Oakley stone is the trade name of a building stone that occurs in the mountains south of Oakley. More properly known as Rocky Mountain quartzite or Idaho quartzite, Oakley stone is a metamorphic rock, which means it was once in a vastly different form. What was once ordinary sandstone has transformed (or metamorphized) into quartzite when under pressure and other tectonic (or planetary) forces for vast periods of time.
To be classified as a quartzite by the British Geological Survey, a metamorphic rock must contain at least 80% quartz by volume. Quartz exists in many different varieties, several of which are classified as gemstones.
Oakley Stone is quarried northeast of the Idaho/Nevada and Idaho/Utah borders. Many of the quarries are located on the west slope of Middle Mountain, southeast of Oakley in the Albion Mountains, northwest of the City of Rocks National Reserve.
Since quartzite is very resistant to chemical weathering, it often forms ridges and resistant hilltops. “Resistant” refers to ridges made of materials that are more resistant to destruction by nature. During the metamorphic process, pressure formed layers of clay within the sandstone to thin and flatten into mica-rich layers. Stone tools have been fashioned from quartzite since prehistoric times
Outcroppings of the stone usually lie parallel to the ground, and its large plates are easily split into thin veneers. The fissures are consistent, and easily formed into slabs that are uniform in thickness. That consistency in thickness allows Oakley Stone to be shaped into uniform products, ideally suited as building materials. Beginning in 1948, Oakley Stone has been mined in large quantities from local quarries and marketed throughout the United States and many foreign countries. It is shipped all over the world. You can find stone walls, walkways and fireplaces from Oakley all across the United States, Canada, Europe and even Japan. You could even go on vacation to Hawaii and walk on Oakley Quartzite pavers.
What makes the stone popular is its unique quartzite formation. Oakley Stone distinctively forms in large plates that can be easily split into thin veneers. As a result, masons are able to get more coverage out of less weight.
The stone must be hand-chiseled, by trained labors, to become a marketable commodity. Oakley Quartzite can be split to as thin as half an inch in thickness and still be plenty durable. This unique characteristic- together with quartzite’s versatility and workability- allows local quarries to penetrate markets worldwide.
It is a great product to use as a floor, on a patio or on a deck. Other construction applications include fireplace mantels, interior decorations, and so much more. A variant is naturally occurring “builders,” also used to construct distinctive property walls and fireplaces, or to face building exteriors. Archie Boyd Teater’s Studio, designed by legendary architect Frank Lloyd Wright, used Oakley Stone in both the exterior and interior of the building.
Though today Oakley Stone is configured in a wide variety of products, it is also commonly used as decorative dimension stone, as crushed stone in highway construction, or as a source of silica for production of silicon and silicon compounds.
Oakley stone is micaceous, meaning it is mica-bearing, giving the product a fish-scale-like sheen. Most quartzite is colored white to grey. But, Oakley Stone is noted for its great variety of colors, ranging from white and silver to browns, yellows, greens and golds, caused by its own set of trace elements. When Iron oxide, or hermatite, is present, stone color will occur in various shades of pink and red. Stone from each quarry has its own distinctive look and feel.
In the United States, formations of quartzite can be found in Pennsylvania, the Washington DC area, eastern South Dakota, Central Texas, southwest Wisconsin, in Utah’s Wasatch Range, and as resistant ridges in the Appalachians and other mountain regions. Quartzite is also found in the Morenci Copper Mine in Arizona. The town of Quartzsite in western Arizona derives its name from the quartzites in the nearby mountains in both Arizona and Southeastern California. A glassy vitreous quartzite has been found in the Coeur d’Alene district of northern Idaho.
In Canada, the La Cloche Mountains in Ontario are composed primarily of white quartzite. Vast areas of Nova Scotia are underlain by quartzite. It is found in western and northwest Ireland, throughout the United Kingdom; continental Europe; including the Czech Republic, Poland, Norway and central Germany. Monta Binga, the highest mountain in Mozambique is composed of very hard, pale grey, Precambrian quartzite. Quartzite to be used in kitchen countertops is also mined in Brazil.
Wikipedia report there are currently about a dozen companies in the Oakley area involved in quarrying stone. Local vendors include: Sawtooth Stone, Northern Stone, Oakley Valley Stone, Star Stone among others.
Sources: Wikipedia Searches for quartz, quartzite & Oakley Stone. March 31, 2023; Sawtooth Stone website April 1, 2023
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