Shoksha quartzite

Currently it is mined mostly in the nearby miner's settlement of Kvartzitny [ru] by Lake Onega.

[1] This durable and expensive material was used for decoration of many Russian palaces, cathedrals and sculptures.

Due to its high heat resistance it is used for fireplaces in banyas and saunas.

[1][3] In Soviet times the major usage of Shoksha quartzite was in glass industry, for grinding balls and linings used in grinders for grinding mineral components for glass.

[4] In 1981 the estimated volume of the Shiksha quartzite field was over 1.3 million cubic meters.

Map of Shoksha district quarries, 1921. Shoksha is in the middle; the quartzite quarry is on the east bank of the Shoksha bay of Lake Onega directly northwards of Shoksha
Sarcophagus of Napoleon