Dear Lyn:
If the whitish ring is something sitting on the surface or the stone (hard water mineral deposit) you could remove the worst with a razor blade (no, it will not scratch the stone) and then finish the job with a specialty alkaline cleaner with chelates in its formula rated “for natural stone”, like MB-3.
However, if the razor blade won't remove anything than it could be some sort of etching in the stone and only a proven stone restoration contractor could do that for you.
May I ask you now to please read and e-sign our Statement of Purpose at:
http://www.marblecleaning.org/purpose.htm?
Ciao and good luck,
Mauri
Article ID: 740
Created On: Sat, Nov 3, 2007 at 3:32 PM
Last Updated On: Sat, Nov 3, 2007 at 12:00 AM
Authored by: Maurizio Bertoli [mail@mbstone.com]
Online URL: https://marblecleaning.org/knowledgebase/article.php?id=740