Atlas of dimension stones of the Espírito Santo state

Abstract

This atlas presents informations about the variety of dimension stones produced in the Espírito Santo State, and it is the result of the systematic survey conducted among the producing and processing dimension stones companies within the territory of the State during the period 2011-2013, considering materials from active and inactive mines, and developed under the aegis of the Geology and Mineral Resource of the State of Espírito Santo project (Brazil). It is a thematic study performed with the primary focus on the identification and cataloguing of the variety of dimension stones products existing in the State, being raised alongside its geological and technological characteristics, forms of occurrence of mined deposits, physiographic features, operational procedures of mining as methodology used for the development, and technology for cutting stones, characteristic of the commercialized products and economic data. The atlas consists of seven chapters: the first chapter provides information about climate, topography, hydrography, and vegetation, besides socioeconomic data of the state; the second one makes an elucidative approach about the concepts issued on dimension and coating stones and its usual nomenclature in the market along with its geological meaning; the third chapter is an association between the type of rocks controlled by geological, tectonic, or other influencing factors, and the different materials derived from them; the fourth one presents small considerations about the geological and tectonic-structural context of the area covered by the state; chapter five discusses the geological characteristics of the production locations and the potential of the materials compiled in the atlas; the sixth chapter presents the guidelines of the mining and processing methodology of dimension stones; chapter number seven discusses the technical-economic scenario of the dimension stone sector of Brazil and the world. Finally, it is presented the consolidated catalog of dimension stones of the Espírito Santo State, containing the localization, basic geological elements, photo of the occurrences or the mining front, images of the polished surface of the stone, and the result of the technological characterization tests.