New Mexico Geological Society Annual Spring Meeting — Abstracts

Industrial mineral (IM) production in New Mexico during 1998 was valued at about $400 million. New Mexico is the leading domestic producer of potash, perlite, zeolite, adobe, and humate. It is a major producer of pumice, travertine, carbon dioxide, scoria and cinders, and mica. New Mexico is a regionally significant producer of cement, gypsum, sand and gravel, crushed stone, dimension stone, and salt. Many additional industrial minerals have been produced over the last 50 years. Construction aggregate is valued at $65 million second only to potash at $230 million. The population of New Mexico is concentrated along the Rio Grande floodplain so sand and gravel are the dominant aggregates with minor crushed stone. The eastern and western thirds of New Mexico tend to utilize crushed stone because gravel is less common there. New 1M mining and exploration continues to be slow due in part to restrictive state surface-mining legislation of the early 1990s. Construction of interstate and other highways, particularly the 1-25/1-40 interchange in Albuquerque and NM-44 from Bernalillo to Farmington, has increased deman.d for construction aggregate. New housing starts are at a rapid pace with some recent delays related to wallboard and other shortages. Sulfuric acid, silica flux, and fire clay production ceased in response to the closure of the Hidalgo copper smelter. Garnet exploration has increased, particularly in southern New Mexico, although the Santa Fe County Commission refused to allow production east of Albuquerque.