are derived from natural rocks formed in the earth's crust. Each rock has a varied composition of chemical materials and exhibits unique properties. If not every kind of rock is widely used in sculptors and constructions that produce building stones. Stones of Zimbabwe's history!
History Of Zimbabwe Stones:
In present-day Stones of Zimbabwe, there are ruins of a city known as Great Zimbabwe, which dates back to ancient times. Great Zimbabwe was inhabited around 1100 CE when it was abandoned in the 15th century. During the Shona (Bantu) trading empire, the city was the capital of the Kingdom of Zimbabwe.
Things You Never Know About Zimbabwe Stones
Zimbabwe is known for its rich deposits of various stones, including gemstones and semi-precious minerals. While much is known about some of these stones, aspects and lesser-known facts about Zimbabwean stones may surprise you.
Unique Gemstones
Zimbabwe produces unique gemstones like the greenish-blue Serendibite and the beautiful Star Garnets. These Gemstones are relatively rare and not as well-known as others.
Coloured Diamonds
Zimbabwe is one of the few places in the world where you can find coloured diamonds, including pink diamonds. Collectors and investors highly seek these diamonds.
Opals
Zimbabwe has opal deposits, and some of these opals exhibit stunning play-of-colour, making them highly valuable to collectors and jewellery enthusiasts.
Secret Mines
There are often secretive or illegal mining operations in Zimbabwe, which sometimes unearth incredible and valuable stones, but these activities are often unregulated and can be dangerous.
Historical Significance
Some Zimbabwean Stones have historical significance, like the Great Zimbabwe Bird carved from soapstone, symbolising the country and its ancient culture.
Healing Properties
Some Zimbabwean Stones, like the various types of agate and jasper found in the country, are believed to have healing properties in traditional medic and crystal healing practices.
Potential For New Discoveries
Zimbabwe's geology is rich and diverse, meaning there could still be undiscovered stone deposits waiting to be found.
Economic Impact
Mining stones, including diamonds, has had a significant economic impact on Zimbabwe, both positive and negative, and this has been the subject of international interest and scrutiny.
Artistic Use
Zimbabwean artists and sculptors often use locally sourced stones like soapstone and serpentine to create intricate sculptures and artworks that are popular worldwide.
Conservation Concerns
The mining industry in Zimbabwe has faced criticism for its environmental and social impact. Efforts are being made to promote sustainable mining practices.
AZUL PLATINO GRANITE
£276.63 Azul Platino Granite from Spain is a grey and white slab granite with a low variation that complements all interiors and design elements in bathrooms, kitchens, and outdoor spaces. This durable, polished granite is suitable for commercial and residential applications… read more |
CALACATTA VAGLI BOOKMATCH MARBLE
£665.00 Calacatta Vagli Marble is known for its elegant and luxurious appearance and is a high-quality marble with a bookmatched pattern, similar to other bookmatch marbles. Pattern: It typically has a white or off-white background colour with bold and dramatic veining… read more |
BORGHINI QUARTZ
£363.09 Borghini is a style of Calacatta marble that is built with massive flow veins all through the slab. The veins' expressive movement is layered with warm tones and light colour changes. Borghini is a charming designer quartz. Because of the… read more |
Stones From Zimbabwe:
Nero Cosmos Granite
Nero Cosmos Granite is an excellent modern substitute for sheer Black Granite Worktops. The stone has fine natural silver dots that remind me of the night sky. This Granite is extremely durable and long-lasting, making it ideal for use in both commercial and residential high-traffic areas.
Nero Absolute Black
Granite is an igneous rock, which means it is extremely hard. This is why it has been used as paving and in building areas requiring greater resilience for centuries. Absolute Black is a nice uniform black with very little speckle. It is a popular kitchen worktop material in standard sizes with a polished or honed finish.
Zimbabwe Kitchen Countertop Stones
Nero Assoluto Granite
Zimbabwe / Nero Assoluto Granite Black worktops have a consistent appearance in colour and texture, which works well in modern kitchens with sleek lines and a minimalist look. Gloss kitchen cabinets can be used to create dramatic contrasts. Pure black worktops appear to go well with white, black, red, or a slightly softer cream.
Zim Black Granite
Zimbabwe Black worktops have a uniform appearance in colour and texture, which works exceptionally well in contemporary kitchens. Zim Black Granite worktop is a shimmering worktop featuring a black base and white specks. Black is perfect for those looking for a plain black worktop. This surface offers a warm and classic style, making it a fantastic choice against any colours or wooden cabinetry.
NERO ASSOLUTO GRANITE
£304.55 Nero Assoluto Granite is constant, mysterious, ageless, and modern, and it fits into practically any space.Granite is a tough natural stone that may be used in a variety of interior and outdoor applications. Granite will last a lifetime because of… read more |
ZIM BLACK GRANITE
£308.88 Zim black is characterised by small, shining sparks of quartz in its composition. The inalterable colours last over time. Zim black is also known by the name Zimbabwe marble. Zim Black granites usually go through different texture-defining processes, like smooth,… read more |
BELFAST EXTRA GRANITE
£327.84 Belfast Extra Granite is a Precambrian-era fine-grained black gabbro/norite. A transparent epoxy resin filler may be used during the polishing process to cover any micro fissures or microscopic pitting, however, this has no effect on the stone's integrity and only… read more |
Minerals Of Zimbabwe
Gold
Gold mining and exploration in Zimbabwe have been ongoing since ancient times. It is estimated that a third (about 700 tonnes) of all historical gold production was mined locally from the seventh century until the introduction of mechanised mining methods with the arrival of Europeans about a century ago. There are over 4000 recorded god deposits located on ancient workings.
