Thread: Why are honing stones so expensive? Has our planet ran out of its resources?

I often wonder why the prices of hones have skyrocketed and upon digging deeper I found that one of the reasons is the scarcity of resources that influences the market. As per my understanding sharpening stones/hones are only mined in Belgium or Japan, other than some silicon or alumunium oxide stones and a few natural stones (Arkansas) that are mined in the United States.

My question to all of you is that, do you think that there is more to it? Like if the coticules are from belgium and water stones from Japan, then how about the rest of the world? The planet is immense in its natural beauty and resources and is no way limited to a certain geographic location therefore it appears that it hasnt been researched for any other parts of the world otherwise there is a very real possibility that we would have an abundant resources of those honing stones or I dare say that even better than them because they are yet "undiscovered".

Sorry for a question like that but it has been bugging me for a while and need your feedback on what you think and do you agree with the above possibilities?