Golzinne

Golzinne Black, of which some varieties are also known as Mazy Black, Fine Black or Belgian Black, is a limestone from the Carboniferous. The limited company Merbes-Sprimont-Marpic operates the last site where this black "marble" is still extracted in a mine that is sixty-six meters deep.

Golzinne Black is not marble in the geological sense of the word, as it is not metamorphic rock that has been subjected to high temperatures after burial at very great depths or has come into contact with an igneous rock. The term 'marble' here refers to a simple limestone rock that is beautifully polished and used as ornamental stone. The matrix of this limestone consists of microcrystalline calcite (CaCO3) in which the organic material is highly homogeneously distributed, hence this very dark black color that strongly absorbs light and has made it famous for centuries.

The quarry is located on the northern flank of a long asymmetric fold: the Namur syncline. Like many other Walloon marbles, it was used for the decoration of the Palace of Versailles.

Pascal Brackman