Dreams of marble riches are quickly dashed

Hopes of finding marble in Jebel Ali have been dashed after rock samples proved to be gypsum. An engineer claimed to have seen sparkling stones in the area and a sample was taken to a factory which identified it as marble.

He reported the find to the municipality and requested that tests be carried out, along with a study of the prospect of setting up a government marble factory in Jebel Ali. Municipality Director-General Qassim Sultan established a committee to investigate. More samples were analysed at the Dubai Central Laboratory, but all that glittered did not turn to be marble.

Mohammed Hassan Al Ali, Acting Director of the General Projects Department, said tests on random rock samples from the area showed them to be gypsum. The Central Laboratory also checked earlier soil test records and no previous indications of marble were found.

"Marble is normally found in areas that are geologically termed metamorphic, whereas Jebel Ali falls in the category termed sedimentary," Al Ali said. The original sample brought by the engineer was also tested using chemical and X-ray procedures, and it proved to be gypsum.

"Petrographic tests were also carried out on the rock which substantiated these results," he said. Al Ali said gypsum could not be used as a modern building material but could be used for the restoration of traditional structures.