809The Mineral Industry of Virginia 
This chapter has been prepared under a cooperative agreement between the
Bureau of Mines, U.S. Department of the Interior, and the Virginia Division
of Mineral Resources for collecting information on all minerals except fuels.

 
 
By David J. Kusler and James L. Calver2 
 
 
A record-breaking output of coal more 
than offset value declines in most other mineral commodities, so that the
total value of 1967 mineral production in Virginia rose to a new high of
$283.7 million. The value was 3 percent greater than the $274.3 million reported
in 1966, the previous record high value. Reflecting slackened building activity
were decreases in the production of commodities supplying the construction
industries—stone, cement, sand and gravel, clays, and gypsum; the declines
were moderate to substantial. Mineral fuels produced in the State in addition
to coal included limited quantities of oil and natural gas; production of

mineral fuels is confined to southwestern counties. Other mineral commodities
produced included aplite, cement, clays, feldspar, gem stones, gypsum, kyanite,
lime, iron ore (pigment material), lead and zinc ore, titanium concentrates
(ilmenite and rutile), salt, sand and gravel, and stone (including soapstone
and marine shell). Of the 1967 mineral production value, 61 percent was contributed
by fuels (56 percent in 1966), 36 percent by nonmetals (41 percent in 1966),
and 3 percent by metals (3 percent in 1966). 
 
 1 Chemist, Bureau of Mines, Pittsburgh, Pa. 
 2 State Geologist, Virginia Division of Mineral Resources, Charlottesville,
Va. 
 
Table 1.—Mineral production in Virginia 1 
 
1966 
 
1967 
 
Mineral 
Quantity 
Value 
(thou- 
sands) 
Quantity 
Value 
(thou 
sands) 
Clays thousandshorttons..Coal (bituminous) doGemstones                  
                     
1,486 
35,565 NA 
$1,813 
153,341 
7 
1,382 
36,721 NA 
$1,623 
171,183 
7 
Lead (recoverable content of ores, etc) short tons -Lime thousandshorttons~Natural
gas million cubic feet~ 
Petroleum (crude) thousand 42-gallon barrels. 
3,078 
 840 
4,249 
1 
930 
10,486 
1,275 
W 
3,430 
 829 
3,818 
3 
960 
10,345 
1,149 
W 
Sand and gravel thousand short tons -Soapstone short tonsStone thousand short
tons. 
Zinc 2 (recoverable content of ores, etc.) short tons - 
Value of items that cannot be disclosed: Aplite, cement (portland and masonry),
feldspar, gypsum, iron ore (pigment 
17,191 
3,989 
34,151 
17,666 
16,635 
10 
55,550 
5, 123 
9,863 
W 
31,324 
18,846 
12,494 
W 
52,470 
5,088 
material), kyanite, salt, titanium concentrate (ilmenite and rutile), and
data indicated by symbol W                
 
Total                                       
Total 1957—59 constant dollars  
XX 
29,127 
XX 
28,366 
 
XX 
XX 
274,297 
282,663 
XX 
XX 
283,685 
p285,291 
 Preliminary. NA Not available. XX Not applicable. 
 W Withheld to avoid disclosing individual company confidential data; included
with "Value of items that cannot be disclosed." 
 i Production as measured by mine shipments, sales, or marketable production
(including consumption by producers). 
 2 Recoverable zinc valued at the yearly average price of prime western slab
zinc, East St. Louis market. Value established after transportation, smelting,
and manufacturing charges have been added to the value of ore at the mine.