FLORIDA’S MINERALS: Making Modern Life Possible
Florida’s Mineral Commodities
Florida ranks fifth in the nation with an industrial
mineral production value of $1.92 billion. Minerals from the
earth are the building blocks of our modern society.
Florida’s minerals are utilized both locally within the state
and worldwide.
Limestone - Florida ranks second
nationally in production and fourth in consumption of crushed
stone (limestone and dolostone). Most of the stone that is
mined in Florida is used for road construction.
Limestone of
high purity can undergo calcination (heating) and, together
with other ingredients, be used to manufacture portland and
masonry cement. Florida ranks in the top five states in
production and consumption of portland cement and is first in
the production and consumption of masonry cement.
Sand and Gravel - Florida ranks
approximately 15th in the country in sand and gravel used or
produced. Sand and gravel is subdivided into construction and
industrial sand, the bulk of which is, in Florida,
construction grade.
Clay - Fuller's Earth, common clay, and
kaolin are mined in few locations in Florida. Fuller's Earth
is typically used as an absorbent material, while kaolin is
used in the manufacture of paper and refractories. Common
clay, mined in small quantities from various locations
throughout the state, is used in the manufacture of brick,
cement and lightweight aggregate.
Heavy Minerals - Two of the five
companies that mine heavy minerals in the Unites States are
located in Florida. A variety of minerals are located in the
Florida heavy mineral sand deposits including ilmenite, rutile,
zircon, and leucoxene. Ilmenite and rutile are primary
ingredients in the manufacture of titanium dioxide pigments,
used in the manufacture of paint, varnish and lacquers,
plastics, and paper.
A
Central Florida Phosphate Mine
Phosphate - Florida producers supplied
approximately one-quarter of the world's phosphate needs and
three-quarters of US domestic needs. Nearly all of the rock
that is mined in Florida, 28.6 million metric tons in 2000,
was used to manufacture fertilizer which, in turn, was used
for agricultural purposes. What was not used in the
manufacture of fertilizer was used in a number of products
including feed supplements, vitamins, soft drinks, and
toothpaste. In 2000, $1.13 billion dollars worth of
fertilizer was exported from Florida making it another one of
Florida's leading export commodities.
Peat - An organic-rich accumulation of
decaying plant material. Florida ranks in the top five states
nationally in the production of horticultural peat.
Mine Locations in
Florida
Click Picture to Enlarge
Mining occurs throughout Florida. Mines
are typically situated in areas where the commodity is shallow
enough to economically extract. The local geology therefore
plays a major role in mine location. The following map
illustrates the distribution of mines in Florida. The colored
dots represent different mineral commodities. Each dot may
represent more than one mine.
Florida Mining History
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The earliest mining in Florida was
carried out by Native Americans, who quarried the mineral
chert from limestone for use in points and tools. Alluvial
clay deposits were also utilized by Native Americans for pots
and other cooking utensils.
In the 1500’s, Spanish settlers and
soldiers quarried coquina limestone near St. Augustine to form
building blocks for their forts and homes.
Limestone has been used in Florida as a
building material and source of lime and cement since Spanish
times. High-purity limestone has been quarried near Ocala,
Marion County, since the turn of the century Limestone is
still an important industry in Florida, supplying raw
materials for cement and roadbase.
The first commercial phosphate mining in
Florida occurred at Dunellon, Marion County, in 1889, .
Hardrock phosphate deposits were dredged in and near the
Withlacoochee River.
Early phosphate dredge near Dunnellon, Florida
Pebble phosphate was discovered in the
late 1880’s in central Florida near Ft. Meade, Polk County.
Its discovery eventually led to the demise of the hardrock
deposit mining. Today the region is known as the Central
Florida Phosphate District. Several companies operate mines
in the district.
Fuller’s earth was discovered near
Quincy, Gadsden County, in 1893. It’s uses in processing
mineral oils made it an important industrial commodity.
Mining continues in the region today.
Heavy mineral mining began in 1916 near
Mineral City (now Ponte Vedra Beach) to supply ilmenite for
WWI titanium tetrachloride production. In the mid-1920s,
zircon and rutile were also produced in this area. Other
beach deposits near Jacksonville, Melborne, and Vero Beach
were worked through the WWII years. Extraction of heavy
minerals is today concentrated along the Trail Ridge of
western Duval and Clay Counties.
