Florida mineral industry, with summaries of production for 1940 and 1941 ( FGS: Bulletin 24 )

FLORIDA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY

BULLETIN

TWENTY-FOUR--FRON

rus

Aerial photograph of the Dunnellon Phosphate Mining Company's hard rock phosphate mine, near Hernal
County. In the lower left corner are piles of washed phosphate in wet storage preparatory to shipment to

dina for dr

which have

ying

been

exportation.

built long

ramps

The waste o
that extend

overflow
to two

shown in

dredges.

the left

These dredges

center and

the quarry in

dig rock with a 1

the cer
yard she

maximum depth of 35 feet.
.Photo furnished by the Dunnellon Phosphate Mining Company.

STATE OF FLORIDA
DEPARTMENT OF CONSERVATION
Florida Geological Survey
S. E. RICE, Supervisor of Conservation
HERMAN GUNTER, Director, Geological Survey

GEOLOGICAL

BULLETIN

NO.

FLORIDA MINERAL INDUSTRY
WITH SUMMARIES OF PRODUCTION FOR 1940 AND

1941

ROBERT O. V
Assistant
Florida Geol

ly
/ERNON, Ph.D.
Geologist
ogical Survey

4oo

AGRI.

*I

CULTURAL
LIBRARy

Published August 1,

194:1

.z

1

LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL

Honorable

S. E. Rice, Supervisor

Florida State Board of Conservation

Sir:

have

honor

to transmit

a report

entitled

"Florida

Mineral

Industry,
Robert O.

with

Summaries

Vernon,

of Production

Assistant Geologist,

for 1940

Florida

Geological

1941

Survey, and

recommend

that it be published as Geological Bulletin No.

This

report contains

a discussion

of the most

important

mineral

resources of the

State, including phosphate,

limestone,

dolomite,

marl,

clays and

other

nonmetallic

resources

of Florida

briefly

called rare earth minerals.

It contains many statistical tables showing

the output .and value of the various mineral products of the State as a

whole and by counties.

The principal features of each variety of min-

eral deposit are appropriately described.

The distribution of the leading

resources is shown on a generalized map.

It is

felt that

report

prove

of considerable

interest and

value

to property

owners,

those

actively

engaged

in mining

Florida, to the teachers in the schools

interested in

of the State and especially to all

the development of our mineral resources.

Respectfully submitted,

Herman
Florida

Gunter,
Geologice

Director
bl Survey

Tallahassee

Florida

May 28, 1943

FOREWORD

The

Florida

Geological

Survey

receives

many

inquiries

concerning the State's
and mining methods.

mineral resources

, names of producers,

This paper has been prepared with the

view

of placing such information in available form.

The re-

port provides a general library of reference for the use of the

mineral industry and others interested,

and serves as a fore-

cast
For

trends

those

specifically

industries

interested

future

broad

investment.

bibliography

appended for

each

mineral

substance.

hoped

that

this

paper and the bibliography will stimulate research toward the

improvement and refinement of Florida mineral

products

suiting in the establishment of special

an industrial netw
fuller exploitation

plants to

rork utilizing the State's

will

the end that

raw products to a

be built in Florida.

R.O.V

1943

Florida Geological Survey

Tallahasse

Florida.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The Florida Geological Survey cooperates with the United
States Bureau of Mines in obtaining statistics on the mineral

production output and value in Florida.

The writer has used

the Bureau of Mines data freely and has supplemented them

with

data

obtained

through

generous

help

Florida

producers in response to

requests for information.

Many

producers

and interested

persons

have

kindly

sub-

mitted photographs, and where these have been used as illus-

trations in this report the use i

gratefully acknowledged.

Contents

~Foreword ................
Acknowledgments
Introduction ..........
Production by sub
Production by cowl
Transportation ......
Total mineral prodi

Land fori
Structure
Oil and
Florida
Aim

Florj

'ms

and g(

*stances ...................................................... .... .......................
cities ........................................-.......... .... ... ... ...........................

action for Florida since 1900 .... ..............................
(ology ............................................................................

gas ................ ............... ............... ....................................................
m mineral products in agriculture ..... ................................................
is and practices of soil conservation ........................................

Soil building allowance
ida mineral resources
Mineral pigments ......
Occurrence in Fl<
Mining ............. ...
Hardpan ...............
Clay and clay product

(e

............................a.... ........ ............a. ...asa a a a....
a.a.....-....-.a.c.-a.a..... p....... S......5 0. 55 5...a..........S.............a.....5

)rida

.a a .. .a.aas ..a...-.* .... ....5*..*.a.....a.a.a......... .....
.....p.5.. 5...a.p ...5.... P.....-..S aa ..5 ....50.0....aa....a.a-.a......... ....

ts ....

Page
7
7
15
16
18
19
20
23
28
31
34
35
35
37
37
38
40
S41
S43

Types of clay ............................................a...................-........-
Kaolin ..................... .............................. ..................................
Bleaching clay ........................................ ........................
Other clay ....................................................
Production and m market ............................................................
Cem ent ........................... .... ................................ ....... ............................
Diatom ite .............................. c--a .........................................

Description
Mining and
Occurrence
Uses ...........
Marketing .
Production
t and muck
Description
Distribution

processing ...............

..a..-.a............... -..-....-.a....a.........-.... ..... .....5.....a..a... a..a..-a .......a.a....a.
.....a.a..5.P ..- a .p.as ... .......a5 C ..S aa .a.aa .a .a ... aS .. 5....a. a- a.a ... ..- aa.......CS a. a.a

........... -. aa.s. ap.s...- -.a-.p a- a. .s. .s.a ..... ... -a...as.5.5..5..c- .a a ..a a5 .s a .......5 w a.s .
*.-a-------------------.-.-a a-.aa.-...........a........ ...........55........ 5......-------------..........
sa -a *p Cas s a- -S Css aas SS ....a a a a 5a a aa Ssa aas- 5* *5 SS

O origin ................................................
Chemical changes in the formation
U ses ....................................................
Mining and production .....................
shed stone ...........................................
Introduction .....................................
Types of crushed stone in Florida

Expan
Uses

of peat ............. .............
*saa...c.......a.... a....... -a-a. a.a.-.-a.a.-.aaS.a..

-...S .a.a................S...........a.......-.
..a.-.............. ... ..a ce.........a.a.........
.......................... aa ......... -aa....

sion and opening new quarries ....................................
a.pa..C..... 5.......s....a.a..........S........... .... .............-........... s.a........... ........spa

Concrete aggregate
Road base material
Railroad ballast ....
Florida East Cc
Atlantic Coast
Seaboard Air I

oast Railway ....................................
Line Railroad Company ...............
ine Railway .................................

R iprap ........................... .. .. ....
O their uses p... ... ........ a. ...........-...............a... ... .........a

CONTENTS--( Continued)

Florida mineral resources-(contir
Lim estone ..................................
Introduction ...................
Kinds and origin ..............
Coquina ......................
Oolitic limestone
Marl
Dolomite or magnesi
Travertine ..................
Cave limestone depo:

Page

......... .... .......... ....m~ ooIw w~ ................. ..OO..
... ... .. ...- ... .. . .a ... .. ... .. ... ..... )111111..
... ... .. ... a ... ... .. ... ... .. .... a... a .. ..
* a... ... .. aa . a... a aa a... ... .. B-a -a *a. ..a a- aa ..
.............. a a 11 1 .111... . . .. . aa. .a. .aa.

limestone

sits

a-
a

Loose, granular limestone
Crystalline limestone ... ...
Distribution .......

Mining .................................
Limestone processing .....
Lime processing ...............
Quarry problems
Uses .....................................
Markets and production .
Dolomite and dolomitic limest

Description
Mining and
Uses ...........
Production
Coquina .............
Shells, produced
water lakes
M arl ...................
Distribution
Uses ...........
Sand and gravel
Definition .
Composition
Classification
Uses- .......
Building
Groutinj
Paving
Molding

1060QQQQQB 6 OQ OgIm6 O Q
i.. ........ ... .... .. ...........

S.. C .* 4.... ........ .... ...... ...... .... .. a ...
.... ...... .... ... a .....- ....a .... ......

* a a -- a* a aa. --aeqa1a a -a eq.... -C C a aa a.. -
.... ... C a... ... ... a a a .....a. aC- a a ...a .. a
* a- -a a a aa. aa C* ** .... a aa aa aa.- -- .a -a --
....... .... ... ..11111)1...a.. aa- C a.. a .

... a-......C * a a C a a.a. a a a a a .. ...
....a a ... a aa ...... ... .. a a- a ..... a... ..

tone

and occurrence
transportation

and marketing

............. C. C.......... ... aa..... .......... ...... a-a.. .
a a a .. .. *a- a a . aa a . aa aa a ..... aa -a a a..
...a a- .. a a -.a C-- a ... a .. a- .. a- aa ...a aa aa

* .. .... a ... .... .... -c- ..... -....-------------- -

from oyster bars, Indian mounds and fresh-
* aa -a * - a a - .. . e-a w e a a a a e a B a e a e s a. a a a a a a a C a ..... a.
a.a .. .. C- a- -.. a- a-.*.. ..a a a .. .. aa a* aaa .. aa aa.a -- ..

and origin ........ ...............................................

aggregate ............................................................
Sand ......................................................................
aggregate ..............................................................
sand .............................

Glass sand
Engine sand
Abrasive sat
Blast sand
Filter sand a
Fire or furn
Ceramic qua
Fill material

Filler
Railroad
Other
Mining anm
Tests and
Uses in Fl
Marketing
Pmrndlinnn

nd 1

ind gravel .......... ............ .............................

;rtz .................. aaaaaaaaaa................. a aaaa.. .....a
1

sand
id ballad

st ZZZZZZZJZZZZZZZZZ.

and special uses
d preparation ..
properties
orida ... .................
and prices ........

i 4 ft

a.aa .

.

I

. .

CONTENTS--(Continued)

Florida mineral resources-(continued)
B bottled w after ................................... ............. ....... .......... ............
P hosphate ................. .. ... ................ .......... ... ... ...... .....................
Introduction .......................................................... ....

Types and descriptions .... ............ ... ......
Land pebble phosphate .....................
Hard rock phosphate .......................
Soft rock phosphate ...........................
River pebble phosphate ...................
Distribution and occurrence ....'..............
O rigin ..........................................................

Estimates of reserves ............
M inning ........................................
Soft rock phosphate .....
Hard rock phosphate .....
Land pebble phosphate
Oil flotation recovery ..........
M marketing ................. ...................
U ses ................ .........................
Production ...............................

C m.m.m me m -. *. ..

Bibliography

. .me.....-.me em.*c.cce me....c...-c...
c.. ... -.-..*-.. -...--.-....---...... -

* m. ec.e.m.ee..c...m....c.cmc..mm.
a Q60Om. O6OI*O 0 IQ*Iw l on.4 w o1

..... ..... m ..m ..m ......C m e.. cc m ..mC -. .. .. ..mm .. cm m m m
em...mmc..... m..............mmcm....... m....a..... me..c
*. ........m . -. m. m m ..m em .. .... m.... C......- mm .. .. m m
.... C ... ... ......... .mm. .mCm .... m .. m-C...............
mm m c.m. ... m.. m..m . .m m.m..m. ... C ...... m.m.. m .. a m. C m
. ..C...... ....mmmc m.. C9 mC .....m... ...... ......... .. ..
. ..........e....m.m. m. .......... C9m. C......C... c m C *
... ... Cc1mmm mm c .m m-----------m mm m -- m -m -m m m

m -C m m- m mm .m mc -m mm ...m. .. .m..m m. m m ..m m m C cm m C m -.m c.. m . .. m..mc ..

Appendix-Directory of Mineral producers for 1941-1942
Index ........................ ...... .........................................................

Page
146
148
148
149
149
151
152
152
153
154
158
159
159
161
162
166
169
171
172
177
. 185

ILLUSTRATIONS

Frontispiece-Aerial photograph of the Dunnellon Phosphate Min-
ing Company's hard rock phosphate mine, near Hernando,
Citrus County.

Figure
1

2
3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

Graph of total
1900-1941 ..........
Key map to the
Kaolin pit of th<
ley, Putnam Cot
Aerial view of tl
pany, near Quin
Fuller's earth m

Gadsden
Clay pit
County
Clay pit
County,
Air view
Tampa

County
of the

mi]

neral

Figures
production

Page

of Florida

for period

... .... .................. ........... ......... ......................... ......... 21
mineral resources of Florida ........................24-25
e United Clay Mines Corporation at Cross-
inty ................. ....... ........ ............. ....... 46
he fuller's earth plant of the Floridin Com-
cy, Gadsden County ....................................... 47
line of the Floridin Company, near Quincy,

Taylor Brick Company, Molino, Escambia

of the Florida Portland Cement Company, Citrus
about 60 miles north of Tampa ......... ..........................
, of the Florida Portland Cement Company plant at
*.mC.*.......... c c.....m. a........e...... C m....m c......m..- C ..* e....c..c .......-..e.m .... m .....c....... .

Loaded cars of materials used in the production of cement,
Florida Portland Cement Company, Tampa -. .......................
Diatoms from a deposit 15 miles south of Clermont, Lake
County. 1. Surirella oblonga Ehrenberg. x 929; 2. Gen-
eral view of strewn material, x 100; 3. Pinnularia major
(Klitzing). x 488; 4. Pinnularia gibba Erhenberg. x 592
(from McLeod Basin, Santa Rosa County); 5. Pinnularia
'nirid.to (Nftfanh1 v 19Af

Figure
14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24
25

26

27

28

29

30

31

32
33

34

35

36
37

38

39

ILLUSTRATIONS- (Continued)

Figures
Limestone Formation in the Florida Caverns State Park,
M arianna, Jackson County .... ................................. ............ .......
Cable pulled dump car commonly used in the limestone pits
of F lorida ............................................. ........ ................. ............... ...
Pit of The McDonald Corporation, near Brooksville, Her-
nando County........................................
Building block quarry of Richard Hartsfleld in the Mari-
anna limestone, Jackson County .. .................... .. .. ................. .......
Building blocks sawed from the Marianna limestone at
Marianna, Jackson County, by Limestone and Lumber Com-
pany ..................................................................................................
Limestone pit of the Miami Lime and Chemical Company,
M iam i, D ade County ......................................................................
Operating equipment of the Florida Dolomite Company,
near Sarasota, Sarasota County .................................................
The Castillo de San Marcos National Monument (Old Fort
Marion), St. Augustinie, St. Johns County ................................
Fort Matanzas Monument, 14 miles south of St. Augustine,
St. Johns County ................. ... ............. .......... .............................
Indurated, cross-bedded coquina in an abandoned beach
ridge, Flagler Beach, Flagler County ........... ............... ...........
Shelter and band shell built of coquina at Daytona Beach ....
Dry sand filled valley of the intermittent Allapaha River,
north of Jasper, Hamilton County ............................................
The Ruth Jeannett, a tug used by the Florida Gravel Com-
pany, Chattahoochee, Gadsden County ......................................
Dredge, washer, and screens complete on one barge of the
Florida Gravel Company, Chattahoochee, Gadsden County
The Mammoth Sand Company pit and washer, :3 miles
northeast of Lake Wales, Polk County ...................... ...............
Sand pit of the Tallahassee Sand Company, Inc., near Talla-
hassee, Leon County ......................................................................

Sand at the United Clay Mines Corporation, Crossley,
nam County -.............. ........... ........... .. ...... ............. ...................
Soft phosphate prepared for drying at Soil Builders',
plant, Hernando, Citrus County ................. .......................
Typical flow sheet of Florida hard rock washer ...........
Typical quarry operation in the land pebble phosphate

Put-
c......en
Inc.,

. ..eld,
field,

Page

92

97

97

99

99

101

109

112

113

114
115

124

129

129

130

131

by Swift and Company Fertilizer Works, near Agricola,
Polk County .... ......................................................................
Washer of the land pebble phosphate field, Swift and Com-
pany Fertilizer Works, Agricola, Polk County ........................
Log washers of the type used in the land pebble phosphate
field, Swift and Company Fertilizer Works, Agricola, Polk
County ................................ ...........................................................
Typical flow sheet of Florida land pebble phosphate washer
Rotary drier recently installed by the International Min-
erals and Chemical Corporation, Mulberry, Polk County ....
Part of the table feed section at International Minerals and
Chemical Corporation Flotation Plant No. 6, near Pem-
broke in Peace River Valley ........... ............... ................
Graph of the production of phosphate for the period 1900
through 1941 ..................................... ........ ... ..................................

Table
1
2

TABLES

Mineral production in Florida for

Mineral production,

Approximate

mineral

by counties,

1940 and 1941

during 1940 and 1941 ........

tonnage distribution for shipments of Florida

products during

1940 and 1941

Geologic formations of Florida .................................
Analyses of ocher and limonitic sands of Florida
Analyses of Florida clays ...........................................

Value of

1937

clay and

clay products produced in Florida since

Page
17
18

20
29
39
44

Characteristics of Florida diatomite

Production of peat, muck, and diatomite for 1940 and 1941
Abrasion and accelerated soundness tests made by the Divi-
sion of Tests, State Road Department of Florida ........ .... .......
Unit weights of coarse aggregates made by the Division of
Tests, State Road Department of Florida .....................--.........
Chemical analyses of limestone for use as road base courses

Comparative

values

of different

on the Florida East Coast Railway

materials

used

as ballast

Production
Production

of flint since
of limestone

1935

by use in 1940 and 1941 ....

Production of dolomitic limestone for 1940 and 1941
Production of coquina for 1940 and 1941 ....................

Figures
mounds

for shell

, produced

from

oyster

bars

*. .. -.....

Indian

Grade terms of plastic particles

Apparent

specific

gravities,

unit

weights,

absorption

percentages of various concrete aggregates produced in

State

Average
1940 an(

of Florida

sales prices of
1941 ................

various

sands

gravels

sold in

Production of sand and gravel in 1940 and 1941 ....... ............
Production of water in 1940 and 1941 .........................................
Production of phosphate in 1940 and 1941 ...............................

FLORIDA

MINERAL

INDUSTRY,

1940 and

Robert O.

1941

Vernon

INTRODUCTION

Although

state

has

Florida
produced

is not

generally

in excess

considered

461,000,000 dollars

a mining

worth

of mineral products since 1900.

The total value from mineral

output

during

$4,980,584

over

1941
that

was

$21,112,277

1940

, which

being

was

increase

$16,131,693.

This

increase is due to greater domestic demands principally from

military

uses.

Nineteen

mineral

substances

were

produced

in Florida in 1940

and

1941

, including the

various usages of

the different

clays,

and

counties

contributed

State's

totals.

The mineral resources of Florida are largely non-metallics

exception

being the

heavy

minerals

ilmenite

rutile

and

zircon

recovered from

beach sands along the

East

Coast

Riz

Mineral

Company.

These

sands

have

been

worked

irregularly since

1916 and substantial

deposits have recently

been

prospected in

western Florida and in Duval County

latter
time.

is expected

Ilmenite

in production

within

a reasonable

rutile and zircon have been classified as either

strategic

or critical

minerals

by the

War

Production Board

and

this

added

interest

has

centrations of these minerals

phate

has

been

mined

and leads the State

stimulated

in Florida

in Florida since

in the value of

prospecting f
beach sands.

its discovery in

output of minerals,

con-

Phos-
1888,
being

48.0 per cent of the total value of mineral production for

and

48.5

cent

total

value

production for

1940
1941.

The quantity

phosphate

increased from 2,678,784 long

tons in 1939 to 2,847,481 long tons in 1940 and 3,367,797 long

tons

1941.

The

value

this

phosphate

decreased

from

- ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ I 1 a -- a- u,- a fll

1I

_ L_

1_ _

I

J.

~hln

nnr

FLORIDA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY-BULLETIN TWENTY-FOUR

Limestone ranks second in value of output, its

sale realiz-

ing $6,862,966 in 1941 as compared to $5,093,677 in 1940, the
increase being due almost entirely to the use of crushed lime-

stone
State.

construction

Sand and gravel

military

bases

throughout

were likewise used more extensively

1941

than

1940,

selling

$1,161,675

compared

$743,928.

