The Bargiolina, a striking historical stone from Monte Bracco (Piedmont, NW Italy) and a possible source of industrial minerals

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 dierent 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.