Description:
Mineral Appraisal of Coronado National Forest, Part 14, Industrial Minerals MLA 10-94 (1994). The U.S. Bureau of Mines conducted mineral appraisals of the 13 management units in the
Coronado National Forest, which comprises approximately 1.85 million acres in five counties of
southeastern Arizona and one county in southwestern New Mexico. Most industrial minerals found in
the Forest are commodities of low unit value. Their development is highly dependent on accessibility
and location relative to potential markets. Current production is limited to one marble/limesone quarry
and a few sand and gravel quarries; production there is expected to continue. Subeconomic resources
of silica flux contain appreciable byproduct metals, and may become economic if further investigation
establishes higher tonnage and/or grade, or if the price of gold and/or silver increases. Two areas are
possible targets for development of high-brightness marble products. Development of 137,000 st
indicated resource of low-grade gypsum is unlikely under reasonably foreseeable economic conditions.
Gypsum deposits outside the Forest are more likely targets for development. There is little likelihood for
development of f!uorspar occurrences in the Forest, due to their low volume and quality, and to
decreased demand for fluorspar from the steel industry. Occurrences of common rock, and sand and
gravel could be utilized as needed.