BLACK GALAXY, Galaxy in granite

Keshav Kumar

In the Galaxy of stone there has been one star that has been shining brightly for over 15 years now. This star is none other than the Indian granite, "Black Galaxy'. This granite from India is also known by various other names including Star Galaxy, Galaxy granite,Ongole Galaxy etc. The allure and endurance of this granite has been tremendous over the years with an estimated sale of almost a million cubic metres of this material over the years.

The Black Galaxy granite has Black background with gold coloured specks in it. The gold specks are due to the presence of ferrous rich Enstatine (Bronzite). The technical geological name for this granite is Gabbric Anorthosite. The material has a hardness of around 4.5 on the Moh's scale which can be termed as moderately hard. The material takes on very good polish. It is ideal to use this material in interior applications. Black galaxy can be broadly divided into three types based on the size of the gold coloured specks as 1.- large specked black galaxy, 2.- medium specked black galaxy and 3.- small specked black galaxy granite.

Black Galaxy quarries are located in a village by the name of Chimmakurthi in Ongole district in the State of Andhra Pradesh in India. The location is about 350 km north of Madras. One can reach the quarries by a convenient train from Madras (around 6 hours) to Ongole and then on to the mining areas by road. There are over 40 quarries spread over 400 acres of land. The sizes of quarries range between 2 and 20 acres each. The quarries are quite mechanised. The equipment in the quarries has been constantly updated and it is common to find the latest mining machinery in operation in the quarries.

The main issue with the quarry owners have been the poor recovery of material from the quarries. In almost every quarry the area that has good deposits is very limited. This has pushed up the cost of quarrying a lot. However in spite of all these negative factors the output is reasonably high for this colour considering that this is one of the more expensive granites in the world. Most of the deposits are below ground level. There are problems of white lines and black lines in the material in almost all quarries. These defects have reduced the value of the material over the years and also brought down the profitability of the quarries.

Around 3500 CBM to 4500 CBM of black galaxy granite is produced every month. Only 40% of the volume make up big blocks and are commonly called gang-saw size blocks. These are blocks of sizes above 2.40m x 1.20m x1.00m. The prices for these gang-saw size blocks range between USD 1350 and USD 1600 per CBM (FOB Madras port). Mainly European companies buy the big blocks and the Indian processors who have a ready market for Black Galaxy slabs in the United States, European and Australian markets for use as kitchen counter tops.

Of late the Indian processors have become aggressive in marketing Black galaxy slabs in these markets at the expense of the European processors. The smaller blocks of the black galaxy blocks are mainly exported to China. The Chinese market has a very good demand for the small blocks so that almost 95 percent of the small blocks are picked up by them. At any given time one can find several Chinese in the various quarries inspecting material. The Chinese do not mind the defects of white lines and black lines and buy the material with some allowance for the defects. One of the quarry owners has been enterprising enough to put up a board in the Mandarin script giving directions to his quarry! The prices for small blocks range between USD 650 and USD 950 per Cubic metre.

The main port for export of black galaxy blocks is the Madras port. Around 85 per cent of all blocks of Black Galaxy are exported and the area provides employment (direct and indirect) for about 100,000 people in the area.

The most worrying aspect for the prospects of this granite is the over reliance on a single market (China). Most quarries are totally dependent on their Chinese buyers and this is a very dangerous situation for obvious reasons. One is forced to compare the past history of the family of red granites which were also dependent mainly on the Chinese markets. (There is a very limited market for these colours now in the Chinese market due to what one might term as "colour fatigue"). The Chinese have shifted their preference to Black Galaxy in the last 5 years. One hopes that the interest and infatuation with Black Galaxy from the Chinese will last longer!

* Published on LITOS printed edition nº 62, Sept. 2002