originally, pyrophyllite was quarried and locally used for tombstones and building stone and to carve ornaments and utensils such as pots, dishes and cases. currently, it is milled and processed near where it is mined to produce material used for the production of a wide variety of products. they include acid-resistant lab ceramics, refractory bricks and linings, filler in paint, electrical insulation, boilermaker's chalk, chromic-acid purification pots, and crucibles used in the manufacture polycrystalline-diamonds. blocks of pyrophyllite are stilled quarried and sold as either "wonderstone" or "african stone" for sculpting. it can be easily carved with rasps and power tools and finished with a beautiful polish. the quarries are also the source of naturally grooved, spherical to disk-shaped, and sometimes intergrown concretions composed of either hematite, pyrite, or wollastonite, which are collected by gem, mineral, and rock collectors and subject of much folklore.