THE MINERAL INDUSTRY OF VIRGINIA 821 
 
in output, but only 10 percent in value because of a higher unit value in
1967. Limestone declined 8 percent in output and 9 percent in value. Reduced
demand for both granite and limestone in construction aggregates and for
limestone in other products was largely responsible for the output declines.
Compared with 1966, the output of limestone for agstone, cement and lime
manufacture, fluxstone, railroad ballast, and miscellaneous uses, was about
1 million tons lower. Of the five remaining crushed stone varieties, three
gained and two declined in output. Sandstone declined 45 percent in output
but only 28 percent in value because of a higher unit value in 1967. Miscellaneous
stone declined substantially in output and value. Slate, calcareous marl,
and marble all gained slightly in output and value. Crushed slate was used
in producing lightweight aggregate and roofing granules and as roadstone;
the calcareous marl was used mainly in cement manufacture, and the marble
was produced for use as terrazzo. Oyster- 
shell, the bulk of which was reef shell dredged from the Chesapeake Bay area,
decreased substantially in output and value. The decline was due chiefly
to cessation of a dredging operation in midsummer of 1967. The shell was
used mainly in the manufacture of agricultural: lime, cement, oyster bed
replanting, poultry grit, and roadstone. 
 Four varieties of dimension stone were also produced in the State. In order
of output value they were miscellaneous stone (amphibolite, schist, soapstone,
and "Virginia Greenstone"), slate, diabase, and sandstone. Three gained in
output value and one declined. Miscellaneous stone declined slightly in output,
and slate gained slightly; both gained moderately in value, principally because
of higher prices received for the dimensioned products in 1967. Laboratory
and architectural stone and flagging were the principal products derived
from the soapstone. The output of "Virginia Greenstone" included rough and
dressed building stone and dressed 
 
Table 9.—Stone sold or used by producers, by kinds and uses 
(Thousand short tons and thousand dollars) 
Kind and use 
1966 
 
1967 
 
 
Short tons 
Value 
Short tons 
Value 
Dimension stone: 
 
 
 
 
Sandstone: AU uses                Undistributed 1                    
 
Total2                        
 
Crushed and broken stone: 
W 71 
W 
$4,387 
1 
69 
$21 
4,616 
 
71 
4,387 
71 
4,637 
 
 
 
 
 
Basalt: 
 
 
 
 
Concrete and roadstone          
Granite: 
2,755 
4,568 
3,534 
5,817 
Concrete and roadstone  Riprap                       
Limestone: 
10,032 
265 
15,420 
420 
8,680 
266 
13,847 
471 
Fluxing stone                  
Concrete and roadstone          
Railroad ballast                
967 
10,577 
396 
1,507 
13,942 
539 
805 
10,094 
268 
1,320 
13,447 
309 
Agricultural                   
Riprap                       
Miscellaneous                 
Sandstone: 
1,140 
W 
' 5,290 
2,023 
W 
59,190 
1,132 
11 
4,586 
2,045 
12 
7,660 
Concrete and roadstone          
1,140 
1,256 
593 
867 
Miscellaneous'                
93 
254 
80 
214 
Undistributed7                    
1,424 
2,044 
1,206 
1,825 
Total2                        
84,080 
51,163 
31,254 
47,833 
Grand total2                    
84,151 
55,550 
31,324 
52,470 
W Withheld to avoid disclosing individual company confidential data. 
1 Includes sandstone (1966), limestone (1966), basalt, slate, and miscellaneous
stone. 
2Data may not add to totals because of independent rounding. 
3 Includes stone sand and riprap. 
 4 railroad ballast. 
' Includes riprap. 
' Includes refractory (1966), riprap (1966), railroad ballast, and other
uses. 
' Includes miscellaneous stone, calcareous marl, marble, shell, and slate.