Regional Rocks – Raw Materials for Industry and Construction

The Geopark Porphyryland abounds with about 50 different types of rock. Here, loose and solid rocks from 300 million years of earth history lie close together. The reason for the abundance of rocks and resources is the Permian super-volcanism, the deposits of the primeval North Sea in the Tertiary as well as the erratic blocks from the Ice Age.

Porphyry, or rhyolites to be geologically exact, has been used for centuries as building materials and building blocks. The porphyry tuffs of the Rochlitz Hill and the granite porphyry from the quarries around Beucha are particularly noteworthy. In contrast, the quartz porphyries from the Wurzen region, which are more grey in colour, lead a more modest existence. For traffic construction (railways, roads), however, they cannot be replaced as high-quality gravel and grit.

The porphyry’s weathering product, kaolin, has been mined between Mügeln and Wermsdorf for about 300 years. Without the “white earth” of Colditz, the alchemist Johann Friedrich Böttger would not have been able to produce the first white hard porcelain for Europe in 1708. To this day, kaolin is an increasingly important resource for the ceramics industry. The local kaolin mining industry utilizes the latest technology to extract the precious raw material.

Furthermore, the groundwater, extracted in the water villages Canitz and Wasewitz as well as in Naunhof, and the thermal spring in Bad Lausick are considered as precious resources within the Geoaprk Porphyryland.

In the following, we will introduce you to the most important stones and resources in the Geopark Porphyryland.