Preface

"Special Publication 103 (Revised 1996) was compiled and formatted by L. G. Youngs, Associate Engineering Geologist with the Division of Mine and Geology's Mineral Land Classification Project, from data gathered by the staff of the California Department of Conservation's Division of Mines and Geology and Office of Mine Reclamation …."

"This publication is an updated and revised list of active mines and mineral producers in California that was compiled by the California Department of Conservation (DOC), Division of Mines and Geology (DMG) in cooperation with the DOC Office of Mine Reclamation (OMR). The list contains the names, operators, addresses, commodities, phone numbers, and locations of 917 mines or quarries reported to have produced mineral commodities in California sometime in the 2-year period 1994-1995. The mine locations, recorded in degrees of latitude and longitude, are shown on Plate 1 with a mine location number (map number) assigned to each entry….*

[* Please note that the map referred to in the above paragraph is very large and so will not be included. Also, I have decided only to include entries such as Limestone, Granite, Stone, and Rock and to exclude other types of quarries and mines such as sand, gravel, pumice, etc. due to time limitations. Please see the section on "Limitations of the Data" below for a further explanation of the terms "Stone" and "Rock." Also, there are many sections of this book that are omitted here. If you wish further information, you can contact the agency to purchase a copy of borrow a copy through your local library system. Lastly, the active producers are added according to the location of the mine or quarry in the "Stone Quarries List" for each county in which the mine or quarry is located - not according to the location of the stone producer's location.]

California's 1995 Nonfuel Mineral Production*

(* "Modified by R. L. Hill, Senior Geologist, California Department of Conservation, Division of Mines and Geology (DMG) from an article by Susan Kohler-Antablin, DMG, published in May 1996 titled 1995 Annual Review of State Activities - California in Tim O'Neil, ed., Mining Engineering: Society for Mining, Metallurgy, and Exploration, Inc., v. 48, no. 5, pp. 51-52.")

"During 1995, California ranked third among the states in nonfuel mineral production, accounting for approximately 7 percent of the U. S. total, according to the U. S. Geological Survey Mineral Information Service. Mineral production during 1995 amounted to $2.7 billion a 3 percent increase from 1994. Production of at least 26 types of industrial minerals in the state accounted for about 87 percent of the total value. Metals accounted for 13 percent of the total (Figure 2). California remained the nation's only producer of boron and tungsten. It also continued to lead the nation in the production of sand and gravel, portland cement, diatomite, rare earth concentrates, natural sodium sulfate, and asbestos. California ranked second in gold production during 1995 with about 950,000 troy ounces produced, a 5 percent decrease from 1994. Other minerals produced in California include bentonite clay, common clay, dimension stone, crushed stone, feldspar, fullers earth, gemstones, gypsum, hectorite clay, iron ore, kaolin clay, lime, magnesium compounds, mercury, perlite, potash, pumice, pyrophyllite, salt, silver, soda ash, and talc.

"Portland cement was California's leading industrial mineral. Its total value was $515 million produced, a 4 percent decrease from 1994. Construction sand and gravel followed with a total value of $512 million, a 2 percent decrease from 1994. Production of boron, California's third ranked industrial mineral, increased by 2 percent from 1994 with a total value of $462 million.

"The amount of crushed stone produced increased relative to sand and gravel by 4 percent from 1994 to 1995, as compared to 1 percent from 1992 to 1993, and 2 percent from 1993 to 1994. During 1995, crushed stone production amounted to 34 percent of the total production of construction aggregate. The increase in production of crushed stone relative to sand and gravel is likely due to environmental concerns about instream mining operations throughout the state, resulting in a trend toward discontinuing development of additional instream sand and gravel reserves…."

Limitations of the Data

"The accuracy of the data presented in Mines and Mineral Producers Active in California (1994-1995) is in part predicated upon the accuracy and completeness of the original information reported by the operators to the OMR. Effort was made to edit the data for consistency of form and structure as well as accuracy. However, it is quite likely that some inaccuracies do exist. For example, some active mine sites may not be located on Plate 1 at the accuracy desired. It is also possible that some active mines may have been inadvertently excluded from the revised active mines list. The DMG will update and revise the database annual in order to provide the most accurate list of California's active mines and mineral producers available.

"The principal commodities produced at each mine is shown as reported by the operator. Other mineral commodities may also be produced at some mines. Also, the commodities reported as stone or rock are not exclusive, i.e. rock production may also include stone, decorative rock, or dimension stone production. Therefore, the user searching for rock products may wish to contact the operators in a particular area who are listed as producing any of these commodities.

"There are a few operator names or company names in the list of active mines and mineral producers that have been slightly truncated. There may also be a very few mine names that have also been truncated. This was caused when the length of a name exceeded the width of its field in the digital database…."

"Department of Conservation, Division of Mines and Geology, Mineral Resources, MS 08-38, Sacramento, CA 95814…."

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