In Western Australia,
spongolite, in this case actually spiculite, is quarried for use as a lightweight
freestone and
dimension stone. This type of spongolite has been quarried from
outcrops extending sporadically from
Mount Barker to
Ravensthorpe, Western Australia. This type of spongolite is a fine-grained, light-weight, porous rock that is found in Late
Eocene Pallinup Formation (Plantagenet Group). It outcrops along the southern coast of the Western Australia from
Albany eastwards past
Esperance, and as far inland as
Norseman. In this region, it has been used as a building (dimension) stone because it is a visually attractive, off-white to pale yellow or beige color, light weight and has good insulating properties, moderate strength, and is easily sawn into building blocks.
Petrographic analysis of this type of spongolite demonstrated that it typically consists of disarticulated siliceous sponge spicules and minor amounts of
quartz,
clay clumps,
muscovite,
tourmaline, and
rutile bond together by a
matrix of
opaline silica. In Brazil, a variety of potential industrial uses have been proposed for spongolites (spongillites), which are fresh water spiculites. These spongolite deposits occur in a large area of southwest Brazil and an along the northeastern coast from
Maranhão to
Rio Grande do Norte. Within southwest Brazil, spongolites deposits occur in western and southwestern
Minas Gerais, southern
Goiás, northeastern
Mato Grosso do Sul and northern
São Paulo. They typically consist of discontinuous
beds about to thick, and with an average diameter of about . They accumulated in seasonal lakes and ponds and consist of siliceous sponge spicules mixed with clay, sand, organic matter, and diatoms. The proposed uses for this type of spongolite include ceramics, refractory products, chromato-graphic supplies and catalysis matrices. In Europe and Australia, spiculitic
chert (silica-cemented spiculite), called
spongolite by
archaeologists, was locally used by
prehistoric cultures to fashion
stone tools and other
artifacts. ==References==