RICHMOND, Va. (AP) _ Virginia will soon have an official state rock thanks to a group of community college students. The News & Advance reports Nelsonite, named after Nelson County, officially will become the state rock July 1. Gov. Terry McAuliffe signed the bill into law Friday. Michelle Stanislaus and her classmates at Piedmont Virginia Community College worked to help convince legislators to name Nelsonite the state rock. The project was collaboration between PVCC political science and geology classes. The newspaper reports the speckled tan, black and white rock was mined near Piney River and other areas in the 1900s as a source of both titanium used in paint pigments and steel alloys, as well as calcium phosphate used in artificial teeth and agricultural fertilizer.
