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
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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.
2012 State of Florida