With clay, coquina, dolomitic limestone,

diatomite

muck

, peat,

sand

, gravel,

shells,

and

water

showing

creases,
second

industry.

total

highest

This

production

yearly

1941

output

compares

was

history

with

output

$21,112,

277

, the

mineral

$23,435,804

1920

and

$20,724,487

1926,

both

which

were

post-war-

boom years.
Production of Substances
The following table shows the quantity and value of min-

eral

substances

produced

Florida

during

1940

and

1941,

as compiled from the United States Bureau

of Mines mineral

statistics, and from a survey of the Florida mineral industry

by the Florida Geological Survey

both

part-time and full-time employees

The approximate

is given for

total
each

dustry

extreme

right column.

Figures

on production

and

value

those

reported

operator

and

include

estimates

made

such

operator

where

book

records

were

not kept or were not available.

Table 1-Mineral Production in Florida for

1940

and 1941

Product

Clay

Brick and

Cement,
kaolin,
Coquina 1
Dolomite

Flint

tile 1 ......-.....
fuller's earth,
d pottery 1 -......

(agricultural)

rock

I Limestone 1
.4

. .. .. .... .. ... ...

Diatomite, muck 1 and peat

Phosphate

Sand 1
Shells 1
Water I
Totals

gravel

..... ..... . .-- . ... ... .... .. ... -

.. .... .. ..... ... ..... - . .. .. .. ... ...
1IanII,

~*I1(~111111

1940

Amount

37,683,157

units

117,508 short tons

.19,888 cubic

68,777

yds.

short tons

80,814 short tons
3,726,218 short tons

34,622

cubic

2,847,481 long

yds.
tons

1,040,365 short tons

230,050 cubic

1,729,942

gallons

Value

$ 1,666,170
430,669

1,235,501
24,264

174,709
5,093,677
98,052

7,747,395
743,928
198,821
161,773
$16,131,693

1941

Amount

32,027,668 units

111,579 short tons
27,073 cubic yds.
86,453 short tons
48,600 short tons
5,266,148 short tons

56,156
3,367,797

cubic yds.

long

tons

1,613,346 short tons

308,217

cubic yds.

1,824,498 gallons

Value

$ 1,825,570
336,227

1,489,343
30,083
279,650
113,385
6,862,966
125,548
10,239,778
1,161,675
304,592
169,030
$21,112,277

1 Contains a few values that were estimated
2 Estimated from the number of barrels of c

by the
:ement.

producer,

where no

books were kept.

3 Contains an estimate of the limestone used in cement,
stone that was sold as concrete aggregate and building stone.

based on the number of barrels, and includes the

* Tonnage includes an estimate of the tonnage of art and dimensional stone, reported in cubic feet.

Mineral

FLORIDA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY-BULLETIN TWENTY-FOUR

Production by Counties

Table 2-Comparative

Values of Mineral Products,

During 1940 and 1941

Counties,

Value
County Mineral Products
1940 | 1941

Alachua

Bay

Bradford
vard

Broward

Calhoun

Bre-

Clay

Citrus

Dade

Duval

Escambia

Flagler,
and

Hamilton
lendry

Gadsden

Hernando

Hillsborough

Indian

River

Lafayette

Jackson

Lake

Lee and Leon

Levy

Manatee

386,406

9,341

96,172

156,569

910,977

1,148,929

130,560

204,200

1,566

444,300

2,570,853

867,428

16,250

8,249

55,012

85,197

410,601

41.274

428,172

50,400

65,183*

129,608

53,577

1,194,659

1.391.535

204,509

208,954

265,617

606,050

3,141,289

1,589,442

133,702

6,616

59,650

128,179

480,201

39.644

Flint rock, limestone,
phosphate clay, wa-
ter.

Peat,

sand

Coquina, n
water.

Limestone,

Brick c

Clay, di
stone,

, gravel.

ruck

, sand,

water.

lay, wE

olomite,
hard

phosphate,

phatic c
Limestone

Coquina,
water.

Brick

clay,

Coquina,

sand,

Brick
earth

Limestone.

Land
phate

water.

Sand,

,lay.
. sand

sand,

clay,
sand,

Lter.

lime-
rock

pho

Wa-

shells,

pottery
gravel.

limestone,

brick

clay,

clay.

fuller's

, sand, gravel.

pebble
, sand,

phos-
shells,

limestone.

Limestone,

gravel,
Diatomite
mound
Limestone
shells

Dolomite,

Dnnlomite

sand,

brick

clay.

, sand,
shells.
, sand,

limestone.

limnatnnp

I

I

I

FLORIDA MINERAL INDUSTRY

Table

(continued)

; Value
County Mineral Products
1940 I 1941

Orange 99,712 107,674 Peat, sand.

Palm Beach, Pasco 71,795 76,024 Limestone, water.

Pinellas 34,412 60,235 Coquina, sand, water.

Polk 6,869,869 8,596,425 Land pebble phos-
phate, sand, phos-
phatic clay.
Putnam 330,277 421,918 Kaolin, peat, sand,
water.
Saint Johns 6,398 10,388 Coquina, sand, water.

Santa Rosa, Semi- 82,145 236,198 Flint rock, limestone,
nole, Sumter pottery clay, water.

Sarasota 60,884 103,885 Coquina, dolomite,
limestone, sand,
water.
Suwannee, Taylor, 39,856 29,502 Brick clay, sand, wa-
Washington ter,

Volusia 32,737 46,437 Coquina, sand, shells,
muck, water.
Unapportioned 45,080* 130,901 Li-mestone, sand.

Total values $16,131,693 $21,112,277

Summary:

almost
These
Citrus,

three

Polk C
times

counties

countyy

led in value

the value

are followed

Hillsborough,

counties for

Marion,

of output for

for Hernando

order

Gadsden

County,

of production

, Levy,

both

years,

the next

value

Alachua,

1940, and this order is the same for 1941,

with

being

highest.
y Dade,
Putnam

the excep-

tion that Hillsborough moved up to third place.

Includes the heavy minerals produced from beach sands.

t County totals
less than three, to
operators.

are grouped,

where

avoid revealing production

the number of producers

total

figures of the individual

Transportation

The

during
roads

mineral
1940 and

handling

substances

1941

57.8

were

that

were

produced

shipped largely

cent

total

-by rail,,
tonnage

Florida
the' ailr-

1940,

4 f\ A 4

Srd A

A

n.3 on - - En Tu,.. nin ,~ A ~nu ne*- a la--

a

nn~ YIH ^

m,,i,,

_.- I -3 I

put

~U, YI illn

'I C~ AU

h j

FLORIDA GEOLOGICAL'SURVEY4-BULLETIN TWENTY-FOUR

refining

plant,

or frdm 'mine

to export

depots.

The

proximate

tonnage

distribution. for

1940

and

1941

shown

the following chart:

Table 3-Approxitnate Tonnage Distribfition Mineral Products

1940

1941

Total S
:* Short
1940
1941

shipments
tons *:
8,602,012
11,422,337

Railroad
4,973,552
7,169,448

Truck:

1,593,144
2,620,920

Waterway
938,057
1,083,751

Unapportioned
1,097,259
548,236:

Includes
diatomite' and

estimates

of tonnages

dimension stone,

for water,

shells,

does not include

peat,

muck,

tonnages

brick and tile.

Total Mineral Production for Florida Since 1900

The

following

production

graph

Florida

gives
year

total

since

value

1900.

The

mineral

valhe

limestone
products,

and
also

phosphate,

graphed.

two

From

most

important

a value

mineral

$128,381

1900,

limestone

production

increased slowly until

1922

when

industry

rapidly

expanded

during

post-war

period,

reaching the all-time

stone

output

industry

dropping

was

high
very

as early

$7,277,806

sensitive
as 1927.

when

1926.

The

lime-

depression,

building

and

road

construction sharply

declined.

The

production

phosphate

during

period

1900

1931
when

increased steadily up

the first

exports were almost stopped,

and

years of World War

production

depended

largely on domestic demands.

Following 1918,

foreign buyers

rushed
boom

replenish

sky-rocketed

their
sales,

stocks

and

reaching

abnormal

peak

post-war

phosphate

produition'in 1920 at $19,464,362,

after which the production

returned

normall.

Phosphate

sales

increased

steadily

through the early years of the depression and not until 1931

did sales

sharply

,decline.

The
1 Q. O tA

output

mineral

industry

increased

I
IQ2Rt who~n 1im~pq'nnA *fnrianpazt t-hf^ rnoflmnnn1

from

19nrvaQ.

in

__~~~~~~ U _i I~/_~_ _

*. t-t..* 1

4I I * -*| ^* f - ^ -
23,43^.804 ,. .t
.** -. .. .34*0
. .................... . . t .- .. 4

-- ANNUAL VALUE --

--~ -r ;- -* -* *-- - - at -'tff{ -
*
.OF .I12 2T
O .-2,4 ,48 20724, 487

MINERAL PRODUCTION .- -

IN I 9,464,362 \ '

FLORIDA 1900-1941 -

I TOTALI : .

F.

10,646,628 10,790,30
---- ---- L- --- -- ----/ -39,- ---
J7 -V9,563,084 | \ / \

\ I I! / /: 1
.---..-^ .^-J'- ^V-^ ^
--

S- ------ -- ---- --- ----- ---- ---- -
*

/~ / 4277,806

.035,010^ / J \ Y4.779,612

- - -. - -- - -2
^~~~~~~~ ZI.PHSHTE4.7229
1,^ //~~~~~~~ i __ l _____ L- -----

--

ti --. -

--I-

- -

LIMESTONE

--- -

a - I

- - -

- ---

* r U U *

S. -I

S**

- - -

- a - -

FLORIDA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY-BULLETIN TWENTY-FOUR

The

degree

which

a mineral

is commercial

depends

upon

market

demand,

which

turn

partly

controlled

by the availability and

degree of its competition

ultimate cost of

with related materials.

product and

Thus some

of the fine beach sands along the East Coast sell for concrete

aggregate,

waste

product

when

the
has

Lake

coarser

Wales

increased

sharper
district.

sale

sands
The
muck

discarded

availability

Brevard

County

and lowered

nando

County

Miami

ie value of
limestone

oolitic

peat

competes

limestone

only

Orange

County.

The

production

through

Her-

area

absorption

heavy

freight

charges,

and

Birmingham

slag

competi-

tion has decreased the margin

of profit of

each.

Population

insofar

centers of

as the

centers
location

population,

and

mineral

mineral

industries

producing

as the phosphate

industry

areas

has

related
develop
in Polk

County,
mineral

or where the growth of towns has locally stimulated

development

as Miami

has

Miami

oolitic

lime-

stone.

The mineral industry in Florida is exceeded in

tourist

trade

and

agriculture,

and

value only
geologist,

industrialist,

between

and

farmer

industries

agreed

will

benefit

that

each.

better

balance

achieving

this

balance the role of mineral resources in industry far exceeds

the annual value of

output, and the future of agriculture and

tourist

trade

depends

a large

extent

upon

future

of the mineral industry

For illustration

the limestone used

to build better roads to stimulate travel in Florida

greater

trade

farmer.

Materials

will result
industrial

housing and military

construction

peat,

limestone

and

dolo-

mite for soil conditioning

phosphate for chemicals,

fertilizer

and explosives; and white-burning clays for pottery are avail-

able in large quantities in the State.

One pinnacle of Florida

future

lies

produced

assembling

outside

State

these

raw

build

products
Florida

with

those

a diversified

;n Vicfrn;n 1 rtn +nvnrl7

4-ha n air#-nin4 aPf nrhrnh n1n1 h 1,t .-a4-nA^^ avlu

FLORIDA MINERAL INDUSTRY

unimproved

roads,1

and

different

railroads

operating

in Florida

with

a combined

track

mileage,

exclusive of

yard

tracks

5,371 miles.2

LAND

The

FORMS

surface of Florida

AND

GEOLOGY

largely made

a series

flat surfaces that ascend in a step-like pattern from the coast

toward

have

been

* interior.
produced

These
directly

step-like

changes

surfaces

in the

or terraces

elevation

level.

These

Pleistocene epoch,

changes

or ice

age,

were

and

very

were

active

world-wide

during

in effect

as terraces

have

been

reported

and

described

from

coastal

regions of scattered

portions of the

world.

(see Cooke,

1939

and

lated
well

Vernon

1942a

many

and

our

consider these

1942b)

deposits
features

Terraces
minerals

in some

so closely

that

would

detail.

Five such terraces have been described by Vernon

(1942a,

pp. 5-28)
cates that

in western

these

Florida

terraces

are

and

reconnaissance

present

over

work

whole

indi-
State.

Each terrace is represented by a deposition stage composed of

two

parts,

a coastwise

terrace and its contemporaneous

allu-

vial extensions up stream valleys.

The coastwise portions are

possibly

carpments,

marine
parallel

origin

as they

have

seaward

present coast, and have

facing

beach ridges

resting upon them in the position of the present Recent beach

ridge.

However

marine shells

have not been found in any of

these deposits except
has been questioned.

tinuous
present
such as
on the

patches
on both
natural

lowest so

that

their

marine

origin

Extensions up stream valleys are discon-

alluvium

sides
levees

lower alluvial

and

marked
streams.

rim

surfaces and

swamp

were

surfaces

Alluviation

streams

are

and

features
present

probably present on

The oldest of these terraces

is believed to be the landward

remnant

a delta

that

formerly

covered

most

Florida

S-.

I
,..i t:

O 0 O10 20

S- iA C

I ie
r --< o

S -- -. -
*I

----st

- -

30 40

IN MLS

FL

LEGEND

KEY MAP

DA TA FROM

PEBBLE PHOSPHATE
HARD AND SOFT ROCK PHOSPHATE

OR

TmT --

DA

MINERAL RESOURCES

- 42 SURVEY

OF MINERAL INDUSTRIES.

PHOSPHATIC AREAS COMPILED FROM MANSFIELD'S

"PHOSPHATE

LIMESTONE

DOLOMITE
FULLERS EARTH
KAOLIN
RARE MINERALS (ILMENITE,RUTILE,AND ZIRCON)
PEAT AND MUCK
BRICK AND POTTERY CLAY
MARL (U.FLc CEY)

RESOURCES

OF FLORIDA

," U. S. DEPARTMENT

OF THE INTERIOR, GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 934.

COOUINA

FWPROCERS

QUARRY LOCATIONS ARE SHOWN BY THE SYMBOt, a, FOLLOWED BYA
NUMER WHICH INDICATES THE TYPE OF MATERIAL. NUMBERS IN
PaRETHESES SHOW MORE THAN OdE QUARY WITHIN THE DESIGNATED
AREA, i. e., e-34) SYMBOIZES FOJUR LIMESTONE QUARRIES IN THE
AA DESIGNATED BY THE BLACK DOT.

I- PEBBLE PHOSPHATE
2 HARD OR SOFT ROCK PHOSPHATE
3- LIMESTONE
4-OLOMITE
5 FULL EARTH
6-KACLIN
7 RARE MINERALS (ILMENITE, RUTILE, AND ZIRCON
8 SILICEOS AGGREGATE
S-SAND
G- MEL

I / 1 5 I at
"
B V FAm

7-!
iJ

2

I

4
(1

*II

3.
Vs
-J
'1

I eS

I SR

EE INSERT

AREAS

OF" POTENTIAL

COwMERCIAL

FCrTICO

eslm

S

I

S-.

I
,..i t:

O 0 O10 20

S- iA C

I ie
r --< o

S -- -. -
*I

----st

- -

30 40

IN MLS

FL

LEGEND

KEY MAP

DA TA FROM

PEBBLE PHOSPHATE
HARD AND SOFT ROCK PHOSPHATE

OR

TmT --

DA

MINERAL RESOURCES

- 42 SURVEY

OF MINERAL INDUSTRIES.

PHOSPHATIC AREAS COMPILED FROM MANSFIELD'S

"PHOSPHATE

LIMESTONE

DOLOMITE
FULLERS EARTH
KAOLIN
RARE MINERALS (ILMENITE,RUTILE,AND ZIRCON)
PEAT AND MUCK
BRICK AND POTTERY CLAY
MARL (U.FLc CEY)

RESOURCES

OF FLORIDA

," U. S. DEPARTMENT

OF THE INTERIOR, GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 934.

COOUINA

FWPROCERS

QUARRY LOCATIONS ARE SHOWN BY THE SYMBOt, a, FOLLOWED BYA
NUMER WHICH INDICATES THE TYPE OF MATERIAL. NUMBERS IN
PaRETHESES SHOW MORE THAN OdE QUARY WITHIN THE DESIGNATED
AREA, i. e., e-34) SYMBOIZES FOJUR LIMESTONE QUARRIES IN THE
AA DESIGNATED BY THE BLACK DOT.

I- PEBBLE PHOSPHATE
2 HARD OR SOFT ROCK PHOSPHATE
3- LIMESTONE
4-OLOMITE
5 FULL EARTH
6-KACLIN
7 RARE MINERALS (ILMENITE, RUTILE, AND ZIRCON
8 SILICEOS AGGREGATE
S-SAND
G- MEL

I / 1 5 I at
"
B V FAm

7-!
iJ

2

I

4
(1

*II

3.
Vs
-J
'1

I eS

I SR

EE INSERT

AREAS

OF" POTENTIAL

COwMERCIAL

FCrTICO

eslm

S

I

FLORIDA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY-BULLETIN TWENTY-FOUR

large

part

sediment

underlying

later

terraces.

The

youngest

depositional

stage

represented

present

flood
sand

plains
dunes

along
along

streams

coast

and

lines.

Recent

Each

deposit

beaches

and

making

terrace

delimited

erosional

escarpments,

one

rising

above and one descending from

These

today

terrace

had

levels and

level

changes

the surface of the

deposits
always

would not

been

terrace.
separable

same

mag-

nitude.

Fortunately the sum of sea level changes throughout

the Pleistocene has been a successive lowering of sea level, so
that today older terraces are higher and descend to lower and

younger

terraces

in steps.

The

progressive

lowering

sea

level i

most easily explained by a continuous uplift of Florida,

probably

resulting from

compensation

overloading

Mississippi

Delta

sediment,

although

Cooke

(Vernon,

1942a

believed that the progressively lowered sea level

was due to the formation of oceanic deeps combined with pro-
gressively smaller deglaciations of the land.

While

Vernon

(1942)

has described five terraces in

west-

Florida

, Cooke

(1939)

has

described

least

eight

the whole State.

The problem to

be considered in

this paper

is not whether there are five or eight surfaces in Florida

but

rather
Florida

are

understand

mineral

largely

their

resources.

depositional,

relationship

then

these

as interpreted

terrace
Vernon

origin

features
(1942a,

1942b),

and

interpreted

partly

Cooke

depositional

(1939,

and

deposit

partly

that

erosional
underlies

and

forms

each

terrace

more properly
sidered. Thus

Pleistocene
, large con

same
than

nmerci

age

as the

Pliocene as
al deposits

surface

, and

Previously

peat,

con-

muck,

sand
marl

and

gravel,

, pottery clays,

diatomite,

flint

boulders

kaolin

, limestone,

and phosphate would be closely associated

with the origin of these terraces and are possibly of the same

age.

these

For

this

terraces

reason
would

a more

detailed

advisable

state-wide

as a knowledge

study

their

nrTioamrn Qn i relnTrr n-F fnrr fn ritinr

ixrrlrl fnoili-t a *th1w l~PvPlnn-

FLORIDA MINERAL INDUSTRY

cestral
muck,

lakes

diatomite,

concentrating

and

source

they

sand

Florida's

have

been

commercial

commercial

locally
quality,

peat,

instrumental

Lake

Louise in Lake County.
While these sinks of Florida are the result of the localized
solution by natural acids of the limestone that underlies most

of the

Florida surface

depth

which

this

solution

was

effective

was

certainly

increased

fluctuations

ground-water table throughout the Pleistocene epoch.

Thus,

decreasing

level

lowered

ground-water

levels

that

deep sink

were formed.

The

Recent and latest

rise

level

elevated

ground-water

surface

present

position

, so that

today

large

part

these

sinks

are

effect drowned sink holes.

The

Ocala

oldest

limestone

rock

that

and

outcrops
youngest

Florida

Recent

Eocene

floodplain

and beach

neath

deposit.
surface

Older rock

rock

from

are known

cuttings

taken

present

from

wells.

These older rocks are not important economically

except for

possible

sources

, gas,

and

water

so that

they

considered
commercial

fully

this

production

report.

derived

The

from

large

part

Pleistocene

Florida
or Plio-

cene rocks which are distinguished at the surface by terraces,

mentioned above.

