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New Ulm Quartzite Quarries, Inc. is also the second largest manufacturer of crystalline mineral poultry grit in the United States, and bags and distributes the grit under the brand name Cherry Stone. The grit is also sold as a traction agent on ice and snow. Why is quartzite a valuable construction aggregate? Besides being very hard, quartzite has almost no porosity, which means it absorbs little or no moisture. When moisture enters the pore structure of a highly absorptive aggregate such as limestone it becomes susceptible to breakdown due to freeze-thaw activity. In Minnesota, where freeze-thaw occurrences can be as high as 40 events per season, a non-absorptive aggregate such as quartzite, used in concrete or bituminous materials, will extend the life of pavements thereby minimizing the life cycle cost of road construction.