THE MINERAL INDUSTRY OF TEXAS 773Iron Ore and Steel.—Iron ore was
reported in 1967 from six open-pit opera- 
 
This, the third major addition to the Rockdale facility in the past 2 years,
also included new atomizing facilities for the production of aluminum powders
and a new aluminum redraw rod-casting unit. 
 
 Antimony—Antimony ores from Mexico were treated at the Laredo smelter
of National Lead Co. Domestic smelter output was down due to the extended
strike at lead smelters. Ending stocks of ore, concentrates, and oxides were
less than in 1966, while stocks of the metal and residues were greater. 
 
 Cadmium.—Cadmium in flue dust was recovered as a byproduct at the
Corpus Christi smelter of American Smelting & Refining Co. (Asarco).
The domestic cadmium industry experienced continued low metal production,
increased imports, and a substantial withdrawal of industrial stocks. The
decline in metal output was due largely to strikes at lead and zinc smelters
during the latter part of 1967. 
 
 Copper.—Phelps-Dodge Refining Corp. refined blister and anode copper
from Arizona operations at the Nichols refinery in El Paso. A plant expansion
to a capacity of 400,000 tons per year was announced by the company. The
new capacity was required to handle the future output of the company development
at Tyrone, N. Mex. The company was adding a new rod mill to its El Paso Refinery
to supply the rapidly growing wire cable industry of southwest and west coast
markets. 
 Ores and concentrates from other States and from foreign countries were
smelted at the El Paso smelter of Asarco. Output of both the smelter and
Phelps-Dodge refinery was curtailed the latter part of 1967 due to a strike
of mine, mill, and smelter workers. Asarco will construct the World's largest
smokestack at the El Paso plant—an 825-foot tower with a 60-foot diameter
base and a 30-foot-diameter top. 
 A chemical manufacturing plant to produce cupric hydroxide and related copper
chemicals was built on a 30-acre site in Houston by Kennecott Copper Corp.
This highly automated plant will be equipped with the latest air and water
pollutioncontrol equipment. Completion was scheduled for September 1968.

tions in four counties—Cass, Cherokee, Morris, and Nacogdoches. Concentrate
production was down 20 percent from 1966 and shipments down 17 percent. Most
of the ore was used in making pig iron at the Daingerfield plant of Lone
Star Steel Co. 
 A new mining venture, Bonanza Mining Co., began iron ore production in October
from open pits near Linden in Cass County. A crushing and screening plant
produced 500 tons of crushed ore per day. Ore reserves of high-grade, self-fluxing
ore were reported to exceed 2 million tons. Pig iron and steel were produced
at the Houston integrated mill of Armco Steel Corp. and at the Daingerfield
works of Lone Star Steel Co. A multimillion-dollar industrial gas plant was
built at Lone Star by Air Products & Chemicals, Inc., to supply oxygen
to the Lone Star works and other consumers in the southwest. 
 Grading and foundation construction started at the integrated steel mill
of U.S. Steel Corp. in the Bayport area off the Galveston coast. Cameron
Iron Works, Inc., began construction of a rolling mill, a metal production
mill, and accessory facilities at its Houston steel complex. The rolling
mill will have both hot and cold rolling lines, complete with heat treating,
cleaning, trimming, and inspection facilities. The metal production unit
will include a 50-ton electric arc furnace, a degassing chamber, a 60-ton
vacuum induction furnace, and associated scrap handling and ingot stripping
facilities. 
 Bethlehem Steel Corp. began production at its new steel reinforcing bar
fabricating plant on a 167-acre site near Houston. The plant containes the
latest automatic bending, shearing, and material handling equipment and has
a fabricating capacity of 25,000 tons per year. The bar works is housed in
two adjoining bays equipped with three automatic shears, five automatic bending
machines, and three radio-controlled cranes. Houston has become one of the
major metal fabricating centers in the Nation, with over 310 fabricating
plants that employed nearly 18,000 workers. In addition, 68 firms, that employed
nearly 8,000 workers, produced primary metal products. Other expansions include
a program of the Houston works of Armco Steel Co. which will add a new electric
furnace shop and improvements to the billet and blooming mill and a vacuum
degassing unit. Plans for a flange structural mill was