Natural Emery is a very hard rock type used to make abrasive powder. It largely consists of the mineral corundum (aluminum oxide), mixed with other species such as the iron-bearing spinels hercynite and magnetite, and also rutile (titania). Industrial emery may contain a variety of other minerals and synthetic compounds such as magnesia, mullite, and silica. However natural emery is mostly made of Corundum. Translucent brown Corundum and Emery are the most common forms of Corundum. These are fairly common and when ground up, they are the most favorable abrasives. The industrial term "emery" describing corundum abrasives is derived from the variety Emery which is mined for abrasive use. Emery is used on surfaces to make them more resistant. Emery grains can be used as hard aggregates for anti-skid and non-wear flooring. This type of flooring is most useful in areas like warehouses with heavy forklift traffic, workshops where oil is spilled and heavy objects fall now and then, hospital ramps, reception areas wtih heavy foot traffic, ship decks, and treads of staircases and so on.

Natural Emery is brownish-black or dark gray in color. It is the hardest mineral after diamond, making it the second hardest mineral with a mohs hardness value of 9. Crushed or naturally eroded emery (known as black sand) is used as an abrasive — for example, on an emery board, as a traction enhancer in asphalt and tarmac mixtures, or as used in mechanical engineering as Emery cloth.

Coated Abrasives: Emery is widely used in manufacturing of coated abrasives like emery cloth & emery paper. The typical self sharpening action of the emery grains with needle shaped grains and uniform grading make emery grains the first choice for use in this application.

Flour Mill Stones: Emery grains are mixed with the magnesium oxide and magnesium chloride slurry and allowed to set in a mould to form a solid flour mill stone. Due to superior hardness, emery grains help in better quality and durable mill stones.

Rice Polishing and Dehusking: Emery grains along with magnesium oxide and magnesium chloride are applied to the rice sheller cone , in rice mills for polishing rice with minimum broken grains and faster output. The special rice polishing grade emery grains form a superior oxychloride bond and as a result the stone lasts longer.

Deburring and Descaling: Metal parts sheared and cut , left with unfinished edges can be deburred with emery in minutes , by putting the parts in barrels and tumbling them along with coarse sized  emery grains. Similarly metal parts with rusty surface and salt deposits can be easily cleaned.