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SlIppery rock GazeTTe
Cochise Marble – A Surprise in the Arizona Desert
decemBer 2022|15
Hidden beneath the rolling landscape is a treasure trove of exotic marble.
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Blocks and slabs are the high-profile quarry products, but smaller pieces are cut into veneer, and leftover remnants are crushed into gravel. “But then it even gets finer than that,” says Camden. When gravel is crushed down, some sand is produced. White sand is used for decorative planters and as an ingredient in cement. The 99% purity of the marble means it can be pro- cessed into a refined powder for adhesives and pigments.
“So, from the sand to the block ... every piece is being used,” says Camden.
“It’s environmental,” Marco adds. “For us it’s not only business. It helps our environment.”
A locally-derived product is another way to trim one’s environmental impact. Moreover, rising fuel prices and bottle- necks in the global supply chain make a domestic stone all the more appealing. “We are getting more inquiries because people want to buy American,” says Marco.
Quarry Taking Shape
The team describes the company’s vision and roadmap for the stages of quarry devel- opment. The Cochise crew hired a master quarrier from Europe to help them assess the rock layers. “He did his due diligence on the quarry,” says Marco, which allowed
the team to move ahead with their plan and begin quarrying.
Currently, the company is cutting blocks from the same general area that was origi- nally worked 100 years ago. This horizon contains white, black, grey, and multi-col- ored marble. ‘Cochise White’ is a pure white marble with subtle veining, lending an airy, ethereal vibe to the stone.
A little higher on the hillside is another set of ledges that contain white marble and a grey-blue marble.
Higher still, there’s one more deposit. Marco describes it: “The very top is where we have a very, very unique stone. It’s a beautiful white marble. The background is similar to the statuary marble out of Italy, with black veining.” In honor of the Apache warrior who dedicated his life to protect his homeland, the marble is named Geronimo. “It will take us some months where we have a steady supply of it,” says Marco, with a mixture of pride and anticipation.
Camden picks up the storyline from there, “We have another unique stone — the signature stone. And our master quar- rier when he first saw the stone, he stood on top of it and he called it ‘caviar.’ It has about six colors in it. So we named it ‘American Caviar.’ It’s a stone that is only found in one place in the world.”
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