In these rocks are included the Melbourne

bone 1
Miami

bed

Fort

oolite

, Ke

Thompso:
y Largo

formation,

limestone

Anastasia

formation

Charlton formation

Cit-

ronelle

formation

Caloosahatchee

marl

, Alachua

formation

and Bone

Valley

western Florida.

gravel,
These

and

terrace

beds contain

sand

and

commercial

gravel

deposits of

phosphate,

flint boulders

, sand and gravel,

pottery

clay,

brick

clay

kaolin

, coquina,

marl

limestone

, dolomite

muck

, peat,

diatomite

, oyster shells and sandstone.

Florida

limestone

Tampa

Miami

oonlitic

commercial
le Suwannee
formation. t

il mestone.

limestone
limestone.

Key

Fuller

comes

from

Marianna

Largo
earth

limestone,

is mined

Ocala

limestone,

and

from

beds

~~V-~~~~---~~~ ------- I-- -~-

FLORIDA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY-BULLETIN TWENTY-FOUR

age

unknown

but

could

Pleistocene.

Shells from

oyster bars,

and peat; muck,

and diatolmite from lake deposits

produced

though

lower

partially
portions

from

Recent

accumulations

these. deposits

are

probably

Pleistocene in age.
The following chart of

geological formations is that

gen-

erally
writer

accepted
considers

Florida

beds

Geological

younger

Survey

than

but

Miocene

equivalents of the sand and gravel deposits of western Florida

as all

distinguished

terrace

features,

and

therefore

they are more properly Pleistocene in age with the possibility

only the oldest being Pliocene,

as has

been interpreted

the writer

(1942a)

STRUCTURE3

In all studies dealing with water supplies,

artesian aquifers,

especially from

and with the possibilities of the production

oil and gas both minor and major structures must be con-

sidered.
anticlines

structures

dips,

and

Major

and
are
more

structures

large

more

readily

those

large

diWnwarpings

limited

serve

extent

as traps

oil and as local recharge areas for artesian

upwarpmgs

synclines.

usually

with

commercial

water.

Minor
steeper

pools
These

minor structures are sought by the oil geologist,

and include

salt domes
lapping of

, wedges of porosity, faults,

discordant dips,

sediment over unconformities and

over-

buried land

masses,

small folds

rock

and

many

others.

Some

these have

been

discussed

by Campbell

(1941a)

The

regional

structure of Florida

is that

a south

dip-

pmng

monocline

modified

large

"Ocala

uplift"

northwest

uplift"

Peninsula

in northwest

, and 1
Florida

smaller

giving,

"Chipley-Marianna

a structural

section

along the axis of the Peninsula,

the appearance of an arrested

anticline.

The

regional

structure

further

complicated

28

Its

Table

4-Geological

Formations

Pt -r -~ I .

Recent

Pleistocene
or Pliocene i-

MViocene

Oligocene

Eocene

Upper
Cretaceous
Lower
Cretaceous

Jurassic ?
Triassic ?
Paleozoic ?

Bay,

beach,

Formation or Giroup

floodplain and lake

deposits,

unnamed.

Melbourne bone

Relative

stratigraphic

positions are not fully
known.

Terrace deposits, possibly contemporaneous with
the Pleistocene-Pliocene formations listed above.
(see Vernon, 1942 a)
Choctawhatchee formation Buckingham marl
Alum Bluff group Hawthorn formation

Tampa formation
Suwannee limestone Vicksburg group in part
Marianna limestone VICKSBURG group
Ocala limestone Jackson group
Claiborne group
Wilcox group
Midway group

Series

Limestone,

flint,

dolomitic

limestc

Undifferentiated deposits report
cuttings.

: Fort Thompson formation
Anastasia formation
Miami oolitic limestone
Key Largo limestone
Charlton formation
Citronelle formation
Alachua formation
Bone Valley gravel
Caloosahatchee marl

Mineral Resources
Clay diatomite, gravel, muck, o3
shell, peat, phosphate and san<
Vertebrate remains.
Limestone, marl.
Coquina, sand.
Limestone.
Limestone.
Limestone ?
Clay, gravel, sand, kaolin.
Phosphate.
Phosphate.
Marl, limestone.
Coquina, clay, diatomite, dolor
flint, gravel, kaolin, limestone,
oyster and mound shell, sand,
Clay, marl.
Clay, fuller's earth, limestone,
stone.
Clay, limestone.
Limestone.
Limestone.

of Florida

FLORIDA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY-BULLETIN TWENTY-FOUR

tilting

westward

Florida

being

a somewhat

remote

limb

the active

geosyncline

about the Mississippi Delta.

The ob-

V1oUS

structures

present

State

may

tabulated

follows:

Regional
Southward monoclinal dip
Westward tilting
Major

Ocala

uplift

Marianna-Chipley uplift

Synclinal flexures associated with
and Marianna-Chipley uplifts
Minor
Unconformities
Buried land masses

the Ocala

a structural

section

plotted

along

center

Florida

Peninsula

from

Georgia

line

keys,

beds
Polk

would 1
County

almost

from

horizontal

which

point

vicinity

they

south

Bartow

about

9 feet

mile.

However,

portion

this

section

northern Peninsula

does

along the

not represent the dip.

The

local

strike

regional

beds

here

has

and
been

modified

uplift

elongate
western

parallel
portion

folds

and

made

a more

Ocala

or less

paralleling

synclinal flexure in the eastern portion.

The axis of the Ocala

uplift

trends

northwest-southeast

and

folding

is present

from Madison County south to Hardee County

The synclinal

flexure is evident as far south as Seminole County where the

axis

trend
trend

axis

parallels

Ocala

uplift.

northeast-southwest

However,

northeastern

Florida

where

creases south

gentle

pitch

Jacksonville

and

then

syncline
flattens

abruptly

north

of the

city

. The dip of the strata on the limbs of the folds probably

does not exceed 15 feet per mile and 10 feet per mile is nearer
the average.

In western Florida

the original regional

the same as that of the Penins

, W

dip was probably

gentle south dip with the

FLORIDA MINERAL INDUSTRY

plicate the regional structure.

is present in Florida,

Only the nose of the anticline

this portion being known as the Chipley-

Marianna

uplift.

evident

Holmes

Jackson

, Walton,

and

Washington

counties.

The

axis

both

anticline

and

syncline

trend

northeast-southwest

into

Georgia,

and

strata

syncline
pitches

on the

lies

gently

limbs

as much

east

southwest

as 20

feet

Chipley-Marianna

across

Madison

mile.
uplift

Jefferson

The
and
and

Wakulla counties.

Minor

structures

unconformities

possible

present

significance

rocks

are

Florida.

known
uncon-

formity can be defined as a buried surface of erosion,

although

rare

types

formities

are

other
known

origins

are

known.

present at the

Regional

base

uncon-
Upper

Cretaceous

and

Ocala

Florida.

The

unconformity at the base of the

Upper Cretaceous is

import-

because

hides

geology

older

rock

that

Ocala is important as this

plane

well

and
may

bed is
Ocala

or may

the common structural data

limestone

true

top,

as encountered

and

structures

are

merely reflected by this

bed and are

not actual.

addition

to unconformities

, Campbell

(1939a,

1940)

and Gunter

(1923,

1928)

, have

described

land

masses

now

covered

younger

rocks

and

geologists

view

such

structure

with

confident hopefulness.

OIL

AND

GAS

Florida ha

never

had a commercial

or gas well.

Va-

rious

attempts

discovery

have

been

made,

considerable

impetus

having

been received recently

by the discovery

new

oil field near

Jackson

, Mississippi

and from

encourage-

ment

by the Florida Legislature with

the appropriation

$50,000 fee to be paid for the first commercial well discovered

Florida.4

The

possibility

production

petroleum

Florida has been discussed and well logs described in various

publications

which

reference

can

made.

Levorsen

FLORIDA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY-BULLETIN TWENTY-FOUR

(1941,

1-7)

picked

Florida

as a possible

future

during State not on any positive evidence but rather

because'

the meager

knowledge of the

petroleum geology of the State

does

oppose

presence.

likewise

knew

that

State is underlain by thick sediments that could: provide both

source

been

beds and

reported

that

reservoirs;
favorable

that

and

petroleum

gas shows

geology

have

could

present,

though hidden

under regional

unconformities known

to be present in the State
form of wedges possibly

and that differing porosities in the

hidden in

the rocks may provide oil

reservoir traps.

Florida

's importance as a potential producer has increased

with
East

new

Coast

demands

and

now

on oil

tankers

engaged

, formerly

in military

supplying

duties

, causing

gas shortage.

Many

companies are leasing

land and sev-

eral

wildcat wells are

now

being drilled in

the State

, arising

out of respect of the possibility of new markets and a greater

opportunity

higher

priced

During

November,

1942

the following wildcat test wells were being drilled in Florida

Consumer's

Fuel

Company,

State

, 39

miles west of Miami

, Dade County.

(Located but not

drilling).

Brown

Ravlin

miles south

Florida

Trustees

of Wakulla

Oil Development

. G.

Station,
Company,

Philips

Wakulla
Putnam

County.
Lumber

Company No.

, 6 miles southeast of Cross City, Dixie

County.

H. H. Givan, Marion Corporation No. 1,

near Portland,

Walton County.

Sanford and Arrington,

et al

Walton Land and Tim-

ber Company
of DeFuniak

No. 1, approximately 10 miles southeast

Springs,

Walton

County.

William

G. Blanchard,

et al., Everglades

miles west of Miami, Dade County.

In addition the following had located and were drilling in

pro-

FLORIDA MINERAL INDUSTRY

Hunt

Company,

sec.

T26S

, R32E,

Osceola

County.

Thompson and Pollard Associates, sec. 16,

T13S

, R16E,

Levy County.

Prospecting

physical
viduals.

crews
with 1

seismographic

being

, employed

use

methods:

actively

both

'magnetic,

past

conducted

companies

electrical

both

several

arid

, gravity,

prospecting

geo-
indi-

and
and

drilling

locations ha i'been made rather

haphazard,

even

larger companies,

detailed
mined.
besides

prospecting i

There
those <

but now
i carried

many

greater care

is exercised

on before locations

factors

a geological

that

nature

should

but evidence

and

deter-

considered
elsewhere

indicates that all oil fields of size are governed by structures.

The

outlining

structures

and

prospecting

should

pre-

cede any well organized venture in

drilling.

locate struc-

tures

in Florida

, where

surficial

Pleistocene

sediment

masks

underlying

rock

safest

method

drilling

prospective

test

holes

easily

identifiable

key

bed,

possibly

bed

a zone

outcropping

erosional

zone

would

require

in the
in F

is not a
d be ex

a careful

expenditure,

and

Ocala
lorida.

good

tremel

study
would

limestone

The

structural
y helpful.

geological

time

datum
Such

most

the
but

distinctive

Ocala

a definite

a program

conditions

consuming

and

, being

key

would
a large

as well.

favor

however

, many points

control

would be established,

and

a potential

drilling,

structure

resulting

could

in a large

condemned

saving

on lease

or approved

holding

penses.

The ultimate test for any prospect is the penetrating

of the potential

bed,

interpretation

but the use of geological knowledge and

rock

structures

will

have

been

portant factor in locating the hole to the best advanta

lowering the po

an im-

and

sibility of the dry hole.

Cheaper

but less

reliable

, ways of locating rock structures

are available through geophysical methods.

These have been

FLORIDA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY-BULLETIN TWENTY-FOUR

FLORIDA

MINERAL

PRODUCTS

AGRICULTURE

Accurate

production figures for the utilization

of mineral

products

in agriculture are not available as production figures

are not traced to the ultimate consumer, and many small pits
are operated by the farmer for his own use, where no records

are

kept.

Peat

, phosphatic clay

phosphate,

limestone,

dolo-

mitic

limestone

and

oyster shells are

being used

extensively

in agriculture as chicken and stock feed, soil conditioners and

fertilizer

Florida

and

1941

fertilizer

tags

87,550

tons of mineral

products to be used on soils were sold by the

State
able

Department o:
t is estimated

Agriculture.'
on a tonnage

From

basis

figures

that

more

avail-

than

per cent of

mineral

products

in Florida are

used

in agri-

culture.

The

dolomitic

limestone

, high

calcium

limestone,

and phosphate has been greatly stimulated though the Grant-

in-Aid
ment
these

Program,

Administration

products

administered

which

place

Agricultural

allows

payment

farmer

Adjust-
receive

participation

program.

The

farmer

is supplied

with

these

soil

con-

serving materials at the time when they are needed and their

costs are deducted later from

payments

due

him for

hearing to the soil conservation program.

The grantee thereby

has

advantage

applying

these

materials

throughout

the growing season,

and he saves the interest that

would

have paid had he

purchased his

ducers with arrangements to

fertilizers directly from

make

payments after

pro-

harvest.

Owner operators

have a greater stimulus

to cooperate

conservation

soils

than

tenant

operator

and share

cropper

This

tendency

has

been

overcome

certain

degree, however

by providing a division

of the allotments to

landholder,

tenant,

and

share

cropper

proportion

which
Both

interest

they

share

tenant

both

in the

and

share

greater yield

harvest

and

cropper

and

profits

thereby

soil

find

conservation,

season.

their
par-

FLORIDA MINERAL INDUSTRY

larly acid.

Some counties

, especially in the central Peninsula

where

underlying rock

limestone

are

particularly

deficient in limestone and

dolomite.

The application

of lime-

stone
when

dolomite

used

and

phosphates

with legumes,

cover

especially recommended

crops,

and

pasturage.

There

is a recent provision in the government conservation program

for the application

of humus

, peat,

and muck

and their use-

fulnes
year.

is becoming widely recognized and has increased each

Aims and Practices

of Soil

Conservaflon

The

practices

selected

differ

county

and generally

those

The

most needed and not

aim

soil

usually

conservation

employed

program

by the

is not

farmer.
employ

normal

farming practices,

but

particularize

in conserving

and improving soil

fertility,

preventing soil

erosion

and

couraging the economic use of the land.

The program allows

for payment to

on such a

the farmer for part of

program,

the costs of

carrying

and these allotments are especially

ful in Florida where the farmer's

yearly

cash income i

help-
very

low

Building

Allowance

The

soil

building

allowance

maximum

payment

made

for adherence to

practices of

soil

conservation

program.

"This allowance

for each farm shall be the sum of the follow-

ing:

cents

sum

acre

of the cotton,

of cropland

peanut,

excess

tobacco,

of the
potato

allotments

for which

payments

computed,

cropland in commercial orchards,

and sugar cane

sugar;

$2.00

acre

for commercial

orchards

on the

farm in 1941;

FLORIDA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY-BULLETIN TWENTY-FOUR

$1.00

acre

of commercial

vegetables

grown

on the farm in 1941 where the acreage is 3 acres

or more.

"In addition

to the

soil-building

allowance

computed

for the

farm

as outlined above,

a forestry

allowance of

may

earned

only

by planting forest trees." 7

Soil building practices include the application of approved

fertilizers

limestone

dolomitic

limestone,

phosphate,

and

muck,
crops,

in connection

Natal grass,

with

full

seeding

permanent pasture,

of legumes,

cover

or green manure crops

in orchards.

Any mineral substance to be applied for soil

building pur-

pose
and

must

ground

payments are

sufficiently

based

fine

on the amount

easily

available

available,
n the soil

first

year

case

phosphate,

and

on the

cent

calcium in the case of limestone.

The

$10

application

and

percent

other

grades

will

superphosphate

pay

will

in proportion.

earn
Raw

rock
less

phosphate

than

or colloidal

cent

phosphate

phosphorus

clay

pentoxide

containing

(P205

earns

$4.80 per ton,

phosphorus

and

that

pentoxide

containing not less

earns

$4.20

per ton.

than
The

cent

application

of dolomitic limestone
limestone $3.00 per ton

will

earn

$4.00

per ton

high

calcium

and muck or peat will earn $1.50 per

acre when 2 or more tons are applied to the acre.

Participation

1940

Grant-in-Aid

Program

included

2.273 farms out of a total of

48,443 farms in the State

signed

Agricultural

Conservation

Program.

The

1941

participation

included

2,680

farms

a total

50.640

farms cooperating in soil conservation.
The following counties have participated in

the program: :

1940

Brevard
DeSoto
Gadsden
Hardee

Highlands
Hillsborough
Jackson
Lake

Orange
Osceola
Pasco
Pinellas

Lucie

Sarasota
Seminole
Volusia

FLORIDA

MINERAL INDUSTRY

1941

Alachua
Bay
Brevard
Calhoun
DeSoto

Gadsden

Hardee
Hernando
Highlands
Hillsborough

Indian

River

Jackson
Lake
Madison
Marion

Orange
Osceola
Pasco
Pinellas
Polk

Putnam

Lucie

Sarasota
Seminole
Volusia

FLORIDA

MINERAL

RESOURCES

MINERAL

PIGMENTS to

A mineral

pigment is any mineral

that may be used,

with

or without

treatment

and fillers to form

as a color

paint.

when
much

mixed

with

drying

the same as a mmn-

eral

filler with

difference

that

filler

imparts

little

no color to the paint and is used as an inert extender.

commercial

pigment is insoluble in

paint or stain

A good
vehicle

or in chemical

resistant

should

requires.

or other

mineral

decomposition

bright

The

and

clear

texture

pigments.

atmospheric

or dull

a good

and

IS S

table

conditions

opaque

pigment

as the

is granular

and
and
case
and

fine'

and

medium
cation.

when

pigment

paint should

ground

capable

into
easy

vehicle

and

even

appli-

Mineral

pigments

are

especially

important

war

effort and the government i

anxious

to locate all the mineral

deposits

which

could

possibly

commercialized

under

war

necessity.

Throughout

present

war

large

quantities

brown,
ouflage
jected 1

, green,

military

attack.

and gray

and

colors

civilian

Because of

will

areas

required for

which

transportation

might

difficulties

cam-
sub-
local

pigments

desired

and

quantity

and

covering

power

may be

below present commercial standards if the colors are

uniform.

The

pigment

should

granular and should have

a fine body or texture.

Thus some of the Florida clays would

require firing to fusion and then grinding before the required

texture

and

color

n -j-

developed.

....1 1

Brown
-^ --- -

and

dark

- -- Li - A

colored

A,, L. -, a -

n l n Un lnnn .In nlnr 1sni f*r111rT'turll If *lE7 If rUUI* .me, T rruLl rur

- -- -I,1

rtn nr

FLORIDA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY-BULLETIN TWENTY-FOUR

green

color

Department

can

used

tries

under

war

colors

conditions,

which

most

but

closely

War
cor-

respond

their standard

color

chart

, which

can

secured

from any local Army

or Navy office.

eral

n addition
pigments

emphasized

in camouflaging,

min-

"find their main outlet in low-priced paints, both alone and mixed
with chemical pigments. Iron oxide pigments are used exten-
sively in the preparation of paints for the protection of iron
and steel work from rust, competing with graphite and red lead

for this

cars,

purpose.

barns,

coloring
leather,
filler. .
as a pil

agents
shade

Ocher,

nment

as a pigment in

cement,

stuccos,

Iron
Other

and
cloth,

oxide
uses

fillers

shingle

in addition

(toned

up with

paints
for iro]
n the n
stain, a
to its uw
dyes) 3

are also
n oxide

used

pigments

manufacture
nd paper ai
3e in paints,

on freight

are as

of imitation

cardboard

is also

for linoleum and

wood stains and wood fillers,
and mortars.11

and in

used

oilcloth,
coloring

Occurrence in Florida

There

is no commercial

production

mineral

pigments

in Florida

, but

during the

was operated at Inglis,

last

World

Levy County

War

a chemical

and considerable

plant
pyrite

was

imported for use in

this

plant.

The

refuse

dumps

have

a high

content of iron

oxide which

was formerly sold locally

pigments.

Some

this

refuse

still

present

and

sufficiently high in iron oxide to

make a suitable pigment.

Yellow and yellow-brown pigments may be produced from

ocher,
as it

iron

comes

oxide

mixed

from

with

ground

clay,
and

grinding

eliminating

material

sand

purity
slight

screening.

variations

Red

color

and reddish-brown

can

produced

pigments

with

calcining

raw ocher in kilns before grinding.

The higher the iron-oxide

content the darker the brown color, and the deepest shade of
brown in Florida is found in Levy County where limited beds

of limonitic ores analyze

high

iron

oxide.

