Page 77

  77The Mineral Industry of 
Arkansas 
This chapter has been prepared under a Memorandum of Understanding between
the 
Bureau of Mines, U.S. Department of the Interior, and the Arkansas Geological
Commission for collecting information on all nonfuel minerals. 
By James H. Aasel and Wanda J. West2 
The value of nonfuel mineral production in Arkansas for 1978 and 1979 was
$265.1 million and $302.6 million, respectively. The increase in value of
mineral production in 1979 over that of the previous year was attributed
principally to the record output of bromine and the resumption of vanadium
mining which was idle during most of 1978. 
During the biennium 1978-79, over 4 out of every 5 dollars of the State's
total nonfuel 
mineral value was contributed by 12 commodities of the nonmetallic sector.
Leading the nonmetallic commodities in value was bromine, followed by, in
descending order, cement, stone, sand and gravel, and others of lesser value.
Bauxite was the leading metallic mineral mined in terms of value, followed
by vanadium, the only other metallic mineral produced in the State. 
Table 1.—Nonfuel mineral production in Arkansas1 
1977 
1978 
1979 
Mineral 
Quantity 
(thousands) 
Quantity 
(thousands) 
Quantity 
(thousands) 
Bauxite — — — thousand metric tons_ —
Clays     
 thousand short tons — Gemstones                     
Lime thousand short thns — 
Sandandgravel do~ 
Stone: 
 Crushed do.~ Dimension do — — — 
Combined value of abrasives, barite (1977-78),bromine, cement, gypsum, soapstone,
tripoli, and vanadium. — — Total                    
1,703 
988 
NA 
152 
16,110 
18,310 
13 
XX 
$24,851 
5,407 
85 
4,552 
36,091 
45,448 
368 
169,582 
1,446 
1,137 NA 
171 
16,900 
19,960 
11 
XX 
$21,103 
5,119 
150 
5,708 
36,510 
53,461 
223 
142,791 
1,430 
1,044 NA 
160 
16,465 
19,978 
14 
XX 
$20,555 
7,686 
150 
6,287 
35,200 
53,723 
528 
178,493 
XX 
286,384 
XX 
265,065 
XX 
302,622 
NA Not available. XX Not applicable. 
1Production as measured by mine shipments, sales, or marketable production
(including consumption by producers).