  == Differences between shale and slate? ==  Are there any uses for shale, in building, landscaping, etc? It seems to be a source of fossils, but otherwise it seems just to be something to be gotten out of the way to get to something that has value like oil. Does shale itself have any value, any practical or commercial uses? If it does, its uses should be mentioned in this article. Even if it has no uses, that fact should be given.  Both the slate article and this article insist that the two should not be confused, but the only difference I can see is that the slate article gives uses for it while this article gives none. Slate is said to be a metamorphic while shale is sedimentary, but what practical difference that makes is not revealed. Since slate evidently is often formed from shale, and in the photographs in these articles they look very similar, a meaningful comparison of the two definitely is in order.  