Ochers and limonitic clays and sands

(bog

iron

ore)

known to occur along the canal

on the road from Fort Myers

fla -,

-

T a

U' glfrul .i ll l I W W t l S n U

r-

flf rUtN T- 9 l

nrvnvi4-

T -At tt

2 w~nnrC

llr1

FLORIDA MINERAL INDUSTRY

near

Jacksonville

Duval

County

miles

east

Seville,

Volusia

County

, Estero

Bay,

Lee

County

(see

Wilson

1933

89-90)

and

terrace

sands

northern

Escambia

County.

The Levy County

possibilities,

deposit

limonite

covering

has the

best commercial

approximately

acres

and
from

being
this

Another

high

deposit

deposit

iron-oxi
in small
f possible

content.

quantities fc
commercial

Iron

was

produced

*the Confederacy
development is al

Bunnell

small

, Flagler

amount

County,
pigment

where

High

1938

produced

problem

pro-

duction

and

marketing

should

thoroughly

studied

before

attempting commercial production.

A small pilot plant might

give

favorable

The

results.

following analyses are

by the State Chemist and are

more

or less

typical

ocher

and

limonitic

sands

Florida:

Table 5-Analyses of Ocher and Limonitic

Sands of Florida

Bunnell

, Flagler County
F. B. High

Yellow

Limoni-

Pigment Pigment tic Ore

Iron

Oxide as Fe20,

........ 37.88

Aluminum Oxide as Al20,
Manganese Oxide as MnO

Moisture
Water of
Insoluble
SiO2)
Gangue .

Combination .... 18.02

Matter

(largely

34.04
-a.......

55.22

0.05
1.66
12.82

26.39
....a....

34.24%
0.64
0.01
0.44
6.54

58.12
........

Escambia
County
near
Century

14.63
8.34
. ....
13.48
6.23

56.09
........ a

Levy
County
near
Chiefland

71.80%

14.88

13.32

Brown

crushing

pigments

for war

dolomitic

camouflage

limestone

can

occurring

provided
scattered

nosits alona the

western

coast from

Tavlor County to Char-

FLORIDA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY-BULLETIN TWENTY-FOUR

deposits

western

Florida

contain

brown-

and

tan-colored

gravel and

coarse sand which

can

be crushed for

brown

pig-

ment.

Likewise,

fuller's

earth

Gadsden

and

Manatee

- counties

might,

after

treatment

very

serviceable

light earth

color.

The earth

would have

vitrified

and

then

ground,

vehicles

otherwise

, having

would

a tendency

rather unstable

react

with

oils.

paint
Some

of this

fuller's

earth has a greenish

tint which possibly could

be retained

or, if vitrified,

would be some shade of red.

There

northern

with

a number

Florida
single

which

brick

burn

clay

exception

companies

from
Hall

local
Brick

in western

deposits,

and
and

Company

Chipley,

Washington

County,

whose

brick

buff

color,

the resulting brick is some shade of red.

This brick could be

ground for mineral

ture

common

pigments,

along

and

present

clay for

flood

plain

manufac-
western

Florida streams and in terrace deposits associated with

Green

colors

less

common

Florida

, but

them.
high

content of glauconite in some of the marls and clays of west-

ern Florida

marl

will

give dull

green

are common in Holmes

colors

when

, Washington

ground.

(Vernon,

These
1942a),

Walton

and

Okaloosa

counties

(Cooke

and

Mossom

, 1929)

and
are

thicknesses

common

80 feet

in these

exposed

counties.

bluffs

Except

and

marl

steepheads

, existing

producers of possible pigments may..be found listed under the

individual topic in the directory

(Appendix).

basic

will

colors

available

necessary

Florida,

camouflage

Florida

production depending

upon

the tools and machinery necessary for mining and processing.

a mineral

pigment

industry

were

started

Florida

em-

phasis should also

placed

on the

production

extenders

or fillers.

High-calcium limestone,

silica

sand, and diatomite

could

used

and

in many

cases

pigment

and

filler

can be produced from the same area,

if not from the same pit.

-Mining

L

FLORIDA MINERAL INDUSTRY

hammer mills

and

jaw

crushers

would have

be employed.

Overburden
,very thin.

would not

The

a great

problem

will

problem

as it

lack

is generally
a sufficient

cheap

power for processing,

and fuel for drying the

pigment

where a

wet process

is necessary.

Sand

and

gravel

could

mined

dredge

limestone,

clay and coquina by dragline excavator or mechanical shovel

crushed

and

pulverized,

and

sized

screen

or by

air cur-

rents.

Where

burning

necessary

material

may

burned in

vertical

shaft kilns

as well

as in rotary furnaces,

first

being

cheaper

and

requiring

material

under

priority.

Hardpan

Of special

but related interest to

mineral

pigments

hard

brown

applied,

sandstone

underlying

which

nearly

name hardpan has

low

lands

Florida

been
and

embedded in some of the

composed

largely

silica

high

sand

terrace deposits.

that

has

been

Hardpan
cemented

humus

and iron

oxide.

is a zone

concentration result-

ing from the deposition of iron oxide and humic acid, leached

from

overlying

sands

iron

salts

probably

reacting

with

'the humic

acid

cause

precipitation.

Ground-water

surfaces

appear

control

position

deposition,

and,

as hardpan

is impervious,

formation

one

hardpan may

create

a new

ground-water

surface

which

results

in a second

ing material

and higher

of hardpan

contain

hardpan.

a high

Where

content of

cement-
nitrogen

it has
two of

been

used for making

Vandyke

brown

and sap

brown

azine dyes.

For a short period

during the last

World War sap

brown

was

produced
Haseman.

plant

Prior to

near

the first

Fort

Walton

World War,

, operated

Germany sup-

plied all of the

sap-brown dye used in

this country and after

the end of hostilities this supply was reopened and the Florida

plant closed.

The

use then

as now

was

primarily

as a dye

FLORIDA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY-BULLETIN TWENTY-FOUR

vats

and

then

dried

in ovens

where

controlled

heat

would

keep volatilization of the organic matter at a minimum.

The

dried

material

is known

as Vandyke,

a rather

general

term,

and is the raw source of

sap brown.

Watered Vandyke brown

dissolved

in a cheap

sodium

alkali

form

an organic

sodium

salt

which

was

given

commercial

name

, sap

brown

,by

Haseman.

Before

World War II

, Germany supplied the United States

with 95 per cent of the imports of Vandyke brown and Czecho-

slovakia

supplied

remainder.

Approximately

900.000

pounds valued at $30,000 were imported annually during 1935

1939

but

this

import

dropped

sharply

with

start

the war, and in 1940 only

14,362 pounds valued at $722 were

received

United

States.12

The

cessation

these

ports

may stimulate a renewed

production

sap-brown

dye

in Florida.

Domestic

with

production

National

these

Aluminate

dyes

has

Corporation,

recently

6225

started
r. 66th

Place, Chicago,

Illinois

and the New York Color and Chemical

Company
Company

brown

Belleview
Bound B

dye.

The

manufacturing

have

come

from

New

rook

Jersey

New

source

is not

North

definitely
Dakota.13

and

Jersey,

Vandyke

known,

Calco-Chemical

manufacturing

brown

but

survey

used in

sap-
this

believed

mineral

industry

by the Florida

Geological

Survey

has discovered no

production

of Vandyke

brown in Florida.

The

Bureau

Mines

has

investigated

these

dyes

and has found that the domestic varieties of Vandyke

. . though usually of a fine, rich hue, is likely to

brown

be fugitive,

especially in

increase

roast
more

water color.

its commercial

raw

permanent.

material

It may

value:
gently,

The result is

be treated in

simplest

making
known

the color
as Cologne

ways

method

darker
earth.

another method a

water-soluble .stain,

sap-brown,

may

tracted.

While precise details have been guarded carefully by

the German

manufacturers,

the general

procedure,

according

ex-

FLORIDA MINERAL INDUSTRY

brown and soda ash in

10 or

the ratio of 100 pounds of pigment

15 pounds of alkali are mixed with about 460 pounds of

water in a

vat fitted with an agitator.

During the

first half-

hour of
parently

mixing

involves

carbon

dioxide is

the conversion

given
of the

reaction

humicc

acid'

dium

'humate'

. Experiments

with

production

of the material

in edgerunner mills

have

proved

unsatisfactory

owing

to this

effervescence,

while

attempts

to replace

the soda

with

caustic soda have

the stain

been

produced.

abandoned

If the stain

owing

to the inferiority

is desired

the form

scales,

the mix is run over steam-heated roller dryers.

Control

of temperature

sired

mix

is very important.

is dried

Sap-brown stains
manufacture, but

in steam-heated

are used

small

mostly

amounts

a granular form

ovens
paper

are also

at about

is de-
70C.

cardboard

used

for staining

wood.

CLAY

AND CLAY PRODUCTS

A precise definition of

clay is hard to formulate,

everyone understands what is meant

by the term.

although
However,

clay

a finely

divided

mineral

substance,

possessing

property

plasticity when

wet and

originally

derived from

weathering

ites

and

gneisses.

aluminous

With

crystalline
application

rocks,

heat

chiefly

clay

gran-
looses

most

water

combination

and

mineral

particles

coalesce to

form a hard stony mass upon

cooling,

the degree

of hardness depending largely upon the chemical

composition

of the

clay

and

intensity

of heat.

The

clays

of Florida

are a mixture of several minerals

but the fundamental

com-

position

is some

form

hydrous

aluminum

silicate

closely

corresponding to the minerals kaolinite,

halloysite, montmor-

illonite

or bentonite.

Various minerals

, such as quartz,

mica,

limonite,

calcite,

gypsum

garnet,

zircon

, ilmenite,

rutile

are

commonly

The

embedded

following

chemical

fundamental

analyses

matrix.
typical <

types

of Florida clays

44 FLORIDA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY-BULLETIN TWENTY-FOUR

Table 6-Analyses of Florida Clays

1 2 3

SiO .......................... ........ 62.83 46.95 45.69
A103, ................................ 10.35 36.75 34.00
FeO .......................-........ 2.45 0.80 3.40
CaO ................................... 2.43 0.15 2.95
MgO .................................. 3.12 0.20 0.21
K ,0 .................................. 0.74
0.24 0.29
NaO .................................. 0.20
Loss on Ignition ........... 14.13 14.95 12.20
Total ...................... ........ 96.25 100.04 99.64

Analysis

fuller's

earth

from

Gadsden

County,

Geol. Survey, 17th Annual Report, p. 880, .part 3,

Kaolin
Florida.

Edgar
Brick c

Analysis

sample

from

Edgar

Analysis from

Plastic

"A little

Kaolin

book

Florida.

1896.

Company

on clays

Plastic Clay Company, Metuchen, !New
:lay from the Taylor Brick Company,

Jersey
Molino,

mine, Edgar,
clay miners,"

Florida

by State Chemist.

mine.

Types of Clay

The types of

clay in Florida may

be divided according to

their

fuller's
kaolin.

uses

thus

earth

there

bleachin

pottery,
clay;

brick]
and.

and

white

These clays fall into two general groups

cement
firing .

clays;

Jlay

transported

and residual

, depending upon the place of their accumulation.

Both

groups

are

secondary

and

sedimentary

having

been

derived

from

previously

existing

rock.

The

most

common

and

commercial

, clay

Florida

has

been

trans-

ported into

as a matrix

the State and

other

deposited in

sedimentary

thin

rock.

beds

These

between,

beds

either of alluvial or marine origin, having been depositsed by

streams along their flood

plains and in

older

alluvial

terrace

deposits.

or having been transported and reworked by marine

I

FLORIDA MINERAL INDUSTRY

transported

water,

so that

ultimately

State's

clay is transported.

Kaolin

almost

pure

hydrous

aluminum

silicate

and

quartz,

white

color

and

white-firing.

used

manufacturing of paper, china

ware

, glazes,

pottery, and

in any

clay

product

where

whiteness

a desirable

factor.

Two
1941

Plastic
Edgar

companies

The

produced kaolin

United

Kaolin

Clay

Company

Plastic Kaolin

Mines

Edgar,

Florida
Crossley

both

Company formerly

during

and

Putnam

operated

1940

and

SEdgar
County.

a mine

Okahumpka,

operation.
peninsular

Lake

Kaolin
Florida

County

but

known

generally

now

occur

being

maintains

over

only
wide

correlated

one

area

with

physiographic

type

known

as the

Lake

Region,

and

thin beds are present in the high alluvial deposits in

smaller
western

Florida.

The

kaolin

now

being

mined

Florida

composes

matrix of some of the coastwise terrace deposits of the north-

central

Peninsula.

Water-worn

quartz

gravel

and

sand

are

embedded

kaolin

can

this

matrix

marketed.

and
The

must

minable

removed

bed

before

is generally

tween 20 and 55 feet in

thickness and the

recoverable

kaolin

content averages generally from 12 to

underlie:
oxidized

variable

sand

which

thickness o
is removed

15 per cent.

stained

as overburden

This

leached,

bed
and

dragline

excavators

and

loaded

railroad

cars

Atlantic

Coast

Line

using most of it as sand ballast.

be as thick as

100 feet

This overburden may

, but the present mines have to remove

less than 20 feet of this sand.

The

kaolin-bearin

sand

mined

hydraulic-suction

pumps,
20-30

mounted

feet

below

on dredges

as the

ground-water

bottom
table.

The

sludge

pumpe
of the

d

over

screens

and

clay

sand and gravel embedded in

balls (
them)

eliminated

because

together with the

coarse sand and gravel are removed.

Finer sand is

removed

by oumoinE the sludge over

a series of

cone-tanks,

the sand

w

FLORIDA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY-BULLETIN TWENTY-FOUR

finest
moves

sand

slowly

allowed

down

troughs

settle

that

sludge

equipped

with

baffles,

or this

finer

material

is screened

kaolin

100

mesh screens.

Figure
Crossley, I

u

showing the

3. Kaolin pit of the United Clay Mines
itnam County, in the center SW Sec.

method of the

removal

of the overburden

Corporation

T1OS

R23E

by dragline

ex-

cavator in the background, and the method of mining by suction pumps

on dredges in

the foreground.

The kaolin is de-watered in large settling vats,

water

being

slowly

drained

or pumped

pipes

that

can

lowered

near
slud:

settles

as the clay settle

surface

below
more

pipe

rapidly

so that the

sludge

intake

The

pipe

clear

intake

water

agitated

clay

further

and

is always

Thus

kaolin

de-watered

draulic filter presses or on large suction rolls,

the water being

pressed

out or

sucked

through

fine

mesh

cloth.

Drying

is completed in rotary

driers or

by stacking the

moist filter-

press block

of kaolin on shelves of pipe through which steam

forced.

The

kaolin

pulverized,

crushed

to 1A inch di-

__

r_

FLORIDA

MINERAL INDUSTRY

oils

, cleaning fluids and gasoline.

Any

clay that is naturally

adsorptive i

a fuller's

earth

, a loosely used term that got its

name from the original

use by fullers to

remove grease from

woolen

cloth

during

process

fulling.

Where

Figure
Company,
facing sou

4. Aerial view of the fuller's earth plant

near

theast

Quinc!
; and

Y,

Gadsden

County.

the pit lies approximately

of the Floridin

photograph

one

mile

was

taken

to the east.

Printed

by courtesy of the Floridin Company.

sorptive

capacity

leaching

with

clay

mineral

can

acids

improved

known

or increased

as an activable

clay.

The basic composition of both groups is that of benton-

ite which

largely made

up of the

mineral

montmorillonite

with the kaolinite mineral group being almost absent.

Mans-

field

(1940a,

believed that naturally leached decomposed

volcanic ash

(bentonitic

fuller's

earth

and

differs

from

activable clay
Fuller's ea

only in
rth was

being naturally leached.
discovered in Florida in 1893 at Quincy,

Gadsden

County

where

is still

produced

The

Floridin

Company.

Two companies produced fuller's

during 1940 and 1941

: The Floridin

earth in Florida

Company at Quincy and

Jamieson

, Gadsden County

and The Superior Earth Company

-- w

FLORIDA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY-BULLETIN TWENTY-FOUR

The

fuller's

earth

Florida

Miocene

age

and

equivalent to

the Alum Bluff

group

(see

It is

inter-

bedded

with sand and

phosphatic

limestone

that contain

remains of marine organisms,

and is believed to have accumu-

lated

under marine conditions.

The

earth

now

being mined

underlies
thickness

a Pleistocene

and

both

sand

mining

overburden

areas

there

two

feet
beds

fuller's

earth which are separated by a thin bed of bentonitic

phosphatic sand

as in

Gadsden

County

or a thin

phosphatic

limestone as in Marion County

The earth is

therefore mined

benches,

a steam

shovel

or dragline

usually

operating

each

bench

, one each removing overburden,

mining and load-

ing the

upper fuller's

earth,

and

removing

intermediate

bed and mining the lower fuller's

earth

, (figure 5)

The

material

is hauled

processing plant

dinkey

engines
allowed

Gadsden

dry

County

and

storage

by trucks

sheds

and

Marion

further

dried

oil fired rotary driers.

The fuller's

earth is ready to

market

.4 it

113i ri

*'1
I~ -" -RI~~~1W~4e'C~WI~ rm

Figure

Fuller's

Earth mi

ne

of the Floridin

Company

located

FLORIDA MINERAL. INDUSTRY

after being'crushed or pulverized,

different grades,

a 300 me
part now

sh; screen,

and bolted or sized.

from grit to as fine as that which

are

being freighted

sold

in sacks

or. in

bulk

t

will
:he 1;

Eight
pass
arger

bulk.

The

fuller's

earth

Ellenton,

Manatee

County,

was

formerly
built by

r

mined

this

mine

was

closed

McCloskey and Company for the

1925.

plant

United States Mari-

time Commission to fire this material for use as a lightweight

concrete

Tampa

aggregate

has

recently

in the

been

construction

of fused argillaceous aggregate in

in operation.

concrete

cargo

While

is new to

vessels

use

Florida

has

been

practiced

United

States

least

years.

Fuller's

in Florida

earth

, although

best

requires

material

grinding

available

this

and mixing to

pro-

duce a

thick

paste.

This

paste

forced

through

meshes

form

rods

that

are

form

raw

aggregate.

This paste must be dry

adhere

must

through

and

added

fired

should

this

rotary

enough
contain

case.
kilns

that the aggregate-pellets do

some

The

organic

clay

matter,

aggregate

temperatures

high

which

run

enough

cause

escape
matter.

quick
gases

This

incipient
formed 1

then

fusion

and

a seal

prevent

volatilization

causes

organic

expansion

clay

leaving gas

pockets that increase

lightness of the aggre-

gate.
point

The temperature used in the kiln depends on the fusion

clay

and

is regulated

heat

clay

point that it

just begin

to fuse.

Higher temperatures result

in the

formation

a clinker,

which

has

strength

lightness.

This

after

plant

war

should

find

in pre-cast

gate for pavement,

a steady

lightweight

and in heat and

market

concrete

units

water insulation

product
, aggre-
as it is

more

resistant

both

heat

and

water

penetration

than

dinary

concrete.

Furthermore

, concrete made only with

this

aggregate

can

sawed

and

nails

can

driven

into

Zr f j I -" r

I

I

I

FLORIDA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY-BULLETIN TWENTY-FOUR

concrete

made

with

limestone

or sand

and

gravel

aggre-

gate.
Activable clays are not commercially produced in Florida,

Bay

and

Munyan

(1940)

discovered

large

deposits

these

clays

outcropping principally

Holmes

Jackson,

and

Washington

counties

but also

present in Leon and Jefferson.

This
these

clay

is a new

areas shows

asset

State

an extensive

and

deposit,

prospecting

should

support

large industry.

The significance of the discovery is that the

better grades of these clays,

when properly treated,

are from

two

five times as efficient in

bleaching action

as the

com-

mercial

grades

decomposed

fuller's

volcanic

ash

earth.

and

Activable

is commonly

clay

called

contains

bentonite

and must

adsorptive.

be chemically

Naturally

leached

active

before

clays

can

(fuller's

used

earth)

wise bentonitic but have been leached by natural acids.

as an
like-
Gen-

erally

activity

fuller's

earth

as a bleaching

agent

improved

artificial

leaching

and

most

tests

activity was

decreased

(Bay

and

Munyan,

1940).

Other

called

Clay

common

Clays having no special

clay"

properties

and are composed largely

are often

of kaolinite

r 1
i4
tr s. ~t
411

FLORIDA MINERAL INDUSTRY

containing

one

or more

limonite, feldspar, mica,

following

impurities

vegetable matter, and water.

quartz,
These

clays

are

used in

Florida for the

manufacture of brick

pottery,

and

cement

, and

their

most

important

property

their

burning

quality

in particular

as to

color

, shrinkage,

and porosity after firing.

