What Is Ubatuba Granite?

Uba Tuba or Ubatuba granite is one of the most frequently used countertop materials in kitchen designs today. Quarried in huge amounts and shipped worldwide, Ubatuba is one of the more affordable granites on the market. With its versatile color palette and comparatively low price, Ubatuba can be found in kitchens and bathrooms in counters and tiles of many homes.

Ubatuba granite is quarried in the area surrounding the city of Ubatuba, Brazil. Situated about halfway between Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo, the area is otherwise known primarily for its beautiful coastline and beaches, which draw tourists from around the world.

In the narrower context of the homebuilding industry, Ubatuba is synonymous with its stone production. The quarries responsible for Ubatuba granite are extremely large, shipping the stone in tremendous blocks around the world for tile and countertop use. Like other granites, Ubatuba is an igneous rock, composed mostly of quartz and mica with some charnockite.

Ubatuba granite, like any natural stone, can have huge amounts of variation in color. Ubatuba has been described by fabricators as being black, green and even brown. It's primarily dark green granite made up of flecks of lighter green, black, gold, brown, white or turquoise blue. The charnockite, when present, provides flecks of garnet red.

Ubatuba's color can vary from slab to slab and even within one slab. The stone may appear lighter, darker and with more or less of various colors in its makeup, depending on which section of the quarry it was taken from. If you're embarking on a large project, it's important to ensure that your slabs were all taken from the same quarry face so they'll match each other properly.

Ubatuba is a tightly packed grain pattern granite. There are few to little veins in its surface, with most of the pattern being made up of smaller and larger pieces of quartz. Very small veins of white, gold or turquoise may separate the larger pieces of color. The grain pattern of the stone can range in size from about the size of an apple seed to the size of a half dollar throughout the stone.

In addition to "Ubatuba" the granite may be called by several names, depending on the fabricator or stone yard selling it. Ubatuba has also been known on the marketplace as Butterfly, Verde Ubatuba, Verde Labrador and Green Labrador.

Variation in color among these names is usually due to the section of the quarry the stone was taken from. Stones marked "Verde" or "Green" are typically a brighter green in color than others.

Like every natural stone on the market today, Ubatuba granite should be sealed with an impregnating sealer to help impede staining. The stone should also be cleaned with mild soap and water, or with a stone cleaner to help prevent stripping of its finish.