831The Mineral Industry 
 
of Washington 
 
This chapter has been prepared under a cooperative agreement between the
Bureau of Mines, U.S. Department of the Interior, and the Washington Division
of Mines and Geology for collecting information on all minerals except fuels.

 
 
By Ronald P. Collins 1 and William N. Hale2 
 
 
Washington's mineral production was valued at $82 million in 1967, a decrease
of 8 percent compared with the 1966 total. The decrease was due mainly to
lower values of stone, cement, lead, zinc, and gold-silver ore; the latter
was largely affected by the closure of a gold mine near Wenatchee early in
the year. Fifty.seven percent of total mineral value was attributed to sand
and gravel and stone. 
Primary aluminum production amounted to 746,321 tons valued at $370.3 million.
The value of aluminum was not included in the State mineral production total,

which represents only the value of output from mines, pits, quarries, and
mills. 
Because of the lagging demand for zinc, American Smelting and Refining Company
(Asarco) suspended operations indefinitely at its open-pit Van Stone zinc-lead
mine located near Leadpoint. 
The Spokane Indian Reservation was the site for expanding activity in uranium.
Western Nuclear, Inc., began a 5-year exploration program, then announced
that 
 
 1 Economist, Bureau of Mines, Albany Oreg. 
 2 Mineral specialist, Bureau of Mines, Albany, Oreg. 
 
Table 1.—Mineral production i 
n Washington 1 
 
Mineral 
 1966 1967 
—_______________ 
Quantity Value Quantity Value 
 (thousands) (thousands) 
 
Barite short tons 
 100 
$1 
Cement: 
 
 
 Portland thousand 376-pound barrels - 
 Masonry thousand 280-pound barrels - 
Clays 2 thousand Short tons..Coal (bituminous) do - - - 
Copper (recoverable content of ores, etc.) short tons_ -Gemstones       
                               
 6,820 $24,340 5,614 60 187 65 185 249 139 59 514 59 34 25 21 NA 75 NA 
20,581 
200 
203 
517 
16 
75 
Lead (recoverable content of ores, etc) short tons -Peat do..Sand and gravel
thousand short tons....Stone do......Talc and soapstone -- short tOns.Zinc
(recoverable content of ores, etc) do - - - 
Value of items that cannot be disclosed: Carbon dioxide, dia 
 5,859 1,771 2,762 25,599 136 40,608 29,002 26,806 28,164 13,250 20,273 14,454
3,880 22 4,916 24,772 7,184 21,540 
773 
181 
27,520 
19,099 
26 
5,964 
tomite, fire clay, gold, gypsum, lime, magnesite, olivine, pumice, silver,
tungsten (1967), uranium (1966), and vanadium (1966)                    
                     
XX ' 7,514 XX 
6,911 
Total                                      Total 1957-59 constant dollars
                   
XX ' 89,096 XX 
XX T 84,473 XX 
82,067 
P 78,119 
 '  Preliminary. ' Revised. NA Not available. XX Not applicable. 
1 Produetio~ as measisred by mine shipments, sales, or marketable production
(including consumption by 
prodncers). ______ 
*ee ~ Iu~~ with "Value ot items t~t caaaot be disclosed."