Almost every county has a deposit

common

clay

but

good

structural

and

pottery

clays

rare

, being present only in the north Peninsula and in western

Florida.

Silt

sand

and

vegetable

matter

high

in some

these

deposits,

but in

manufacture

brick

and

pottery the vegetable matter burns out,

and sand and silt are

of little importance

if the plasticity is

high.

Iron

oxides are

disadvantageous where whiteness

desired as they

give

fired product a red color.

Alluvial

posits,

clays,
used

either in

eight

flood

plains

companies

or in

terrace de-

manufacture

brick

and tile.
colored

These brick are red with the exception of the cream

brick

Hall

Brick

Company

Chipley,

Wash-

ington County

and compare favorably with

those

of Georgia

and

Alabama

structural

qualities.

Brick

production

seasonable 'in

Florida

no kilns

being

burned

where

there

danger

freezing

green-formed

brick

while

drying

open-air drying sheds.

Most brick producers try to fire their

kilns
trade.
draft
kilns.

summer

There are

kilns

and

and

stock

four companies

four

that

The permanent kilns

their

brick

that fire

temporary

winter

permanent down-

updraft

or scove

are constructed of brick and have

advantage

reuse

heat

a more
a closed

uniform

product.

circulation.

The

They
kilns

likewise

are

fired

largely with

wood but some companies are now using

The ease of starting a brick kiln has resulted in the aban-
donment of many enterprises which met unforeseen economic

difficulties

, and

Florida

has several

these.

Most of

these

failures resulted from the lack of a thorough investigation

raw

product,

especially

extent

, uniformity,

mining

and

burning

qualities

clay.

This

combined

FLORIDA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY-BULLETIN TWENTY-FOUR

There

five

kilns

that

being

fired

Florida

produce pottery

but only two companies mine their own clay

The Santa Rosa Pottery Company operate

a pit at Gonzalez,

cambia

County

and

combines

this

clay

with

other

clays

from the State

and from out of State

, to manufacture glazed

pottery

fires

glazed
alluvial

and
clay
and

bein

ware.

Jay

glazed

The

anta

Johnson

Rosa

pottery

interbedded

Pottery

County,

Both

terrace

mines

produce

these

sand

and

clays

gravel

and
un-
are
and

are

mined

pick

and

shovel.

The

Crary

Brothers

Bluff

Springs,

Escambia

Hillsborough

County

County

and

The Floramics Company

Merritt Island

Potters

Tampa
Cocoa

Brevard County

mine

pottery
and art

, manufactured

clay

while
ware.

Crary

other

pottery

Brothers

companies

and art
produce

produce

ware

salt

glazed

1941

glazed
pottery

Clay

is mined

near

Floral

City,

Citrus

County,

Florida Portland Cement Company and is freighted to Tampa

where

calcined

with

limestone

mined

Hernando

County to

make cement.

This

clay is a

greenish light gray

blocky,
phatic

slightly sandy

limestone

and

silty

clay

boulders

containing white

bottom.

phos-

There

weathered zone from 3-15 feet in

thickness which i

removed

as overburden.

The clay

is approximately

feet

thick

and

is loaded directly into

gondola railroad

cars from

the quarry

by a

dragline excavator

, (figure

This clay is thought to

Alum

Bluff

group,

Miocene

in age,

and

was

deposited

marine water.

Production and Market

Accurate

clay
ment

used

production

tonnages

manufacture

of brick

available
, pottery,

and

, as these materials are not marketed as clay and records

are

not available

extent.

The

quantity

clay

used

in pottery and

cement have

been

estimated

tons

from

number of pieces shipped in the case of pottery and from the

nui m bar

of barrels

namiant

ahinnerl

from

nloanl-

. .. .., ,..

. . ... ...

I

FLORIDA MINERAL INDUSTRY

Almost

construction
centage has

brick

buildings,

been

and

used in military

used

1940-41

bases.

locally

an increasing

per-

Pottery production

is small

Florida

in spite

large

deposits

kaolin

Figure 7. Clay, a basic ingredient of
Florida Portland Cement Company from a
60 miles north of Tampa in the NW'4, Sec.

cement,
pit in C

, T21S,

obtained

!itrus County,

y the
about

R19E.

Photo furnished

the R.

E. McCarl

by the Florida
thy Advertising

Portland Cement
Agency.

Company

through

ball

clay

and

pottery

producer

silica

is sold
honey

that

are

locally

available
tourists

marmalades

, jellies

State.

, merchants

and

such

or large
products,

containers.

The

kiln

frequently

operated

under

con-

tract

a particular

one

merchant

or the

potter may execute a design for a hotel

ever
tion

or individual.

, these contracts are small and irregular and the

will

vary

with

tourist

How

produc-

season.

Both

markets

kaolin

and

fuller's

earth

center

outside

the State.

Most of the kaolin shipments are made

the New
Pottery

York

and

Ohio

chinaware

and New

Jersey

industry

while

areas

the center of

almost

entire

- a l C a. t .Ut i .

* I

l J

11

JI f

|

ft

FLORIDA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY-BULLETIN TWENTY-FOUR

absorb a freight rate from

the mine to

the export depot,

ocean rate, and an import duty

but American producers have

to combat a

prejudice

in favor of the English

clays.

Today

no imported fuller's

earth

is used in

petroleum

industry

but some producers of edible oils still prefer the English clay.
The war has greatly aided domestic clay producers as the

scarcity

of bottoms

prevent large

imports and

producers are

looking to domestic producers for suitable clays. Refinement
of processing and mining methods produce a kaolin that wil1

compare

favorably

with

any,

and

this

refinement

is rapidly

erasing the prejudice for

English

clays that arose out of the

former domestic production of low grade kaolin.

Fuller's

earth has strong and increasing competition from

activable clay and other bleaching agents,

and largely due to

this competition and

the increased

usage of

colored

gaso-

line

production

of Florida fuller's

earth

1941

had

creased to almost one half

of its tonnage and one third of its

value of ten years ago.

used
and

in cement during

1940.

ment cla
so that

Ly

Production
and pottery

The production of kaolin and

1941

show

figures

slight

kaolin

increases

, fuller's

over
earth

clay are tabulated together in

individual figures will

clay
1939

table

be divulged.

Table 7-Value of Clay and Clay Products
Produced in Florida Since 1937

1937 1938 1939 1940 1941
Brick and tile $ 148,366* $127,606* $ 193,110* $ 430,669 $ 336,227
Cement, t ful-
ler's earth,
kaolin, and
pottery ........ 1,359,604 828,963 1,106,350 1,235,501 1,489,343
Total ................$1,507,970 $956,569 $1,299,460 $1,666,170 $1,825,570

Bureau

census

of 1939

, probably

represents

only

sales value of the clay that was produced during those years.
t Estimated on the basis of the number of barrels of cement sold.

CEMENT 1G

The

history

cement

in Florida

began

w -

1898 when

FLORIDA MINERAL INDUSTRY

rels of natural hydraulic

cement from

Tampa formation

Chattahoochee,

Florida.17

The

deposit

extensive,

and

cement

was

said

high

quality

but

no further

production

factured
Portland

is reported.

Florida

Cement

from

cement

1899

Company's

until

large

any

1927

kind

was

when

and modern

plant

manu-
Florida
burned

its first clinker.
this plant Octobe

The first shipment of cement was made from

r

1927.

Florida portland cement is made by

calcining to

incipient

fusion a finely powdered mixture of limestone from Hernando

County,

clay

burned
clinker.

and

clay

ground

kilns

The

from

with

Citrus

water

(figure

clinker

with

then

County.
produce

powdered

ground

with

The

limestone

a slurry,

coal

gypsum

and

which
make

or other

materials to

control

the setting time and

give

the cement

special properties.

The final product is

tested by mixing with

sand to make pats, from which the setting time and character

determined

and

make

bricquettes,

from

which

tensile strength is determined under a series of standard con-
ditions.
Production figures cannot be given for the one producer of

cement

Florida

, but

approximate

limestone

and

clay

tonnages and value are included in

the figures for those sub-

stances.

However

Florida

industry

has

enormously

creased its production in the past years,

and throughout 1940

and

1941

activity

has

accelerated

meet

large

demands of military construction in Florida.

barrels of

The number of

cement produced in 1940 and 1941 shows increases

and

cent

respectively,

as compared

with

1939.

Florida cement is marketed almost entirely within the State,

and the price of the local

from

cement determines the competition

plants outside the State which must absorb the freight

rate differences.
ner barrel in 1941

The national

was $1.47

average

factory price

an increase of 1

bulk

cent compared

with 1940.
production

Florida cement sold slightly higher due to larger

and transportation

costs.

r-- 'tr1^"-
a" ~a
^^fclr

Figure

Air view of the Portland Cement Company plant at Tampa.

smokestack are each 11 feet in

diameter,

high as 2,700 degrees Fahrenheit are

175 feet long,

developed in

and inclined

producing

The three large rotary kilns in

inch in 12 inches of length.

a clinker clay and limestone.

Tem

FLORIDA MINERAL INDUSTRY

imports

nor

stock

on hand

warehouses

distributors

and
rels

contractors.

capital

Florida

1940

used 2,442,623

and

3.172.179

barrels or

or 1.67

1.29

bar-

barrels

capital

during

1941.

Figure 9.

Thirty cars of limestone and

eight cars of clay are re-

quired

for a single

day's

Company plant at Tampa.

operation

at the Florida

The limestone

Portland

is quarried near

Cement

Brooksville,

Hernando

County,

clay

near

Floral

City,

Citrus

County.

Photo
fur'ni1

is printed
;hed by the

through

the courtesy

R. E. McCarthy

of the Company,

Advertising

was

agency.

The us

cement has

been greatly stimulated by

a thor

ough

promotion of the use of prepared or precast cement

products

construction.

These

products

made

mixin

and

, coquina,

limestone,

combination

three aggregates with

cement and either pouring or pre

ssmg

blocks
mated

or ornamental

that

ornamental
$2,500,000

where
pieces
a 1941.

pieces

from

producers mined

and

concrete

This

blocks

represents

only

concrete.

is esti-

their own aggregate,

more

than

a fraction

total sales value of

concrete

products in Florida,

as the num-

- ^ j. .-, -

producers that

buv their

assreeate

a t,-

exceeds

those

FLORIDA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY-BULLETIN TWENTY-FOUR

DIATOMITE 19
Description

Diatomaceous earth

, or diatomite,

occurs in Florida asso-

ciated

with

peat,

and

basic

composition

a hydrated

amorphous silica.

Diatomite

is of vegetable

origin

and con-

sists

almost

entirely

microscopic

silica

shells

that

were

secreted
posed ol

by small

Stwo

plants called

valves which fit o

diatoms.
ne upon

Each

shell is

the other,

muc

com-
ithe

same as a small pil
designs and shapes,

box.

These shells are made up of many

some of which are confined to one locality

and all grew in either fresh or brackish water but rarely both.

When

these

shells

deposit on

small

which

plants

they

organic

had

the bottom of the

secreted

pond in

about
which

matter

them
they

decays
build
lived.

and

This

deposit

diatomite.

The diatom shell

is so small

that it can not

be seen

with

naked

eye,

and

it can

identified

only

by the aid

high-powered

microscope.

has

been

estimated

that

it re-

quires between 40 and 70 million diatoms to make up a cubic

inch.

The sharp edges of the diatom make it an excellent pol-

fishing and cleaning agent which

can not scratch any surface

because of the minuteness of the particles.

The prepared dry

diatomite

which

will

makes

absorb

from

an excellent

cent

chemical

and medicinal

moisture

carrier

and filler.

The Florida diatomite is especially clean and pure.

Organic impurities are burned out,

and the little sand that is

present

eliminated

currents.

The

salient

features

refined

diatomite

Diatomite Company

advertised

the only producer in Florida,

American
are shown

in table 8.

Table 8-Characteristics

of Florida Diatomite

Silica

(SiO2)

....98.50 per cent

Specific gravity

Iron

Oxide

(Fe,O,)

Alumina

(A2O3,)

Bulking value: 11.50 per solid gal-

Lime

CaO)

Magnesia
Phnsnha t

(Mg)

Packages

(Pn=

Pn rtinln

...........25

and 50 pounds

195

* ** I

9..F2 22.. And

19..

Slr

||al

FLORIDA MINERAL INDUSTRY

The Florida diatomite is unique in that it is one of the few

fresh-water diatomites

that i

commercial.

The fresh-water

diatomite has a higher silica analysis and a more porous phys-

ical

structure

than

marine

diatomite.

loose

packed

cubic

foot

fresh-water

diatomite

weighs

approximately

pounds,

whereas

marine diatomite

weighs 20 pounds for

same

angularity

measure.

and

The

light

absorptiveness

weight,

makes

chemical
Florida

purity,
product

indispensable in

some industries.20

Mining and Processing

The

American

Diatomite

Corporation

operates

only

diatomite

plant

and

mine

Florida.

They

have

a prelimi-

nary processing plant at the mine 18 miles south of Clermont,

Lake

County

, and

a finishing

plant

Clermont.

this

vicinity the corporation owns and has lea

es on several bogs,

which

have

been

thoroughly

prospected

bore

holes.

The

present deposit is from 3 to 6 feet in thickness,

and overlies a

thick

peat

bed.

There

is no overburden

sense

that

miners

term

but

shallow water that

covers

bog is pumped over a dam so that the mining area is

kept dry

The raw diatomite is cut by hand shovels and loaded to dump

trucks
plant.

which

dump

into

bins

preliminary processing

The material is fed into a hydraulic press from the bin,

where it is pressed into thin sheets,

thereby eliminating most

mechanically

small
they

square

cakes

sun-dried.

held
and i
The

water.

placed

initially

These

on open

sheets
drying

processed

are

racks

cakes

ar(

into

where
Then

hauled by truck 18 miles

to the finishing plant where the

mining volatile

material

, peat and

water

largely,

burned

out in

wood-fired kilns.

The

residual

silica is shredded

in a

revolving

drum

lined

with

baffles.

constant

temperature

of approximately

150 degrees Fahrenheit is maintained in the

drum

keep

diatomite

dry

suction

pulls

shredded diatomite across a sand trap,

allowing the sand and

diatomite clusters to
removed periodically.

settle out into

a cone

from

which

it is

The diatomite is blown into silos from

_ 1. _1 J _. 1 _ _- _-

.--.--- -U- -- i -u

II I I

I q

FLORIDA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY-BULLETIN TWENTY-FOUR

Occurrence

reported

deposits

diatomite

Florida

composed

fresh-water

diatoms

and

intimately

mixed

with

peat.

Peat

material

and
that

water,

in fact,

is mined

compose
recovery

large

being

part

approxi-

mately

10 per cent after the organic matter and moisture have

been

volatilized.

present

production

comes

from

Lake County
ponds which

where the diatomite occurs in shallow bogs and

must be drained

before

mining

is feasible.

The

adjacent counties, especially Polk County

are reported to have

deposits, but the large

peat and muck

area of the Everglades

apparently

western

has

Florida

deposits

commercial

counties are a

diatomite

along

deposits
potential

Blackwater

diatomite.

producing

River

area
have

The
and
been

described by Gunter and Ponton

(1933).

Florida

diatomite

occurs

brownish

gray,

porous.
usually
section,

light,
under
a bore

peaty

aggregate

variable

hole

interbedded

depth

American

water.

with
The

Diatomite

peat,

and

following

Corporation

18 miles

south of Clermont

Water,

in depth.

Diatomaceous earth,
Peat, 10 to 20 feet in

, Lake County, is typical

in thickness.

thickness.

Diatomaceous

spicules.

This

earth,
bed i

thin layer
3 not mined.

with

siliceous

Uses

Approximately

two-thirds

production

Florida

diatomite
naphtha.

is used

The

among which

insulation,

filtering

diatomite

are

especially

filler in

wine,

has numerous
paint, varnish,

against heat;

coatin

liquor,

specialized
cosmetics, i

paper;

milk

and

usages
plastics ;

hardening

and increasing the life of rubber and leather

abrasive in fine

polishes

carrier for pharmaceuticals and insecticides;

and as

light

aggregate

concrete

increase

density

and

strength.

Tlh,

nhy1, onn 1

cfrnrltirir and th ohpm ionl

onmnnniti nn

* | | If- || | I 7 | -* |

II .

""i

'U
5

- *.r -

B 1 .1 M

m

1

FLORIDA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY-BULLETIN TWENTY-FOUR

Marketing
The chief physical properties that make the Florida diato-

mite

marketable

high

porosity

and

relative

inertness of the material.

The high silica content is its most

valuable

chemical

property.

Filtration

and

heat

insulation

demand a high porosity and the chemical inertness of Florida
diatomite is valuable when used as a filler of paints and as a

carrier of

drugs and insecticides.

The Florida diatomite is sold to specification,

can be sure of a uniform

product.

Four grades,

and a buyer
the particles

varying from

are

high

125

silica

500 mesh

content

and

in diameter

contain

no grit.

sold
The

and

largest

market

this

material

filtration

and

as the

light

weight and great bulk of the diatomite carries a high freight

rate

most of

it is sold locally

Because of the necessity for

selling the product nearby, the market area is limited and the

chances of successful competition are low.

Likewise competi-

tion from foreign sources is improbable as diatomite is not a

desirable water cargo,

and bottoms are scarce at present.

The relative inaccessibility

of the deposit,

being small

and 18 miles from a railroad, has held the price of the Florida

diatomite high

but its special properties,

as compared to that

other diatomites

, allow a higher sales price.

Production
No yearly production figures can be given for Lhe diatomite

industry in Florida.

The 1940 and 1941 figures have been in-

cluded with those of peat and muck because of the close asso-

ciation of these materials.

Although the United States leads

world

production of

diatomite,

Florida

contribu-

tion to this total is small.

Pit and Quarry

(No.

6, 1941,

reported

4 tons of

American

finished

opened

Diatomite

diatomite

1936

Company

per day.
marketed

had

Since
1,044

a capacity

the Company

short

tons

finished diatomite at a value of $99,790.

PEAT

AND

MUCK 21

Description

FLORIDA MINERAL INDUSTRY

mulations.
disintegrated

Peat is the p
remnant of

)artly

decomposed and

organic

matter

more

or less

produced from

arrested

decomposition

vegetation

covered

or saturated

with

water.

It is fibrous and retains the plant structures,

which small droplets of wax adhere.

Arrested decomposition

has enriched the carbon

content by releasing a large

part of

oxygen

and

hydrogen

as gases,

a large

portion

original

carbon remaining.

The

peat is acid in reaction and

contains much less

inorganic matter than

organic.

Muck

approximately

equal

mixture

inorganic

and

organic

matter

, formed much the same as peat,

but as peat and muck

are

gradational

names

are

used

interchangeably

posits

of either.

Generally, if the deposit ignites freely when

dry it is peat,

but the common use of the terms in Florida is

to call all highly organic lands under cultivation muck lands.

The

deposit

applied

land

deficient

in organic

content

labeled

peat if it has

been

dried and sacked

and

compost or

muck if

term

decayed

is applied in

"humus

and

differs

oxidized

bulk
from

organic

directly to

the land.

peat and muck

matter

The

third

that it is the

accumulated

that have been exposed to the air most of the time.

It com-

poses the

"top-soil"

of the farmer and is a fine organic powder

intimately mixed

with

soil.

Humus

is properly

more

interest

the agriculturist

than

geologist

andi

eluded here in

comparison to

peat and muck.

Distribution

Nearly

every

county in Florida has deposits of muck and

peat suitable for local application to soils or use as a filler in

fertilizers.
of streams

These deposits occur along the floodplain margins

, in shallow

lakes, lagoons,

the Everglades and

marshes of the coast.

Some of the large shallow

lakes have

little

margins,
199-200)

organic

and

peat

content
between.

believed that Florida

centers

Soper

probably

and

muck

Osbon

(1922,

contained more peat

than
j A

any

other

PtI A

State

- -I it t' a~ t+s itr a -n w' a teI

except

1I

Minnesota
h -*

and

Wisconsin

an anh a an an aa

, and

1t

a + an new -.u *u ** ** *I *UEU S U* ** n -I aa.

FLORIDA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY-BULLETIN TWENTY-FOUR

Origin

Conditions

Florida

almost

ideal for the

accumula-

tion of

peat.