Silver
It occurs as native silver with other minerals such as gold, copper and lead. Except for the Osage Mine in Zimbabwe, it is declared a by-product of platinum, gold and copper mining. Gold mines in the Odzi greenstone belt have the highest silver and gold ratios.
Platinum Group Of Elements
Platinum Group Metals (PGMs) consist of platinum, palladium, rhodium, ruthenium, iridium and osmium and have a high demand worldwide because of their wide variety of uses in industry. Zimbabwe's Great Dyke, a linear early Proterozoic layered mafic-ultramafic intrusion trending over 550km at a maximum width of about 11kilometres, has the second-largest platinum reserves in the world after the Bushveld Complex in South Africa. An estimated 2.8 billion tonnes of PGM ore at 4g/t are estimated to lounge on the Dyke. Notably, PGMs are mined as primary metals only in the Bushveld in South Africa and along the Great Dyke in Zimbabwe.
Diamonds
Zimbabwe is located within an exceptionally rich diamondiferous metallogenic province. Large areas of the country are covered by the Archaean Craton and the Archaean Limpopo Belt, which are likely to have the best-developed mantle root and diamond potential, along with discoveries of the mineralised kimberlites on the Craton (Murowa, Sese, Colossus) and on the Limpopo Belt (River Ranch) which make Zimbabwe an excellent exploration target with potential for economic kimberlites. The diamond exploration success in neighbouring Botswana and South Africa, the greatest producers of gem-quality diamonds, has positively impacted the country's diamond prospectively.
Chrome
Zimbabwe has the 2nd largest high-grade chromium ores in the world after South Africa, with approximately 10 billion tonnes of reserves. Giant crystals of up to 1.5m have been found on the dyke. In the chemical industry and metallurgical processes, chrome is mainly used in stainless steel production as a metal coat.
Coal
Zimbabwe has vast high-grade coal deposits occurring as fossilised carbon. It occurs in lower Karoo sediments. The country's full potential is, however, yet to be exploited.
Nickel
In Zimbabwe, nickel occurs within the Archean craton in rocks of komatiite composition, e.g. at Trojan mine. There are nickel deposits in several serpentinite areas in greenstone belts with igneous complexes around the country. The country has huge potential in komatiite and laterite, and more than 30 nickel deposits are known. Currently, production is at Trojan Mine in Bindura.
Asbestos
Asbestos occurs as chrysotile. Zimbabwe was once the world's 3rd largest asbestos producer before the demand declined. After gold, asbestos was once the largest income producer in the mining sector. Production ceased with the closure of Gates Mine and Shabani Mine.
Copper
Over 70 known deposits in Zimbabwe have produced copper as a primary or secondary product. The main producing area has been the Magondi Basin, stretching for over 150km.
Iron
Zimbabwe has huge iron deposits associated with banded ironstone formations in greenstone belts. Major deposits are estimated to be over 30 billion tonnes of reserves.
Pegmatite Mineral
Pegmatites, which are ubiquitous in several geological environments, especially on the edges of green stones and in metamorphic belts, are a source of a variety of minerals, including tantalite, tin and wolframite, beryl, mica, feldspar, and gemstones such as emerald, aquamarine, chrysoberyl, alexandrite and euclase.
Though Sandawana emeralds are small, they stand out for their beauty and the quality of their colour as one of the most prestigious, beautiful and rarest gemstones in the world, so they retain value well. Their deep green colour comes from chromium.
Larger, high-quality Sandawana emeralds are extremely difficult to obtain, and prices are over three times that of diamonds of the same size.
BIANCO LASA PORCELAIN
£457.15 Bianco Lasa Porcelain has a white base which displays brown, blue and grey linear veins. This surface stone is suitable for all interior spaces and leaves the space looking nothing short of breathtaking. Because of its non-porousness, stain resistance, moisture… read more |
LUSSO SILESTONE
£470.49 Lusso Silestone gives viewers a feeling of content when installed in various rooms of a property like bathrooms, kitchens, living rooms, halls, etc. It has a cream-white base with fine grey veins that cover the slab surface. One can pair… read more |
VERDI ALPI TERRAZZO
£246.27 Verdi Alpi Terrazzo appears to be a term related to terrazzo flooring or surface materials. Terrazzo is a type of composite material that consists of chips of various stones (such as marble, granite, quartz, or glass) combined with a binder,… read more |
Dimension Stones
Granites, gneisses, migmatites, gabbro-norites, dolerite, marbles and quartzite, suitable for dimension stones, are typical rocks in Zimbabwe's geological environments.
The most well-known dimension of Stones Of Zimbabwe is black granite, ubiquitous in the northeastern part of the country, which has attracted considerate foreign investors.
Sculptured Stones Of Zimbabwe:
Most of the stones in Zimbabwe sculptures are locally sourced and belong to the Serpentine family. Due to intense heat and pressure, sedimentary rocks are transformed into hard stones over millions of years. Serpentines are rich in iron.
Professional sculptures prefer harder varieties such as spring Stones. Dense stones have extremely fine grains and uniform structure and are ideal raw materials for sculpting. Most of the stones used for sculpting are mined by hand at the Great Dyke.
The mines tend to be small-scale, open-cast operations and are too small to cause any environmental damage. Mining here is a valuable alternative source of income for the rural communities.
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