Serpentin#

Serpentine, dark green, compact, sometimes decorative, rock. Used as road chippings and for embankment protection (mined near Kraubath, Styria, and Rechnitz, Burgenland), also used as ornamental stone (Bernstein, Burgenland). Formed by the transformation of basalts; consists mainly of serpentine minerals (fibrous to lamellar silicates such as chrysotile = "fibrous serpentine" and antigorite = "lamellar serpentine"). A form of serpentine called "precious serpentine" is mined in Bernstein (Burgenland); it consists of chlorite and is processed into ornamental and decorative items.