Lakes are plentiful and generally

Florida lakes

have no surface streams emptying into

them

so that a high-

grade peat with little impurity has been formed.

also in the mangrove swamps,

Peat occurs,

along the streams of the State,

and

extends

seaward

into

salt

marshes.

The

overflow

streams

into

these

back

swamps,

and

action

waves

on the

marsh

flats

, has

mixed

peat

with

and mud so that the marsh and floodplain
organic matter and approaches a muck.

peat is high in in-

Peat requires for its formation a relatively

water which

receives or carries little sediment

quiet

and

body of
which is

not so

deep as

prevent

plant growth.

The

plants making

the peat deposit require both sunlight and water and a fairly

permanent

water

level

one

that

does

fluctuate

tremes

alternately

drowning the

plants

and

then

drying to

the extent that the roots and decaying vegetation are exposed

to aeration.

Deep

bodies of water

have little vegetation and

their margins are so disturbed that the peat is contaminated

with

mineral

matter.

Small

shallow

bodies

water dry up

and allow the vegetation

which has accumulated in the

basin

oxidize,

preventing

peat

formation.

Small

lakes

, spring

heads

, back swamps along streams,

and marshes and lagoons

are ideal for plant accumulation.

addition

a place

accumulation

, peat

requires

climate

that

is wet

enough

provide

permanent

bodies

water

, warm enough for vigorous vegetation, and one in which

rainfall

and

evaporation

are

balanced

so that

there

are

large

fluctuations in water

levels.

Also

, the large accumula

tions from

the annual

plants are desirable

in peat formation

over the smaller volume

produced by

biennial

and

evergreen

plants.

The most common peat-forming plants,

which usually

predominate

over

other

types

vegetation

(see

Harper

1910)

are trees

heath shrubs

weeds and grasses,

lilies

reeds

mt-ft jia

'l* nro a

S r'1i

* *r -u*s ra ** *

0 Vt/

n11|

FLORIDA MINERAL INDUSTRY

a combination

carbon,

oxygen,

and hydrogen.

Because of

complex

structure

and

chemical

composition

cellulose

easily

decomposed when

attacked by bacteria and

oxygen so

that

new

combinations

chemical

formed and the plant decays if it fall

elements

on aerated soil.

rapidly
Where

plant is covered or

saturated

by water the

rate of

decay

is slow as atmospheric oxygen is largely excluded and the dis-

integration

organisms

depends

on the

amount

oxygen

present and necessary for their existence.

In fact the disin-

tegration

usually

slow

that

chemically

active

elements

, such as nitrogen,

oxygen,

and hydrogen,

are released

so much more rapidly than carbon,

the least active element in

cellulose

that most of the carbon remains.

In the formation

peat

(C62H72024)

from

cellulose

72H1o2060o)

oxygen

and

hydrogen are released as water

and

oxygen

are

combined

(H,O)

various

and carbon

gases

such

, hydrogen,
as carbon

dioxide

(CO,

and methane or marsh

gas

(CH4)

Soper

and Osbon

,1922)

The following

simplified chemical reaction

peat formation is typical:

C72H 120o0
(Cellulose)

CH0
2H(Peat)
(Peat)

24 +

HO

(Water)

0, NH,
(Gases)

Uses

Both

uses

and

problems

been discussed fully by Davis

(1911)

production c
and Haanel

peat

(1926)

have

and

the following comments concern Florida specifically

tries deficient in

a fuel.

There

coal and

is no commercial

e principal
production

use of

. In coun-
peat is as

of peat as a fuel

Florida

coal and

which

because

with fuel

have

would

oil from

advantages

have

the Gulf

higher

compete
Coast oi

heating

with

1 fields

Alabama

both

capacity

and

lower production

portation

costs.

difficulties

However,

during the

arising

war

present
a small

trans-
plant

could possibly operate at a profit in Florida should the short-

age of

coal

and fuel

become

more

acute.

After the

war

this
coal

plant would have

and

coke

and

possibilities

refining

production of

resultant

tars

char

and

n 4 . 1 1

q '

FLORIDA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY-BULLETIN TWENTY-FOUR

use of both muck and

peat in Florida is in agriculture either

as a fertilizer

humus,

or used

filler

direct

directly

application

as a soil

When

soils
used

deficient

soil

land is called hammock

or muck land and utilized for pastur-

age

and

celery

cultivation

and

sunflower

sugar

seed.

cane,

Where

vegetables,

grain

deposit

crops,
applied

directly to the soil without drying or treating, care should be

taken to

test the soil and,

dolomite should be used with it.

when applied to acid soils,

Peat and muck

lime or
used to

some extent in Florida to retain moisture in lawns, as a stable

litter,

compounding

stock

feed,

and

when

mixed

with

manure,
Panama

compost.

City

has

Kimbrel's

recently

Florida

experimented

Humus

with

Company,
manufac-

ture of peat fiber pads to be used as a building insulation and

has

reported

considerable

success.

Mining and Production
Mining of peat and muck is comparatively simple as there

is no overburden

other than

water and green

plants.

Where

is possible

one

company

peat

finds

and
less

muck

pits

are

expensive

drained,

mine

under

although

water

Where the

pit is drained and

the material is applied

soils

green

vegetation

is found to

be detrimental

because of

tendency

undecayed

material

"burn"

the crop,

and

it is removed with great care by some producers.

ducers

their

The

have

not found

product,
drained

and
peat

this

green

is mined

and

plant
with

muck

material

Other pro-
detrimental

peat or muck.

mined

hand

shovels

and

cable-bucket

diggers,

while

that

covered

water

mined by a dragline excavator
to dry and then be shredded, o

. The material may be allowed
r it may be loaded' directly into

trucks
drying

delivery.

platforms

The

(fig.

larger

and

companies

drying

sheds

have

concrete

in which

moisture content of the peat is reduced to a minimum.

drying

fertilizer t

material

make

shredded

compost.

and

muck

cooked,

or mixed

companies

After
with
their

I91 a. ~a r- j

I __ _

I _

d

I1~_ J

FLORIDA MINERAL INDUSTRY

pits

adjacent to

large cities have an

economic advantage

over those more distantly located.

In counties which have no

commercial

production the farmer may supply

his own needs

from

local

swamps

and

bogs.

record

kept

this

I? rl *I 9

t -~:r.
1 --S

Figure 11.

Concrete

drying area of the Florida

Humus Company,

Zellwood
in July

, Orange County,
19. 1932.

showing method

of drying.

Plant

as it was

material

, and the production figures do

not represent the full

volume of humus that is mined and

used in Florida.

Six companies were producing peat and four were produc-

muck

Florida

1941.

Two

each

were

located

Orange,

Brevard

, Bay

and Putnam

counties

and one each in

Volusia and Sarasota

duction

went

into

Counties.

agriculture

The larger part of this

fertilizer

filler

and

pro-
soil

conditioner, but no attempt is made to separate the production

according to its uses.
that of diatomite, inc

The production of peat and muck with
luded here because of its association and

as there is only one producer of diatomite in Florida,

is shown

table

Table 9-Production of Peat

1940

, Muck
d 1941

, and Diatomite for

Ain 1

1QA1

FLORIDA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY-BULLETIN TWENTY-FOUR

CRUSHED

STONE 23

Introduction

The crushed stone

industry

has

expanded

greatly

during

last

increasing
short tons

few

years,

from

approximate

1,359,350

in 1940 and

short

tons

volume

1939

to 5,014,753 short tons

production
> 3,460,609

1941.

The

value of this stone was $1,257,115 in 1939,

$3,035,483 in 1940,

and

$4,533,478

1941.

This

increase

has

been

due

greater use of

concrete

building industry

and

con-

struction

military

projects

Florida.

Crushed

stone

is produced from

limestone

, dolomite,

and

flint

rock

Florida

and

large

part

this

material

used as

concrete aggregate,

road

base courses

and for

road

surfacing.
portation,

Each industry has problems of production,

and

crushed stone is

marketing

that

no exception.

The

peculiar
industry

itself

trans-

and

has to compete

with the Birmingham slag, a by-product of the iron industry,

which

can

be marketed at a low price.

In fact,

price of

crushed stone in Florida is so
a large part of the market price

low that the freight charge is
e, and transportation is there-

fore
and

important

failure

tractors

and

and

may

an enterprise.

temporarily

abandon

them

lease
when

difference

For

pits

their

this

between

reason

success

many

vicinity

purpose

has

been

con-
job,

served.

Sometimes mining is continued in such

pits to supply a small

local

broader

demand

market.

permanent

struction

rarely

However,

plant

may

a highway

there

also

attempt

demand
fluctuate

or building

greatly

in the

) supply
product

The

marketing

con-
area

may

create

a large

demand

a time

which

will

drop

project

is completed.

The

centralization

of the

industry near

Ocala

and Miami

has

simplified

marketing,

but

same

time

large

number
portional

f plants
market

grouped

each

so closely

plant.

The

has

reduced

crushed

pro-

rock

Miami area competes with

that of the Tamna-Ocala area and

FLORIDA MINERAL INDUSTRY

rock are conditions that are not

desirable.

Flint layers and

boulders

occurring

soft

limestone

in the

Ocala

area

are bothersome because they are numerous,

break machinery,

and increase the labor and

production

costs

by the

necessity

of their removal.

This flint might become an asset if it were

sold to local flint crushers or if

a flint crusher were operated

limestone

company

There

is no such

arrangement,

in spite of the fact that local

flint crushers often

not run

at capacity because of the lack of material, generally supplied

by farmers from

boulders

in their fields.

Another

difficulty

in mining the soft Ocala limestone is the large number of clay

filled
stone.

holes

The

and

solution

channels

inclusion

which

much

penetrate

clay

lime-

lowers

value of the limestone as a binder in road bases

chief use.

removal

removed
around t
material.

is at
hand,

a right

and

objectionable

cost

as most

an excessive

area

clay

amount

waste

entails

in labor,

must

mining

time

and

These

difficulties

mining,

marketing,

and

location

quarries

and

crushers

differ

with

locality

but

must

overcome for the enterprise

be successful

and

with

care-

study

methods

may

devised

solve

them.

The

solution

a difficult

problem

gives

producer

economic

advantage
problem.
excessive

Where

cost

competitor
production

who
and

product

has

failed

marketing

solve

problems

is proportionately

higher

and

decreases

as problems

overcome.

Limestone

Types of
flint rock

Crushed Stone in Florida

and dolomite are crushed in Florida.

This crushed stone includes rock

either with a high

crushing

strength

used

as aggregate

concrete

and

road

surfacing,

or with a high

calcium

carbonate

content

used

in road

base

courses.
hard cr

flint

High

'ystalline

rock

crushing
limestone
Alachua,

strength

characteristic

Brooksville-Tampa

Marion

and

Sumter

area

counties

nur?'a o 1 Hinn ilni mE-n nfd P^O n

Mor nnl-ci

o n/i so ro avf'o nnrinti na

I

FLORIDA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY-BULLETIN TWENTY-FOUR

for road

bases

and for surfacing

county

roads

and

which

known as "Ocala Road Base Material

or "Ocala Lime Rock

and

harder

and

more

sandy

limestone

known

as Miami

oolitic

lime

rock.

The

"Ocala

Lime

Rock"

is mined

mid-Peninsula

counties

and

"Miami

Oolitic

Lime

Rock"

in Broward and Dade counties.
Expansion and Opening New Quarries

Florida,

outcrop,
operators

where

prospective

about

surficial
operator

problems

sands
should

mining,

generally

consult

hide

established

marketing,

and

transportation.

Before

expensive

plant

erected

money

invested

in expansion

producer

and

pros-

pect

should

sure

an adequate

deposit

suitable

purpose.

The

general

aspects

area

can

obtained

from the Florida Geological Survey

but in areas where there

few

mines

and

outcrops

proposed

quarry

should

thoroughly

problems
available

prospected

should
should

before

anticipated
estimated.

any
and

money

amount

Where

invested;

material

deposit

used

road

base

courses

and

a high

calcium

carbonate

content is

desired

, a churn drill may be used to obtain samples

chemical

analyses,

provided

free from cavings of the overlying sand

samples

and

are

clay

collected
However.

where the rock to be mined is to be used in concrete,

strength

and abrasion tests are necessary and core drills must be used

to obtain a sample of sufficient size.

The State Road Depart-

ment

has

estimated

operating

cost

core

drilling

between

$0.22

per foot for a

and

$1.61

period

foot

years.

and

This

an average
cost includes

$0.51

the cost

relocating

other
feet.

less

and
The

and

drill

based

costs

churn

changing

on holes
operating

drill

from

varying

a churn

should

drill

one

project

depths

are

employed

an-
400

considerably

where

possible

because of the saving in

production costs.

Once

extent

a deposit

known

approximate

__

FLORIDA MINERAL INDUSTRY

tons

present in

the deposit.

However,;.care should

taken

estimate

tonnage

unusable

material

such

as flint

rock

and

clay

and

sand

filled

cavities

limestone

, and

subtract this from the total.
The thickness of the overburden can be determined by the

drill holes

or by trenching the overburden

top of the

rock.

Trenching

has

advantage

in mining

Florida

careous

rock

that an

estimate of the

volume of

clay-

and

filled

cavities

commercial

can

rock

has

more
very

easily
little

determined.

this

Some

cavity

and

overburden of nearly all is

less than 25 feet.

Once the over-

burden

has

been

removed

depth

which

rock

can

be mined governs the amount of profit.

In Florida

, the depth

of mining corresponds closely to the proximity of the ground-

water

surface

and

mines

on high

elevations

generally

have economic advantage over those at lower elevations. In
the limestone mining the overburden is generally less on hills

than
runs

in valleys,

higher

but

because

amount

quarry

presence

waste

a large

generally

number

clay-filled caves and fissures.

Uses

The

Florida

State

Road

Department

used the greater part of the production of

has

past

crushed rock

years
of all

types,

have

been

increases

largely

in production

absorbed

military

during

1940

and

construction.

1941
Soft

limestone was used

principally in 1941 in road bases,

airport

runways,

bindin

g agent

fills

harder

limestone

, flint,

and dolomite in

concrete aggregate and road surfacing.

The

Federal

and

State

specifications

rock

approximately

same

product

phasis,

and

must

road

compete

pass

base

a producer

qualify

materials

and

must

know what

a contract.

binding

The

agents,

test
em-
on a

high

content

calcium

and

important characteristic of

. S

. -

magnesium

concrete

* S

carbonate
aggregate

*

-.

whereas
sa high

- --- -- --------- ---A- U1I1, -- IU.- A---A

q'

FLORIDA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY-BULLETIN TWENTY-FOUR

that

each

issues

covering

crushed

rock.

State

and

federal

specifications are

practically the same,

and for completeness

State

tion

Road

Department

are included in

and

various

railroad

the discussions of the specific

specifica-
uses that

follow:

Figure 12.

Kendrick
massive
methods,

The Ocala Lime Rock Corporation's limestone pit, near

, Marion County, in the SE

occurrence of the Ocala

machine

for drilling

sw 4

limestone,

shot

Sec. 23
mining

holes

, T14S, R21E. The
and transportation

are shown.

ramp

leading to the crusher is in the lower right corner.

Concrete

aggregate

Local

stone

has

compete

with

slags

from

Birmingham

iron

district

and

Florida

superphosphate

industry

as a

concrete aggregate,

and speci-

fications for each aggregate differ

In general,

specifications

include

limits

on the

cent

loss

due

abrasion

degree of

soundness or the

presence of

incipient cracks,

and

the breaking strength of a concrete made with the aggregate.

Abrasion

Laboratory,

tested

Gainesville

State

Florida

Road

, by

Department

rotating

Testing

approximately

rouigh

cubes

ag~re~gae..

waiPhinp"

a.nnrnximra.telv

SJ.

. .. ... ...

FLORIDA MINERAL INDUSTRY

Miami

oolite

whose

thin-bedded,

cavernous

angularity

gives

an excessive

abrasion

loss.

The

Miami

oolite,

when

crushed
material

size

aggregate,

and

use

abrasic
d will

dislocates

tests

compare

made

nearly
on the

favorably

friable

aggregate

with

any

limestone

aggregate.

Soundness

might

result

a measure

disintegration

incipient

cracks

concrete.

which
regular

test

is made

soundness

State

Road

Department,

the Deval

abrasion

test

replacing it,

and

generally no

speci-

fiction

soundness

issued.

There

is no need

soundness

freezes in
cracking
aggregate
soundness

Florida

concrete.

may

alternating

rarely
When

weak

The aggregate is

freezing

severe

other

and

enough

tests

material

thawing,

cause

indicate

then

that

tested

soaked in sodium-sulphate solu-

tion

lizing,

and

dried

the solution

pores and

thereby causing great internal stress.

cracks crystal-
The amount of

disintegration

and

number

treatments

necessary

complete

While

disintegration

some

estimate

determines

degree

strength

E soundness.
materials is

gained

from

abrasion

test,

best

and

final

test

concrete

aggregate

test a

block

concrete

made

from

the aggregate.

and

This

tested

test is made

block

has

under standard

a strength

equal

conditions
or higher

than

a similar concrete

block

made

with

same

amounts

cement

and

water

but

with

a standard

aggregate,

passed.

For

limestone

flint

and

dolomite

qualify for the

con-

create aggregate in the State roads the type A aggregate when

subjected

loss

Deval

exceeding

abrasion

cent,

test for

and

Type

stone

shall

aggregate

show

shall

show a los

not exceeding 6 per cent.

The dry rodded weight

cubic

foot

when

tested

standard

methods

shall

not less than 90 pounds for concrete aggregate or 85

pounds

test

FLORIDA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY-BULLETIN TWENTY-FOUR

substances

(see State Road Department specifications)

. The

dry

rodded

weight

cubic

foot

shall

less

than

pounds

use

bituminous

mixtures

and

surface

treat-

ments

, and not less than 75 pounds for use in Portland cement

concrete.

The

slag

shall

show

a loss

greater

than

per cent when subjected to

the Deval abrasion

test.

The

State
rock

round

following

Road

that

charts

Department

have

gravel

been

and

(table
tests

used

and

made

concrete

Birmingham

averages

on limestone

aggregate.

slag

have

been

and

flint

Florida
included

for comparison.

Concrete

free
and

from

aggregate

disintegrated

adherent

coatings.

should
pieces,

The

hard

salt,

, strong,

alkali

following

durable

, vegetable

taken

and

matter,

from

specifications of the

Florida State

Road Department.

"The

weight

of extraneous substance

shall

lowing percentages:

not exceed

Per Cent

Coal
Clay
Soft

and lignite ......................................................................
lum ps ...........................................................................
fragm ents ........................................................................

Cinders and
Free shells

Sticks

clinkers

0.05
10.00
0.50

Loss

(wet) ............
v decantation

"The sum of the percentages of all materials noted in above table

shall

not exceed

The State Road Department has made an

extended study

of the sizes and

concrete.

The

after setting,

State

density

denser

rock

concrete

greater the strength

Road Department recommends

necessary to

or the

make

less

of the

that

voids

concrete.
greatest

best
t has
The
dens-

can

be obtained from a mix

a fine with a large aggre-

gate.

This works a hardship on some producers as they have

stock

intermediate

sizes

or sell

them

a low

price,

thus lowering their margin

of profit.

This disadvantage has

been

overcome

by a few producers who sell

intermediate

Table 10--Abrasion
Division

and Accelerated

of Tests,

State

Soundness Tests made

Road

Department

by the

of Florida.

Producer

Florida

Crushed Stone Co.

M. M.

Thomas

Ocala

Standard Rock Co., Standard

Alachua County Stone Co.,
High Springs

Central Rock Co., Linden

Fernald and Gray Quarries,

, Tarpon

Springs

Composite

Composite

Material

Limestone

Limestone

Limestone

Flint

Flint

Flint

Flint

Flint

Limestone

Limestone

Limestone

Slag

Source

Brooksville

Per cent wear

Deval

Quarry

Camp, quarry

Camp, stock pile

Zuber, stock pile

Standard, stock pile

High Springs

High Springs

I. Berner siding

New Port Richey

New Port Richey

Miami

Birmingham, Alabama

Accelerated

soundn

affected by sodium

18

Passes

48

44
(average of 7 s;

16.4
'average of 6 samples)
12.5
average of 4 samples)

Table 11-Unit

Weights

Division of Tests,

of Coarse

Aggregates

made

State Road Department of Florida

June 23

1939

Grade
no.*

Weight in
pounds
per
cubic foot

Brooksville
limestone
(Tampa
formation)

Birmingham
slag

Thomas
lint rock
Ocala

Newsom

flint

rock

Williston

Griffin

flint

rock

High
Springs

Miami
oolitic

lime

rock

Dry rodded

Dry rodded

Dry rodded

Dry rodded

Dry rodded

Damp loose

Dry rodded

Dry rodded
Damp loose

(30) 94.0

(2) 92.0

(15) 94.0

(23) 85.7

( 1) 83.0

(11) 83.2

(11)

(23)
(21)

(24) 79.2

(34) 83.3

(18) 72.6

(10)

( 4) 73.0

( 9) 77.8

(11) 63.5

...........--.... -

...... -... --.----------

( 1) 75.5

* ... .. - .. --

- - ... .. - .... -

. ..--------......-.-... .

