597The Mineral Industry 
of North Carolina 
This chapter has been prepared under a cooperative agreement between the
Bureau of Mines, U.S. Department of the Interior, and the Geological Survey
of North Carolina for collecting information on all minerals except fuels.

 
 
By V. A. Danielson1 and Stephen G. Conrad2 
 
 
 The mineral industry of North Carolina continued to grow in 1967, contributing
$77 million to the State's economy, an increase of about $5 million or 7
percent over that of 1966. The increase was due almost entirely to increased
stone produc.. tion. The principal commodities mined, in order of decreasing
value, were stone, sand and gravel, phosphate rock, feldspar, lithium minerals,
mica, clay, and talc. Stone production was dominant, contribut.. ing 53 percent
of the total. Leading 
mineral producers were Superior Stone Co., Ideal Cement Co., Vulcan Materials
Co., and Texas Gulf Sulphur Co. 
 North Carolina ranked first among the States in production of feldspar,
mica, and lithium minerals, second in olivine, and fourth in talc. 
 
 1 Mining engineer, Bureau of Mines, Knoxville, Tenn. 
 2 State geologist, North Carolina Depart. ment of Conservation and Development,
Division of Mineral Resources, Raleigh, N.C. 
 
Table 1.—Mineral production in North Carolina' 
Mineral 
1966 
 
1967 
- 
 
Quantity 
Value 
(thousands) 
Quantity Value (thousands) 
Barite short tons 
 
 
 500 $6 
Clays2 thousandshorttons...Feldspar long tons.Gemstones                 
                 
3,381 
301,610 NA 
$2,241 
3,157 
15 
 2,977 2,012 265,690 3,113 
 NA 25 
Mica: 
 
 
 
 Scrap short tons.. 
 Sheet pounds~ 
Sand and gravel thousand short tons -Stone do.~Talc and pyrophyllite short
tons.. 
Value of items that cannot be disclosed: Asbestos, cement, clay (kaolin),
lithium minerals, olivine, phosphate rock, stone (crushed and dimension marble
and dimension slate)                                      
 
Total                                   
 
Totai1957—59constantdoilars                
63,480 
 4,500 
11,601 
222,377 
113,366 
 2,348 
1 
11,132 
' 36,136 
576 
 69,639 1,751 4,500 W 10,014 9,962 24,507 41,488 109,393 513 
 
 XX— XX 
16,272 
 
71,878 
XX 18,224 
XX 77,094 
 
XX 
' 69,286 
XX ~' Z4,267 
 P Preliminary. r Revised. NA Not available. W Withheld to avoid disclosing
individual company confidential data. XX Not applicable. 
 1 Production as measured by mine shipments, sales, or marketable production
(including consumption by producers). 
 2Excludei kaolin; included with "Value of items that cannot be disclosed."

 $ Excludes certain stone, included with "Value of items that cannot be disclosed."