Jackson, I have Imperial Danby and I have both tiny black spots and even some tiny sparkly white spots...After 5 months I no longer notice them. Can your fabricator do the template so that he does not have the spots showing or are an inconspicuous area? My issue was that our slab had a very large fissure on one side that had to be considered when cut - thus the spots stayed. Wish I could take a picture for you but I am out of town for 10 days and will not be home in time for your schedule. Good luck and be dure to post a picture when it is in!

My Imperial Danby has some scattered tiny black spots also. I didn't notice them until a few weeks after the stone was installed, although they were probably there all along. They bugged me for a day or two. I honestly don't notice them & love my Danby.

Thank you both for reassuring me that it's not abnormal for there to be some black. Beachpea, my island is going to take most of 1 slab, so no real wiggle room on placement. Romy, your kitchen made me look at danby in the first place! So gorgeous.

My builder is going out this morning to look. I trust him to let me know if it's a big deal or if I'm overreacting. Attaching a pic, but of course the spots don't show.

Here's a pic. Sorry about the upside down dime. DH has never mentioned them & I have not noticed them since I first discovered them & of course, today.

I would suggest any natural stone buyer make sure their kitchen goes with orange, because that's the color the spots will be when the iron in the stone oxidizes.

Just got a call from a lady with new white granite wondering what I could do. Other than tear it out, nothing.

Romy, that's exactly how my slabs look. Thanks for the pic.

Trebruchet, I appreciate your sharing your thoughts on marble. Thankfully, I have lots of orange so it should blend beautifully :)

Just wanted to note that while those blacks spots are a ferrous mineral(biotite ) I have not seen danby marbles rust.
I have seen Bianca venitino, white carrara and calacatta marbles rust and turn orange to brown.
White granites can also contain high amounts of iron or ferrous minerals.
It doesn't happen all the time as the chemistry or petrology must be just right. But when it does happen it isn't good.
I have seen old white marble shower stalls or counters with no traces of rusting whatsoever as well as new installations with rusting issues.
However I haven't seen any rusting issues I can recall involving danby marbles.

As always, thank you, SRosen, for your expertise. I really appreciate the time all the professionals give to this forum.

Nice clarification Stu. Thanks.

That's reassuring srosen, thank you.
We called around to other suppliers and all available slabs have varying degrees of black spots. I've spent a couple of days revisiting other options, and decided to stay with the slabs we have. I love the veining and think it will be beautiful.
Thanks everyone for your help!

Danby is a great marble, Its domestic from Vermont and has been quarried there for quite some time.
They give tours of the quarry, I haven't been there but know folks that have. They say its awesome.
Imperial Danby Marble was used in the District of Columbia World War Memorial, Ulysses S. Grant Memorial, and exterior of the Thomas Jefferson Memorial.

So are you saying that Calacatta or White Carrara with those biotite spots will turn orange where the biotite spots are? I had a slab that was made into a sink countertop and shower threshold and a week after install, prior to any use, these black spots appeared (mostly near the dark veining). I KNOW they weren't there before because I have photos from when they first put the countertop in and they weren't there, but they took it back off to finish the bottom (it is on sink legs and thus the bottom is visible). The contractor worried it was his fault but then he noticed that the threshold of the shower suddenly developed them too, and they didn't do anything to that besides putting in the shower door. I can live with them as the countertop is still beautiful (a little marred, but beautiful,) but will it get worse, will more appear, and even worse, will this mean it is going to turn orange as previously suggested?

As far as the black spots turning orange I haven't seen that happen. I have seen the oxidation occur in varying degrees of areas affected .The staining can be from light yellow to dark brown.

I have seen 100 year old white marble installations with no signs of oxidation as well as new installations with immediate signs of oxidation.

I don't know what your black spots are, I doubt the black spots will turn orange. Send a pic of the black spots. Can you feel them, are they pitted?

Possibly areas that water finds its way underneath or puddled on the surface could oxidize if in fact there were iron within the stone. Its really unpredictable when white marbles oxidize.

I get many calls regarding mysterious occurrences or maybe I can call them anomalies regarding new stone installations and issues on older installations. The fact is they aren't in most cases mysteries at all. There is almost always a reason(based on petrology and mineralogy) for why something occurs in regard to stone installations or issues with a particular stone.

The attached pic is a commercial bathroom. The marble stays wet for long periods of time.

This of course is extreme oxidation.

It's been a year since I posted about the black spots on my Imperial Danby Marble - no oxidation, no color change. There may be a few more but to be honest, I'm not sure. I'm still happy with my marble choice.