Thank you @chiflipper ! I asked for a sample and the rep at the stone yard said "I'll see what I can do" so I'm not confident I'll be able to get a sample to test at home... I'm hoping someone else might recognize it and I can get an alternative name so I can call around to different yards to check availability and see if they're more willing to provide samples (and then of course purchase from them!) Would you please expand on what you mean by a quarter of a slab and the pricing should reflect that?? I'm interpreting that to mean it is small (it is) and whould therefore be priced less expensive? Yikes, I might be out of my element - it's coming out to be $150 sq/ft installed which I was thinking was high - maybe not for quartzite! Thank you, again!

"I'm hoping someone else might recognize it and I can get an alternative name so I can call around to different yards to check availability and see if they're more willing to provide samples..."

crj128:

You want to test the slab you purchase; none others. karin_mt has some great articles about testing you can perform at the yard.

It is Antartide. It isn't a quartzite but a type of marble. I was told mine was quartzite but found out later it's a type of marble. I've had mine for five years..It's very fragile..and will etch like a marble..Mine was resined which most are. Look on the rough cut one side of the slab and see if you see any drips marks..You may not see any but I heard some do have them. I don't have to seal it because it doesn't stain..unless you spill red wine on it. I quickly cleaned it with windex and peroxide and the stain came out. I was there when it was spilled and reacted quickly. There is no sealer that will protect from etching. It seems that different suppliers are calling them different names. There's a lot of talk about this if you search Antartide. It's gorgeous but is like sugar. It will chip and you can actually buff the edge you chip with an emery board to smooth it out. I love it but it's high maintenance and I wouldn't get it again.

Thank you Joseph; yes, I understand I need to test the slab I buy, not something else. I really like this slab, but if they're not willing to give me a sample I won't be able to test it and therefore it would be quite a risk to buy it. I'd like to see if someone might recognize it and I can find something similar at another yard, hopefully get a sample and buy that slab once successfully tested!

I've heard of stones going by different names so was just hoping some of the stone pros on here might have some suggestions of other names of a slab I might try to find!! :) With my work hours it's very tricky to make it to the slab yards, so if I can narrow some down by calling that would be helpful!

I've seen Karins test across multiple threads that I've been engulfed in all weekend on this forum, that's how I knew to even ask for a sample in the first place! lol

Sorry Joseph, didn't see the part about testing at the yard - Thanks!

Stone prices vary wildly depending on your location. Granite that is $39 per sq ft (installed) in Phoenix and Los Angeles runs $79 in Traverse City, Michigan. Most stone is imported and proximity to ports means lower prices. Then there is "the market". You will pay more for stone in San Francisco, Boston, Seattle, New York City because the "market will bear it". Make in-person visits to stone yards. Every slab is different, be sure to write down the slab number as every slab has a unique number in that yard. The partial slab shown is a "leftover" from someone else's job. Check with fabricators in your area, they have partials. Be willing to travel, I drove 4 hours one-way to select my slabs. There's nothing wrong with having a laminate top until you save up for what you really want. Skip any backsplash work until after you get your stone. Good luck.

Thank you so much lovetodecorate! That's just what I needed to know (& feared!!) It's a shame it is so fragile (and not what it was represented to be) because it's just so gorgeous. Glad you were there for the red wine spill! Love the sugar analogy, too :)

Thanks chiflipper! Looks like I'm back to the drawing board! You're right, for this kinda commitment I have to make the time & be willing to travel (wow 4 hours one way - glad you liked it! Haha) there are still a handful of stone yards in my area I haven't been to yet, and when the right stone comes along we'll know it :)

Lovetodecorate, just found the pictures of your kitchen and it's absolutely stunning!! So beautiful!

Thank you again for commenting & identifying the stone as antradite... it's amazing how many more search results pop up when you've got the right name of what you're looking for! Lol

Thanks for letting me know what I was looking at and your experience with it! :)

Thank you! It's Antartide...just want to make sure you have the right name

Oops, right letters - wrong order! ♀️ Thanks! Though after reading the past couple of hours, I think I need to move on

Antartide also goes by Iceberg. Different stoneyards use different names. It's definitely one that will scratch easily.

Have you looked at any of the pre fabricated countertops? Since you said you had a small kitchen and full slab might be a waste, a pre fab could work. they have granite, marble, quartz and some quartzite. you won't be able to get some of the more exotics, but this one for instance was really different. Called Ice Jade. it cost 600, edges were finished and comes in a 9'X22" piece. you hire a fabricator to fit it to your dimensions and cut-outs.

you can see all of the other choices in this pic (and this was a rather small collection)

Thanks, Chess! I knew I could find answers here!

Thanks, Beth! Never came across pre-fab, what a neat idea... we have a weird "nook" area what dips back around a corner so to avoid a seam we need something 40" deep so I'm not sure if it would work - but definitely something I'm going to try to look more into!

That's marble so I'd just pass and continue to look for Sea Pearl or another true quartzite. Ask the supplier when the next order will be coming in and get first dibs. Also look farther afield.

Thanks, Dan! I think that's exactly what I'm going to do - hoping some adventures on Saturday will find another piece of Sea Pearl as pretty as that initial one :)