THE MINERAL INDUSTRY OF ARKANSAS 125 
 
 Union Carbide Corp. completed construction of its vanadium oxide extraction
plant in Garland County. Rated capacity of the facility was 1,600 tons of
crude ore daily. At yearend, final adjustments were being made in processing
phases preparatory to plant operation. Open-pit development continued and
some ore was stockpiled. 
 The Dow Chemical Co. completed construction of. a new bromine extraction
plant near Magnolia, Columbia County; production began in April 1967. Plant
capacity added to that of the three other plants brought total State capacity
to well over 100 million pounds annually. During the year, both Great Lakes
Chemical Corp. and Arkansas Chemicals Inc. doubled capacity at their respective
bromine extraction plants. The bromine is recovered from oil well brines.

 Arkla Chemical Corp. began production of anhydrous ammonia at its Big River
plant, a chemical fertilizer complex at Helena. Other plant production facilities,
when fully operable, will include phosphoric, sulfuric, and nitric acid,
diammonium phosphate, urea, and nitrogen units. 
 The Arkansas Geological Commission contracted with Aero Service Corp. to
make an aerial magnetometer survey of about 4,000 square miles in West-Central
Arkansas. Initial maps of the survey were made in November 1967. 
 Drilling activity by the oil and gas industry decreased about 10 percent
in number of wells drilled, but accounted 
for discovery of several new oil and gas pools. Humble Oil and Refining Co.
set a new depth record in Arkansas by drilling an exploratory well in Ashley
County; the well, drilled to a total depth of 16,611 feet, was abandoned
as a dry hole. 
 Arkansas Power and Light Co. announced plans to construct a nuclearfueled,
electric-generating plant near Russellville. The plant will, have an 800,000-kilowatt
capacity. Construction was scheduled to start in late 1968 and was to be
completed in 1972. Development of the Southwest Experimental Fast Oxide Reactor
(SEFOR) plant in Washington County, nearing completion at yearend, was scheduled
for operation in May 1968. The experimental plant, for development of breeder
reactor systems, will produce its fuel for self-sustained operation. The
major objective of the research is to develop nuclear power plants that will
simultaneously produce electric power and fuel. 
 
 Employment.—Mineral industry payroll totaled $30.1 million, a 4 percent
increase over 1966 figures. Weekly wages, compared with 1966 data, averaged
$143.95 in metal mining, a 2.5-percent increase; $105.50 in coal mining,
a 1.4percent increase; $125.96 in production of crude oil and natural gas,
a 10.8percent increase; and $108.33 in nonmetallic mining and quarrying,
a 4.2percent increase. The mining industry average monthly employment was
4,785 workers compared with average monthly employment of 4,954 workers in
1966.