I put honed jet mist in my kitchen in 2007, sealed it every six months or so and enjoyed it until we moved four years later. We had a few small etch marks on the counter that looked like pencil eraser but they were only seen up close and at a certain angle.

We are not neat freaks but did wipe the counters each night after dinner so we never had any spills sitting on the counter overnight. Do you have another sample you can seal?

I might have read here that the grit that the fabricator uses for honing might effect how the stone absorbs but hopefully people who are better educated than I can weigh in.

It's hard to tell from the pics but it looks to me that excess sealer/enhancer was left on the stone and what you are seeing is areas where the sealer/enhancer have been removed by the testing.
Etches will always be lighter than the stone.
Stains are always darker than the stone.
This looks like a sealer/enhancer issue.

thanks Kev, I asked the stone yard and they said that the sample is most definitely not sealed. The sales rep is very helpful and is repeating the test with another jet mist sample to see what she can figure out.

Many black granites can etch. While they are dense, they are not always true granites and can contain elements that acid does dissolve.

Some blacks can etch. Typically Jet Mist does not, but that's not saying it can't etch, after all it is from the gabbro group, most likely dolerite. If these were etches they would be lighter in color than the stone. The spots appear to be about the same shade as the stone but visibly different. These samples have been enhanced. Most likely the enhancer is being affected by the acids.