The quarries are located in the Fontanabuona valley and bordering valleys, in the Apuan Alps, in the Genoese and Sanremese hinterland, and each one has its specific properties. Once the preliminary drilling is done to check the solidity of the deposit and its true quality, holes are bored in the terrain with hydraulic and compressed air borers, additional installations are prepared and suitable carriageways are built.

In geology, slate is classified as clastic allotigenous rock originating from the sedimentation of a very fine silt, which comes from the demolition of primitive reliefs following a double process: the cementing of some of the components of silt and lamination by the effect of the enormous pressure exercised for millions of years on the sedimentation bank of the upper formations. Chemically, the study began at the start of the last century. Recent analyses give the following percentage composition as average values:

Si02 = 22 - 46%, Al203 = 2 - 18%, CaO = 20 - 39%, FeO = 1 - 10%.

Numerous and thorough tests have been carried out on the slate from the EUROSLATE quarries, with excellent results for all the tests: resistance to shock, compression, flexing, sensitivity to frost, impermeability (see certifications)

The limits of slate, intended in the past as only a roofing material, are now well overcome.