NOVACULITE


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One heck of a job to find out anything about this; I think it must be native to only Arkansas. However, here's a little:

Novaculite is not a mineral; it is a massive white quartz rock used to make whetstones for sharpening knives, razors, and other steel implements. The highest quality novaculite known, termed 'Arkansas stone' comes from the Ouachita (pron. Wa-cha-taw) Mountains of Arkansas, USA. Arkansas Stone is off-white, massive, and featureless with no discernable bedding laminations. It is usually seen in the form of narrow tablets with a smooth sawn surface for sharpening.

And here's a longer piece from the Arkansas Geological Commission