( 5) 76.8

( 1) 71.0

( 2) 64.7

* ............. .

7.................

( 4) 75.0

-- .......... *.

.............. ....

................ ..

Note:

above

are unit

weight

submitted to the Division of Tests over a

are compiled

weights

to give

of these

calculations.

The:

averages

of samples

period of years and

a fairly accurate indication

materials
y do not

for
cover

ise

in estimates

all conditions

of the unit

and
and (

rough
circum-

stances since the coarse aggregate from any source may vary

from

time

to time

as the character of

the stratum

of rock,

or the ore from

which

the slag

comes

varies

limits of gradation permissible for the above g
aggregate are such that the unit weight of an

same
period.

source

may

vary

Figures shown in

of tests used in

appreciably
L parentheses

determining the

for the
repress

unit weight.

* See

Standard

specifications

for road

bridge

construction. Florida

State Road Department.

194

tf

FLORIDA MINERAL INDUSTRY

has

been

found

that

flint

has

disadvantage

smooth

that

glassy sides

crushed

in a similar

which

limestone

manner

has
The

lower the
a coating

sharp

cementing

fine

edge

quality,

dust

flint

that

and
acts

likewise

quire

a greater

use

sand.

Slag

has

best

cementing

quality

but

local

slags are expensive

production

in peninsular

slag

small

Florida

and

and local

imported
products

are preferred over those out of State.

Road

base

material

Almost

road

base

courses

are

constructed of limestone in

peninsular

Florida but in western

Florida
cheaper

stone

sand-clay

and

fillers

substitute

production

western Florida

base

are

sometimes

limestone.

centered

the largest

limestone

about

potential

Holmes

more

The

Ocala

available

road

and

producing

Washington,

base

Miami.
area of

and

and

lime-

road

Jackson

counties
courses.

where

this

most

limestone

roads
were

have

sand-clay road

developed

Florida

base

would

have

three strategically

located areas

from

which

road

base

- S a

FLORIDA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY-BULLETIN TWENTY-FOUR

limestone

could

supplied

Florida

a minimum

transportation

costs.

Because of the nature of its occurrence

, the specifications

for road

base course

material

vary for each limestone.

The

State Road Department has specifications for two limestones,

"The

The

Ocala

Lime

"Ocala Lime

Rock"
Rock"

and
is a

Miami

general

term

Oolite

Lime

originally

Rock.

applied

to the limestone near Ocala and it formerly included only the

Ocala

formation

but

now

applies

soft

limestone

beds

the younger Suwannee limestone and Tampa formation.

The

limestone outcropping in

western

Florida

qualifies

as "Ocala

Lime

Rock.

The

"Miami

Oolite

Lime

Rock"

outcrops

Broward

Dade and Monroe counties

, and it is generally lower

calcium-magnesium

carbonate

than

"Ocala

Lime

Rock

" the exception

transportation

costs

being in

and

the vicinity

availability

of Miami.

make

Where

feasible

State

and

courses,

Road

Department

coquina

especially

has

mined

Anatasia

Collier

Caloosahatchee

formation

County.

Several

road
cities

marl
base

and

counties of the East

Coast have found

coquina

very

service-

able for this purpose,

but the

material

is not

crushed

gener-

ally

The high per cent of impurities in both of these forma-

tions
stone

make them a poor binder when

used for thi

compared to. other lime-

purpose.

qualify

tions

undergo
material

limestone
chemical

should

road
must

change
graded

base

courses

show

under

under

tendency

exposure

uniformly

from

State

specifica-

air-slake

weather

inches

The

down

to dust and all fine materials shall

fracture.

meet

specifications,

consist entirely

"Miami

Lime

dust of
Rock"

has to

be mined from its pits from

which all

overburden has

been removed prior to

blasting,

and must contain a minimum

per cent

calcium-magnesium

for number one rock,

carbonate

and a minimum

of 70 per

(CaMg (C03

cent for the

number two.

Oxides of

iron

and aluminum shall

not exceed

2 per cent

and any other mineral constituents shall be silica.

f

FLORIDA MINERAL INDUSTRY

surface.

clum
cent

and

shall

must

magnesium

almost

stone from

of "Brooksville
qualify for use

least

weight,

free

from

Tampa formation,

stone

in road

cent

and

organic

sold

is generally too

base courses

carbonates
i remaining

matter

The

under the trade

high

table

cal-

lime-
name

insoluble

and

can

be sold at a higher price for use as concrete aggregate.

Table

12-Chemical Analyses

of Limestone

The first seven analyses

were

of the State Road Department,
five analyses as reported by M

for Use

made

by the

the eighth

ossom.

as Road
Testing

Courses.
Division

is the average

(1925).

% %
Rock insolubles carbonates Remarks
and oxides of Ca
and Mg.
Ocala Lime Rock, Levy County
Average of 4 samples 0.62 99.38 Passes
Ocala Lime Rock, Alachua County
Average of 5 samples 2.08 97.92 Passes
Tampa formation, Pasco County
Average of 4 samples 17.40 82.60 Rejected
Ocala Lime Rock, Marion County
Average of 6 samples 0.80 99.20 Passes
Miami Oolite Lime Rock, Broward
County, 3 samples 14.40 85.60 Passes
Miami Oolite Lime Rock, Dade
County, average of 6 samples 10.80 89.20 Passes
Jackson County limestone
One sample 0.33 99.98 Passes
Washington County limestone
Average of 5 samples 2.99 97.11 Reported
by Mossom
(1925)
| __--

Railroad

ballast

The

tendency

Florida

best material that is

available on

the line of the

railroad for

ballast,
cations
western

and

there

each

Florida

a considerable

railroad.

and

here

Gravel

elasticity
is scarce,

railroads

in the
other

near

specifi-

than

enough

Birmingham

district

use slag for

ballast

so that

it is

seldom

used,

gravel

producer

preferring

product for concrete aggregate at a higher price.

-- - I

I_ _

A

Table

13-Comparative

Values

of Different

Materials

Used as Ballast on

the Florida East Coast Rai

Method

Year:

: American

Railway

Engineering

Association

railroad ballast rock

1937

Apparent specific gravity

Weight in pounds per cubic foot

145.00

131.00

167.00

167.50

Absorption at 96 hours

3.09%

2.70%

1.12%

Compression

(Ibs.

per sq.

inch)

389.00
15.25

Hardness-Loss in weight-grams
French coefficient of wear

Cementing value

Toughness

(blows

800.00

197.00
19.35

753.00

270.00
14.17
16.90
74.20

to fracture)

18,460.00

10.70
14.10
56.00
15.50

Per cent of wear

11.52

11.09

Sample

From E. P. Maule Rock Company,

From Naranja Rock Company,

Ojus,

Naranja,

Dade County.
Dade County.

Brooksville

limestone,

Brooksville,

Hernando

County.

Camoa rock, Jamaica,

Cuba.

Key

Largo

limestone

, Windleys

Island,

* A compilation of two charts, from L. C. Froham,

Monroe

County

Chief Engineer.

stE

I

FLORIDA MINERAL INDUSTRY

Engineering

Hernando
it. The I

Association

County

Miami

'(Tampa

oolite

specifications,

formation)

Ojus

limestone

and Naranja, Dade

Brooksville,
approaches

County

used if the harder portions are selected, and the Florida East
Coast Railroad Company has tested the Key Largo limestone

on Windley

Key

as a possible

ballast

on their

former

Key

West

extension.

general,

the specifications

limestone

ballast

require

only

size

and

degree

hardness.

The

softer varieties

high

cementing

of limestone

value

and

are

upon

objected t
exposure

as they

weather

have

they

harden

and

consolidate

so that

maintenance

track

made difficult.

Specifications

limestone

ballast

each

railroad

differ,

and those of the three most important railroads oper-

ating in Florida are quoted on the following pages:

Florida

East

Coast

Railway

Company

"Florida East Coast Railway uses

for ballast purposes that rock

which is

available on

its line and is securing rock for

ballast

from

points

a quarry

being

Ojus

located on

from

the lower

a quarry

East

at Naranja,

Coast

both

This rock

cannot be classified as a good ballast rock

However, it is

material

and,

available

in Florida

on the line

of this

therefore, it is used and its deficiencies accepted.

railway
Under

the conditions

on this railway the deficiencies of the material

are not serious as they would be in the northern latitudes and
under railway track of a much greater traffic density.
'... We accept the quality of rock as it comes from the quarry

specify

it to be crushed

to a size

which

pass

a 2%

inch ring and be retained on a

/2 inch ring. ..

"In the past we have used a rock from the Camoa quarries lo-

cated at Jamaica,

(Cuba)

. .. and have also used crushed slag

from

the Birmingham

district.

Each

of these

materials

was

used in

very

large quantities some years ago,

the Cuban rock

being
north

used
end."

on the south

of the line

slag

on the

The Cuban rock

(Sample 4 in Table 13)

is the best quality

ballast

and

approximates

very

closely

specifications

v

FLORIDA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY-BULLETIN TWENTY-FOUR

Atlantic Coast Line

Railroad

Company

"The ballast to be furnished shall be prepared after the follow-

manner;

: The

ledges

of stone

from

which

ballast shall be taken are to be hard ledges in the quarry.

hard

ledges

are defined

as those

ledges

which

when

struck

with a sledge hammer shall cause the sledge hammer to ring

"The

broken

stone

ballast

shall

the specifications

be manufactured

American

Railway

to conform
Engineering

Association

for stone

ballast,

with

proviso

that

the maximum

size of broken stone

ballast shall

be 2/2

inches and

the mini-

mum

remove

shall

be %

the%

inch

inch.

stone

contractor

by pa

ssing

may,
same

his option,

over

a screen

with one inch

perforation.

inch stone so

removed will

not be loaded into ballast cars.
"The material which will conform strictly to these specifications

satisfactory

for ballast.

The softer

rock

compacts,

partially

consolidates

hardens

under

the ties

upon

con-

tinued
ballast.
cations

exposure

air and

is not

satisfactory

as material for

We have not attempted to draw any strict specifi-

for hardness and

durability

other than

as provided

the accompanying

above specifications.

Seaboard

Air

Line

Railway

we are using the crushed

limestone from

the Brooksville

territory and Ojus rock from the Miami territory

. . ur spec-

fications

, covering ballast, are only applicable

to the limestone

and Ojus rock for size, since these specifications were

ily made for stone, slag and gravel

primar-

ballast.

"Specifications for

stone

ballast are

as follows:

"Stone

use in the manufacture

of ballast

shall

break

angular fragments

which

range

with

uniformity

between

the maximum and minimum size specified; it shall test high in

weight,

toughness,

wear,

and soundness

but low in

cementing

qualities and will be free from dirt,

dust

loam or rubbish.

"Tests may be made from time to time at the option of the pur-

chaser and shall

be made

at a

testing

laboratory

selected

the purchaser,

made

quarry

necessary.

Tests

but visual

prior

for weight,

inspection
shipments

toughness,

other

as often

wear

tests

shall

as considered

soundness

shall be in accordance

with A. R. E.

A. Specifications for Stone

Ballast.

FLORIDA MINERAL INDUSTRY

"Class 'B' Ballast will range between the size which
will in any position pass through a one and one-half
(11/) inch ring, and the size which will not pass
through a three quarters (%4) inch ring."
Riprap: Riprap is a general term applying to large ir-
regular stones which are used in construction to buttress
land from waves, currents, and tides. Its chief use is along
breakwaters, jetties, spillways for dams, or for shore pro-
tection. Almost any hard, durable stone will serve as riprap
and ship ballast is often used in Florida. Coquina blocks
from the Anastasia formation and the harder limestones
about Tampa make suitable riprap. The nearest deposit of
hard rock is usually used because transportation is such a
large part of the delivered cost, riprap bringing a very low
market price, and the flint from the soft Ocala limestone
cannot compete in the riprap market for this reason. Riprap
quarries are usually opened near the construction project and
closed at its termination. Only occasionally are established
producers able to sell their by-product as riprap.
Other Uses: Under this head are included the by-products
resulting from the production of crushed stone for use in
concrete aggregate and as road base materials. Large ton-
nages of limestone are used in the manufacture of cement
and lime but these are not part of the crushed stone business
and are not included here, but under separate headings. The
alert producer of crushed stone is anxious to market his
entire production at a profit. His entire output may be
utilized in concrete aggregate, road base materials or riprap,
but where there is a tendency to over stock certain sizes, or
where unsuitable rock has to be moved in mining, outlet in
by-products should be sought. The flint rock in the soft
limestone road base mines could be crushed for concrete ag-
gregate and a variety of other uses, outlined in the chapter
on flint rock. The concrete aggregate producer usually has
an accumulated stock of fines which can find an output as
agricultural lime for soil conditioning or as stock feed and
chicken grit. The fines and some of the larger aggregate
could be used in concrete blocks and tile, and some com-
panies have realized this possibility and operate a concrete
products plant in conjunction with their mine and crusher.
Some have found this cement concrete by-product so suc-

83

84 FLORIDA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY-BULLETIN TWENTY-FOUR

cessful that the large part of their income now comes from
it.
Competitive Conditions and Markets
The markets for the Florida crushed stone are entirely
local and vary as business conditions and construction varies.
Almost the entire output has been used by the State Road
Department and by county and city road utility crews in past
years, but military construction in Florida has more than
doubled the output since 1938. As has been shown, the
Florida crushed limestone does not meet rigid specifications
for railroad ballast yet it is used because of the low cost of
its delivered price, in competition with better out-of-State
materials which must include freight charges in their de-
livery price. The general procedure of the railroad is to
use the materials that are located on the line regardless of
its suitability, the low cost of the material more than off-
setting the increase in maintenance costs. Crushed flint is
not used for ballast as its quantity is limited and flint pro-
ducers prefer to sell their product for specialized uses, thereby
bringing a higher price per ton.
The hard variety of limestone and dolomite used for
concrete compete with slag from the Birmingham district
and the degree of success of such competition increases in
ratio to the distance from Birmingham. Thus hard limestone
producers are more successful in the Peninsula than in
western Florida. However, the potentially successful pro-
duction of limestone road base course material from Holmes,
Washington, and Jackson counties of western Florida again
must be emphasized.
FLINT
Flint, or chert, is a cryptocrystalline form of silica or
quartz which occurs in limestone in the form of boulders
and as replacements of fossil shells and skeletons. Complete
weathering of limestones has left this flint as residual
boulders, in some instances, which have been incorporated in
younger sands, clays, and gravels. The color of flint is gen-
erally some shade of brown or gray, and while the texture of
the rock usually is compact a small amount has a high poros-
ity. Crushed flint generally has sharp edges, either splintering
or breaking into rounded cusps. The sharp edges increase
the need of sand when flint aggregate is used in concrete and

FLORIDA MINERAL INDUSTRY

the general opinion is that flint is hard on tires when used
in surfacing roads.
For the use of the purchaser: desiring to know the char-
acteristics of Florida flint the following salient features have
been determined by the Testing Division of the State Road
Department at Gainesville, Florida, over a period of years.20
Due to the extreme variability of this flint these figures
should not be used where strict values are necessary. The
apparent specific gravity of flint is from 2.25 to 2.34, its dry-
rodded weight ranges from 72 to 84 pounds per cubic foot,
and the per cent absorption of the aggregate is from 3.0 to
7.0. These figures may be compared with those for crushed
limestone and slag in the charts on pages 71, 72, and 75.
Occurrence and Distribution
Flint boulders and layers are common in the soft lime-
stones of Florida, and their removal constitutes a mining
difficulty of the road base material industry. No commercial
use has been made of these boulders mined from the lime-
stone pits as all of the present production is from boulders
of the flint embedded in the sand and clay terrace deposits
outcropping principally in Alachua, Marion, and Sumter
counties. These boulders have been reworked into the terrace
deposits from their original positions in limestone, and their
occurrence is very irregular.
The largest potential area lies in Holmes and Washington
counties (Vernon, 1942a, pp. 130-133) where boulders occur-
ring in alluvial deposits are particularly abundant. With
present mining conditions a small crusher could be operated
here at considerable profit, being assured of a substantial
deposit. The writer estimates that enough boulders have
been accumulated by farmers from their fields to produce
50,000 short tons or approximately 5 years production at
present methods. This area is one of the few in Florida
which offers possibilities of shallow mining at places where
the boulders have been concentrated, and such mining should
uncover a large reserve.
Mining Methods
The flint producer depends entirely upon buying the raw
product from local farmers and woodsmen. The small flint
20 Letter dated Sept. 22, 1939, from H. C. Weathers, Testing Divi-
sion Engineer.

86 FLORIDA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY-BULLETIN TWENTY-FOUR

boulders are turned up in plowing and accumulate at the
field edges. Large boulders are dug out by hand or dyna-
mited, and in some sections a considerable part of the cash
income for a season may come from digging these boulders
from fields and flatwoods. The boulders are hauled by truck
and wagon to the crusher by the farmer who is paid on a ton-
nage basis. The large boulders are hand broken and the
flint is crushed in a jaw-typed crusher, screened to specifica-
tion, washed, and loaded on either gondolas or trucks.
Uses
All of the flint produced in Florida is used locally, and
all may be classified as crushed stone. Its use in Florida is
as a concrete aggregate or for surfacing small secondary
roads and walks. Generally there is a preference for a non-
calcareous aggregate where concrete is to be used adjacent
to sea water or where resistance to abrasion is a desirable
factor, as on concrete steps or walkways.
The fines from flint crushers are overstocked as there is
little demand for fine crushed stone aggregate in Florida.
Some of this material could be used in the manufacture of
abrasives; especially is there a need for abrasive paper and
cloth in Florida, and a plant in peninsular Florida should
find a ready market.
While the lack of a dependable source of flint would not
support the expense of erecting a permanent kiln, the possi-
bility of producing ceramic flint should be investigated.
Flint for use in pottery is calcined in a kiln much the same
as limestone to produce lime, and then ground to pass a 140
mesh screen. With further pulverizing to pass a 200 or 300
mesh screen the flint can be used for an inert extender in
paints and varnishes and as a filler in wood paste.
Nodules of flint are used in tube and pebble mills for
grinding various minerals because of its hardness and re-
sistance to abrasion and the lack of iron stain which results
with the use of steel balls. Formerly all of this flint was
imported, being brought over as ballast, and whether an
enterprise making these nodules succeeds in Florida will
depend largely upon the price of the material and the dis-
tance to the industrial centers where it is used. These
nodules could be produced in Florida by roughly crushing the

FLORIDA MINERAL INDUSTRY

flint to the size desired and then rounding in abrading ma-
chines.
Because of the limited supply and difficult mining condi-
tions the future of the flint industry in Florida is in the
specialization of the use of flint, and not in competition with
other crushed stone aggregate which can be produced in
volume from bedded deposits of known extent at a price
so low as to reduce the flint producer's margin of profit below
successful competition.
Flint or chalcedony replacements of fossil shells and
corals in the Tampa formation and Alum Bluff beds are
particularly abundant in the vicinity of Tampa and in the
vicinity of White Springs along the Suwannee River. Hookers
point and Ballast Point in Hillsborough Bay were formerly
the classic collection localities for both replaced shells and
corals but war industries and reservations have nearly ob-
literated these. However, excellent silicified coral heads are
abundant along the Hillsborough River in Hillsborough
County, and near White Springs in Hamilton County.
These animal shells and coral skeletons were composed
of calcium carbonate when the animal secreted them, but this
material has been replaced by chalcedony in such a manner
that even the finest detail of the original is preserved. Exact
replacements of shells by chalcedony are rare and the abun-
dance and preservation of these are unexcelled. They are,
therefore, valued for student study sets and collectors items,
and good collections are in the possession of the Florida
Geological Survey, Tallahassee, Florida, through the gener-
ous gift of James G. Manchester (1941) who also maintains
a collection, and Ernest Weidhaas of New York City.
Some of these replacements of coral heads are not com-
plete and are in the form of closed cavities or geodes, the
insides of which are lined with crystals of quartz or with
round, mammillary, and irregular growths of chalcedony.
These are likewise valued as collectors items, and lately there
has been developed a trade in cutting and polishing the
chalcedony, from both geodes and full replacements, as semi-
precious stones.

