Stone of the year 2021

Diabase – the Crown Jewel of the Swedish Stone Industry. The Swedish Stone Industries Federation ”Sveriges Stenindustriförbund” has named Moheda Swedish Black as Stone of the Year 2021.

Each year, the Swedish Stone Industry Association selects a Swedish stone variety as Stone of the Year. – We want to both highlight a fantastic building material and place the stone in a cultural-historical context, says Kai Marklin, chairman of the Swedish Stone Industries Federation.

Diabase is called “the black gold” among Swedish stones and is renowned worldwide. Swedish diabase can be found, among other places, in the Empire State Building and the World Trade Center memorial.

Diabase has unique qualities in both tone and hardness. Like other granites, it belongs to the igneous rocks. Its characteristic blackness comes from pyroxene and tiny grains of iron and titanium oxide.

When Hallindens Granit a few years ago resumed quarrying in the old Hössjö quarry outside Moheda in Alvesta municipality, it was proof of the strong demand for the stone, not least internationally. – The shortage of diabase on the market contributed to our decision to restart quarrying, which had been dormant since the 1970s, says Jörgen Lundgren, CEO of Hallindens Granit.

The jury´s motivation: The black gold and the “Rolls Royce” of stones. Nature’s own blacksmith has tempered this stone, which both protects national banks and gives artists their strongest means of expression. The Stone of the Year 2021 is the diabase Moheda Black.

Read more here (only available in Swedish)