Dimension Stone Group Australia (DSGA) own and run quarries at Fraser Range, near Norseman Western Australia. These quarries currently produce the Verde Austral and Garnet Ice granites.
Technical information – Verde Austral
Verde Austral has excellent physical properties, particularly its’ strength.
Data supplied by Stone Initiatives – Jim Mann (2011):
• Absorption 0.068%
• Bulk density 2.660 t/m3
• Compressive strength (dry) 240 MPa
• Modulus of rupture (dry) 12.7 MPa
Flexural strength (dry) 16 MPa
Petrographic description
The gneissic granodiorite is weakly foliated and may be charnockitic. The visually estimated mineralogy includes 37% quartz, 42% plagioclase plus myrmekite, 10% orthoclase, 9–10% orthopyroxene, 1% hornblende and 0.5% opaque oxide plus biotite as well as apatite and trace zircon to 0.15 mm in diameter. Quartz is irregularly disseminated with amoeboid interlocking grains to 2.5 mm in diameter as well as lenses or bands with quartz to 15 mm long, parallel to the foliation and 7 mm wide. Plagioclase is mostly less than 3 mm in diameter, but the K-feldspar (orthoclase bead perthite) is as much as 8 mm in diameter and locally encloses plagioclase. Mafic lenses are elongate and define a slightly irregular anastomosing foliation. These lenses are mostly composed of pale-pink to green pleochroic orthopyroxene with less abundant olive-green hornblende and rare biotite as well as opaque oxide, apatite, and zircon. Fractures in orthopyroxene contain limonite and clay, with microfissures in feldspars also containing limonite.