Ophicalcite

Ophicalcite is a serpentinite breccia popular since ancient times as a decorative facing stone. It is a dark, dull green, white-mottled (or white-veined) serpentine, mixed with calcite, dolomite, or magnesite, which takes a high polish. It sometimes classed, erroneously, as a variety of marble.

Non-brecciated varieties of a very similar serpentinite, sometimes also called “verd antique”, have been quarried at Victorville, California; Cardiff, Maryland; and Rochester in Addison County, Vermont.