Where has emery been mined historically?

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Angle grinder — abrasive Worker using an angle grinder to smooth a piece of metal.

Historically, emery has been mined in several key locations:

Naxos, Greece: This island has been a source of emery since ancient times, where the material is found as loose blocks or within beds of granular limestone.1
Turkey: This region contains significant deposits similar to those found on Naxos, occurring as detached blocks in soil or embedded in crystalline limestone. Turkey is currently the world's leading producer of emery.1
United States: Emery has been extracted at various sites, with the most notable historical location being Peekskill, New York.1

While emery was once widely utilized as an abrasive for polishing and in products like sandpaper, it has largely been superseded by synthetic materials like alumina, which offer more consistent properties.1