768 MINERALS YEARBOOK, 1967 ' Data do not add to this total because of independent
rounding. 
 
 A new salt-producing facility was under construction in Deaf Smith County
about 5 miles southeast of Hereford. Plans called for Hereford Salt, Inc.,
to extract brine by pumps from a 2,000-foot shaft and then dehydrate it in
tank-type basins. The output would supply salt for cattle. 
 
Table 23.—Salt sold or used by producers (Thousand short tons and thousand
dollars) 
 
Year 
Quantity 
Value 
1963              
1964              
5,965 
6,410 
$22,355 
28,797 
1965              
1966              
1967              
6,964 
7,724 
8,344 
30,771 
33,797 
36,435 
 Sand and Gravel.—The sand and gravel industry had a marked recovery
from the slump of the previous year, as output increased 20 percent and value
increased 25 percent. Although the number of commercial operations dropped
from 176 in 1966 to 156 in 1967, commercial output increased 10 percent.
The number of Government-and-contractor operations increased from 89 in 1966
to 165 in 1967. Commercial operations accounted for 81 percent of the total
production and 86 percent of the value in 1967. 
 The average value per ton of all sand and gravel produced was $1.25 compared
with $1.19 in 1966 and $1.09 in 1963. 
 Sand and gravel processing included washing, screening, and crushing. Commercial
operators processed 96 percent of their output before use; Government-andcontractor
operators processed 93 percent of their production. 
 During the year, 42 percent of the total gravel output was used for building,
and 54 percent for paving; the remainder was 
used for fill, railroad ballast, and other construction. Of the sand, 50
percent was used for building, 39 percent for paving; and 11 percent for
fill and other construction. 
 Some industrial sands were ground for use as abrasives, chemicals, and foundry
and pottery sands. Unground industrial sands were marketed as blast, engine,
firefurnace, glass, molding, and oil-frac sands, and for a variety of other
uses. 
 Of the commercial sand and gravel, 60 percent was moved by truck, 36 percent
by rail, and 4 percent by water. 
 Results of studies of Lower Cretaceous sands in 17 counties in central,
northcentral, north, and west-central Texas, and of Cenozoic sands in 26
counties in south and southeast Texas, were published.3 
 
 Stone.—Stone production reached a new high during 1967. Total quantity
was 13 percent greater and value was almost 9 percent greater than in 1966.
The 121 commercial operations, including shell producers, that were active
during the year accounted for 82 percent of the quantity and 89 percent of
the value. Limestone constituted 73 precent of total stone output and shell
made up 22 percent. Also produced were basalt, granite, marble, marl, miscellaneous
stone, and sandstone. 
 Basalt was quarried in Uvalde County by Trinity Concrete Products and crushed
for use as concrete aggregate and roadstone. 
 Although an increase was recorded in the production of dimension granite,
a sharp decline occurred in crushed granite 
 
 3 Bureau of Economic Geology, The University of Texas at Austin. Lower Cretaceous
Sand of Texas: Stratigraphy and Resources. Rept. of mv. 59, 1967. Bureau
of Economic Geology, The University of Texas at Austin. Sand Resources of
Texas Gulf Coast. Rept. of mv. 60, 1967. 
 
Table 24.—Sand and gravel sold or used by producers 
 
(Thousand short tons and thousand dollars) 
Year 
Commercial 
 
Government-and-contractor 
—— —~ 
 Quantity Value 
 
Total sand 
and gravel 
 
Quantity 
 — Value 
 
 
Quantity 
Value 
1963             
1964             
1965             
1966~            
1967             
27,511 
25,249 
27,488 
23,089 
25,397 
$32,085 
30,896 
33,572 
28,947 
33,630 
5,745 
3,906 
5,161 
3,133 
6,001 
$4,226 
2,4~8 
2,503 
2,366 
5,539 
33,256 
29,155 
32,649 
26,222 
31,398 
$36,311 
33,394 
36,075 
31,313 
' 39,170