87

88 FLORIDA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY-BULLETIN TWENTY-FOUR

Production and Market
Flint production in Florida is limited by the availability
of the flint which occurs as irreglar boulders in sand and
clay deposits, and which is produced only through the acci-
dent. of its discovery. Most plants do not work to capacity,
partly because of lack of material, and partly due to a low
market. This irregularity does not establish confidence in
the industry and a strong effort should be made to stabilize
the production. The failure of several producers is directly
due to the overestimation of their potential supply. Pro-
duction on a large scale is not feasible and only the small
inexpensive plant, where the margin between cost and selling
price is high enough to insure a profit, is successful. The
low selling price and high transportation costs do not allow
competition in distant markets. Instead production should
be based upon local and specialized uses. Such a limited
market area in itself creates an irregular production in that
building projects within the area cause a large demand that
ceases with its completion.
The location of flint crushers have been influenced by the
centralization of purchases of concrete aggregate in the
vicinity of Ocala and Tampa. While centralization aids the
consumer in his purchases, the market area of each producer
is thereby decreased, but this centralization offers the possi-
bility of a coalition of the flint production where large con-
tracts can not be supplied by an individual producer.
In the area of present production it is doubtful that the
flint market would support another crusher, but there is the
possibility of expansion by developing a new market in
western Florida with production of the flint boulders in
Holmes and Washington counties. Such a market would
compete with the Birmingham slag, but a small crusher
should be successful in supplying a limited area where trans-
portation costs give it an economic advantage.
Five producers crushed flint in 1941, The Alachua County
Stone, Inc., and Coy Thomas in Alachua County, M. M.
Thomas Flint Rock Corp., and Standard Rock Co., in Marion
County, and the Central Rock Co., in Sumter County. Their
combined production, sold as road metal and concrete aggre-
gate, showed a considerable drop in 1941 as compared to

FLORIDA MINERAL INDUSTRY

1940. The production of flint in Florida since 1935 is given
in table 14.

Table 14-Flint Production Since 1935
Amount Value
1935 ........................................................ 7,500 short tons $ 17,475
1936 ....................................................... 44,490 short tons 93,444
1937 ........................................................ 43,327 short tons 93,328
1938 ........................................................ 43,820 short tons 100,033
1939 ....................................................... 59,290 short tons 130,980
1940 ....................................................... 80,814 short tons 174,709
1941 .......................................................... 48,600 short tons 113,385

Flint is the only mineral product in Florida which dropped
in the amount and value of its production in 1941. All other
products show gains for this year, and the decrease of flint
production came at a time of increased use of concrete and
a strong constructional program.
LIMESTONE 3o
Introduction
Limestone is the calcareous end member of a calcium-
magnesium carbonate group of sedimentary rock, the other
end being the magnesium portion or dolomite. The series
ranges from pure dolomite, which is a mixture of 45.7 per
cent MgCO, and 54.3 per cent CaCOs, to pure limestone, or
CaCO.,. Limestones with less than 5 per cent MgCO3 are
called high-calcium limestones, those with less than 40 per
cent MgCO3 are dolomitic limestones. The separation of these
carbonate rocks is purely arbitrary as all gradations between
the extremes exist, and in Florida the rock that is more than
40 per cent MgCO, is called dolomite. All of this calcareous
series may contain impurities of clay and sand, being a sedi-
mentary rock, and as these increase in percentage they
qualify the limestone or dolomite, with the predominant im-
purity making part of the name, as sandy limestone or ar-
gillaceous dolomite. Where these impurities approximately
equal the per cent of carbonate and the rock is soft and
earthy it is called a marl (see pages 119-121). Marls

so Problems of mining, marketing, utilization, and the occurrence
of limestone in Florida are discussed in these publications listed in the
bibliography: Bowles (1918, 1919, 1923a, 1923b, 1923c, 1942), Bowles
and Banks (1936), Bowles and Jensen (1941), Bowles and Myers
(1927), Burchard and Emley (1914), Lamar and Willman (1938),
Mossom (1925), Myers (1924).

89

90 FLORIDA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY-BULLETIN TWENTY-FOUR

contain impurities, such as glauconite which contains potash,
that make the marl commercially important, although none
is mined in Florida. Sometimes the shells and marine or-
ganisms are preserved and commonly the limestone is largely
composed of these remains, as are the coquina (see pages
111-116) and coraline rocks of Florida.
Florida is underlain by limestone and outcrops are com-
mon. The oldest rock outcropping in Florida, the Ocala, is
a high-calcium limestone that generally analyzes less than
3 per cent impurities. In fact limestone, dolomite, and marl
compose the large part of every formation known in Florida,
with the exception of the surficial sand and clay terrace
deposits.
Kinds and Origin
Carbonates, though practically insoluble in pure water,
are slightly soluble in water containing natural acids, notably
humic and carbonic. Thus the waters of all Florida streams,
lakes, and adjoining oceans contain small amounts of dis-
solved carbonates in the form of bicarbonates. When this
material is precipitated as a carbonate by the release of
carbon dioxide as a gas it accumulates as deposits of lime-
stone. Carbonate rocks are precipitated by chemical re-
actions, changes in physical state of the solution such as
changes in temperature and pressure, agitation of the water,
or by the use of the carbonate in the metabolic processes of
organisms whether in their tissues or whether secreted as
shells which are deposited as the organisms die.
Such precipitates may form beds of great thickness, which
upon consolidation make the rocks of the calcareous series.
Some of these still contain the fossil shells indicating their
original source, while others contain no evidence of life, its
having never been present or having been destroyed in de-
position or by later solution and replacement.
Limestone is a sedimentary rock and includes many and
varying types, different in origin, structure, texture, compo-
sition, and color. However, all have their mineral composi-
tion in common, being composed of the mineral calcite
(CaCO,), the mineral dolomite (Ca (Mg,Fe) (CO,),) or a
combination of the two. No limestones in Florida are chemi-
cally pure carbonates but contain varying percentage of im-
purities, the more common of which are iron oxides, clay,

FLORIDA MINERAL INDUSTRY

silica, alumina, vegetable matter, and sand. The color of
limestone is white and that of dolomite pink, when pure.
White limestone is common in the Peninsula, but even more
common are yellow, brown, and gray colors in both limestone
and dolomite. These colors are due to the impurities in the
rock, iron oxide making most of the colors, and vegetation
causing some of the gray.
Some of the special varieties of limestone occurring in
Florida are described below. It must be borne in mind that
these varieties grade into each other and some rock may be
made of several of the varieties either combined or inter-
bedded.
Coquina (see pages 111-116) is a lagoonal and beach
accumulation of whole and broken animal shells and sand
that is thin-bedded and has been locally and irregularly in-
durated. It outcrops on the East Coast from Duval County
south to Palm Beach County, and on the West Coast in
Pinellas, Manatee, and Sarasota counties. This material is
suitable for road base courses, building and ornamental
stone, and chicken feed.
Oolitic limestone is a granular limestone composed of
small round concretionary grains cemented together. The
name oolite was given for the resemblance of the rock to
fish roe and means egg-like. The grains are thought to have
been formed by the successive accretion of calcium carbonate
about a nucleus. Many students believe some oolites are
precipitated, and Thorp (1939, p. 292.) reported that arti-
ficial oolites have been precipitated by passing air free of
carbon dioxide through sea water. The Miami oolitic lime-
stone outcrops in Dade, Broward, and Monroe counties and
is the source for a large part of the commercial limestone
of the southern Peninsula.
Marl (see pages 119-121) is a loose, earthy mixture of
calcium-magnesium carbonates and clay in approximately
equal proportions. It is being deposited from Florida sea
waters and is present in many of the older formations.
Dolomite or magnesium limestone (see pages 106-111)
in Florida consists of a mixture of calcium and magnesium
carbonates in a brown, porous, friable to hard, crystalline
rock. The magnesium carbonate content averages better

91

92 FLORIDA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY-BULLETIN TWENTY-FOUR

than 36 per cent, and the material is used almost exclusively
as a soil conditioner, with only small amounts of the harder
crystalline dolomite being used as concrete aggregate. Com-
mercial deposits outcrop intermittently on the western Pen-
insula coast between Taylor and Sarasota counties.
Travertine is often called calcareous tufa and is deposited
by water along stream and spring courses. There is a gray
to brown, laminated, hard dense rock that occurs in the dolo-
mitic limestone of Florida which has been advertised as
travertine. The upper portion of this limestone has been
secondarily hardened and changed through partial crystal-
lization, and it has some of the structural appearances of
travertine and will take a polish. It has been used as polished
ornamental and building blocks, and is present along the
west coast of Florida from Pasco County south to Sarasota
County.
Cave limestone deposits (figure 14) are of commercial
interest only where admission is charged for entrance to the
cave. Stalactites are the icicle-shaped forms hanging from
the roof of caverns, stalagmites are similar forms rising from
the floor, and columns are formed where the two join. Cave
deposits are formed by calcium carbonates being deposited

Figure 14. Limestone Formation in the Florida Caverns State
Park, Marianna, Jackson County.

FLORIDA MINERAL INDUSTRY

from dripping water in caverns. Calcium carbonate charged
water is partially evaporated by air currents in caves, and
the pressure is less than in the rock from which it seeps, so
that carbon dioxide is given off as a gas. Both decreased
pressure and loss of carbon dioxide tend to precipitate cal-
cium carbonate, some of which is deposited on the roof and
some upon the floor from fallen drops of water. The chemical
reaction resulting in the precipitation of calcium carbonate
is as follows:
Ca(HCO3)2 >- CO2 + H2O + CaCO3
Calcium bicarbonate Carbon dioxide Water Calcium carbonate
(dissolved in water)
Loose, granular limestone is best known under the trade
name "Ocala Lime Rock" and includes limestone of several
geologic formations, the Ocala limestone, the Marianna lime-
stone, and the Suwannee limestone. Generally it is high in cal-
cium carbonate and will analyze as much as 99 per cent CaCOs.
Its commercial development centers in Alachua, Marion, and
Levy counties with a potential area of development in Wash-
ington, Holmes, and Jackson counties. It is known as a
high-calcium limestone as compared with the dolomitic or
magnesium limestones and is principally used for the manu-
facture of lime and for road base courses.
Crystalline limestone is largely derived from the Tampa
formation and is hard brown limestone, which may have
enough clay impurity to be known as argillaceous limestone,
or enough sand or silica to be an arenaceous or siliceous lime-
stone. The hard rock character is probably due to recrystal-
lization of the calcite after its deposition so that the material
was firmly indurated. The production is centered in Her-
nando County near Brooksville, and it has the trade name of
"Brooksville stone." A rock, similar in texture but approach-
ing a dolomite in composition, outcrops in Pasco, Manatee,
and Sarasota counties. Both rocks are largely used as con-
crete aggregate.
Distribution
Of the several types of limestones in the preceding dis-
cussion this chapter is concerned with oolitic, loose granular,
and crystalline limestone, the others are either noncommercial
or have been discussed on other pages as noted. All of
Florida is underlain by limestone, shell marl, and dolomite,

94 FLORIDA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY-BULLETIN TWENTY-FOUR

but these deposits are covered, for the most part, by younger
terrace sand and clay deposits which either prevent mining
or must be removed as overburden in the process of mining.
There are limestone production centers in Alachua, Brevard,
Citrus, Dade, Hernando, Levy, and Marion counties and a
potential production center in Washington and Jackson
counties. The areas of actual and possible production are
shown on figure 2. In general, western Florida, the mid-
Peninsula, and the East Coast have outcrops of limestone
suitable for road base course material, while Hernando
County, Dade and Brevard counties to a less extent, produces
concrete aggregate and railroad ballast.
The rock of all the keys of Florida is limestone and most
of the beaches of the Peninsula are formed of coral and
shell sand. The key limestones are porous and white and
fracture with difficulty, having a spongy tenacity. This rock
is believed to be of the same age as the Miami oolite.
Mining
All limestone is mined from open pits and either the dry
or wet process may be used. The quarrying method used
depends upon the use to which the rock is to be put, and
upon the specifications made for that use. Where a high
purity is desired as in lime manufacture, road base course
material, and in chemical and refining uses, care must be
taken that all overburden and impurities are kept at a mini-
mum, but impurities are of less importance where the use is
of a physical nature.
Whatever the use, there is usually an overburden present,
the removal of which increases both the mining costs and the
value of the rock. The cost of removal of the overburden
decreases in ratio to its thinness, the depth of mining, and to
the increase in value of the final product. Where high purity
is desired the overburden should be kept stripped well back
from the face of the quarry as the sand and clay topping the
limestone wash into the pit, over the pit face as well as the
broken stone on the pit floor, thereby contaminating and dis-
coloring the stone. This is especially bad where the lime-
stone is to be burned for lime and a high-quality, white lime
is desired.
The overburden is removed almost universally in Florida
by piling the material back from the quarry face by means

FLORIDA MINERAL INDUSTRY

of a dragline excavator, and occasionally by a bulldozer
tractor. Where an old pit adjoins the quarry the overburden
is piled into it unless it is being used as a water sump, other-
wise it is piled over waste land. In areas where the over-
burden is sand it is sold as fill sand or washed and sold for
aggregate. This is especially true where good structural
sand is scarce and the demand is great, as in the vicinity
of Miami. Where the product is to be concrete aggregate an
occasional producer mines the overburden and rock together
and eliminates the overburden in washing and screening the
aggregate. Small producers of building blocks and agricul-
tural limestone remove the overburden by hand, using wheel-
barrows and shovels.
After removal of overburden, care should be taken to
clean out all clay filled fissures, caves and other solution pits
to prevent this material from washing and falling into the
pit after the face is shattered in mining. This cavity filling
is very objectionable because the irregular occurrence forces
its removal by hand labor and results in a high quarry waste
and increased production costs. These caves and openings,
originally formed by circulating water and later filled with
sediment, are very irregular in plan, and the quarryman can
not avoid them but must take them as they come. Where
the product is a high-calcium limestone for use as road base
courses, up to 3 per cent of this material can be absorbed,
but in lime manufacture a high content of this material in
the quarry forces the producer to hand pick the rock.
It is generally preferable and more economical to work
as thick a bed of limestone as possible, see figure 12. In
Florida where the limestone is very homogeneous a high
quarry face can be maintained and the depth of the quarry
is controlled almost entirely by the permanent ground-water
table, the producer mining to this table and then following
the bed horizontally. The efficiency of some quarries could
be increased by changing from a dry to a wet process of
mining and using dredges where the rock extends below
ground water.
Where crushed stone is to be produced, the face of the
quarry is usually shattered by dynamite placed in holes
drilled by a churn drill. After the material has been shot,
however, the handling differs with the company and with

95

96 FLORIDA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY-BULLETIN TWENTY-FOUR

quarry conditions. The material is commonly loaded by
dragline excavator or mechanical shovel into cable-pulled
tramcars (figure 15) or dump trucks or a combination of
the two, (figure 16) in which the material is carried to the
processing plant. Some companies pile the shattered rock
with a bulldozer tractor before loading, thus keeping the
necessity of moving the heavy dragline excavator or shovel
and the loading tracks at a minimum. In the Miami area
where some of the quarry bottoms extend below the ground
water surface the rock is mined from dredges. In one such
quarry a mechanical shovel loads into a sump on the barge
from which the mined material is pumped to the crusher.
In another, a rotary disk is mounted on the intake of a suc-
tion pump which can be elevated to the desired height, where
the disk cuts the rock and the pump forces the cuttings to
the plant on the shore. Maule Industries, Incorporated, at
Ojus have one pit where both shovel and the processing plant
are mounted on barges, the material thus being mined,
crushed, screened, and loaded on barges for transportation to
the stock pile. This company also is operating a recovery
barge in the same pit by pumping from refuse dumps into
settling vats on the barge, where the fines are washed over
the top, and the coarser particles are pulled out by cable
drags. The Mills Rock Company of Miami, has found a
rotary ditchdigger serviceable in digging the soft Miami
oolite. This method has the advantage of digging and load-
ing the rock onto trucks in one operation.
For the manufacture of lime, Florida limestone is hand
picked, not only for a high chemical purity, but for size of
pieces as well. In mining, large pieces are generally broken
and then loaded by and into dump trucks for transportation
to the kiln. Pieces too small for mining are sold for road
base courses and soil conditioning. Limestone for use in
cement is mined the same as that for use in road bases, but
less trouble is taken to clean out clay filled cavities as this
material is objectionable only insofar as the clay affects the
uniformity of the cement mix. The limestone with its im-
purities is loaded directly into gondola cars for transporta-
tion to Tampa where it is mixed with more clay in the
manufacturing of cement (see pages 54-57).

Figure 15. Cable pulled dump car of the type commonly used in
the limestone pits of Florida.
Photo by the Cummer Lime and Manufacturing Company in their
limestone pit at Kendrick, Marion County.

Figure 16. The pit of The McDonald Corporation near Brooksville,
Hernando County, in the NI/2 SW1/4, Sec. 19, T22S, R20E. This pit is
greatly extended and the limestone is loaded into trucks by shovels and
reloaded to cable pulled dump cars for final transit. The truck dump
ramp is shown in the upper center.

Photo by the company.

97

98 FLORIDA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY-BULLETIN TWENTY-FOUR

Limestone Processing
Limestone for road base courses is used as it comes from
the mines, or is crushed to sizes ranging uniformly between
the fine and coarse particles and then applied. Hard crys-
talline limestone, as the Brooksville stone and some layers
in the Miami oolite, which are to be used as aggregate are
crushed in large jaw type crushers, washed, screened, and
stored in stock piles for drying. The Camp Concrete Rock
Company and the McDonald Corporation load from their
stock piles by means of a power operated belt running in a
tunnel beneath the stock piles. Individual sizes are loaded
onto the belt through trap doors opening into the tunnel.
Blocks, locally called chimney rock, are cut from the
Marianna limestone in Jackson County by numerous indi-
viduals using crosscut saws (figure 17). Only the Limestone
and Lumber Company of Marianna uses a power-driven saw,
the mechanism of which is shown in figure 18. The blocks,
as cut, are soft and friable but with weathering they case-
harden and are very serviceable for construction of small
buildings and homes. However, they have a low crushing
strength and are not readily transported. The white ap-
pearance of stone makes an attractive design when used with
red brick, and many good examples occur in the vicinity of
Cottondale and Marianna, Jackson County. Limestone build-
ing blocks have never become an important industry in
Florida because of excessive quarry waste, due to the variable
character of the rock, making it difficult to produce a uniform
product in competition with other less expensive building
products. The Marianna limestone is the most extensively
used rock because of its soft, dense character and ease of
mining.
Three companies, Mizner Products, Inc., Keystone Art
Company, and John B. Orr, Inc., mine the Key Largo lime-
stone on Windleys Key. The method of mining consists of
cutting the stone with compressed air and sand or by chan-
neling machines and outlining a block weighing approxi-
mately 10 tons and which is approximately 4 feet thick and
6 feet square. This block is jerked out and loaded onto
trucks by means of a guy derrick and transported to Miami
and West Palm Beach, where it is shaped into ornamental,
art, and dimensional stones. The stone is very porous and

Sr-- 4,q

Figure 17. Building block quarry of Richard Hartsfield in the
Marianna limestone, in NW14, Sec. 30, T5S, R9W, 2% miles north of
the junction of Florida Highway 90 with Florida Highway 1, Jackson
County. Method of cutting slabs and blocks by crosscut saws is shown.

Figure 18. Building blocks sawed from the Marianna limestone
at Marianna, Jackson County, by a power-driven disk, shown in left
foreground. This pit is operated by the Limestone and Lumber Com-
pany of Marianna and is in the NWi4 SE14, Sec. 3, T4N, R10W, just
north of Florida Road 1. The limestone is white, soft, granular, and
massive.

99

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*~ r~l: '~
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100 FLORIDA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY-BULLETIN TWENTY-FOUR

absorptive so that it is easily colored, and where density is
desired it is impregnated with cement. The stone is polished
both in its natural state and after filling with cement. In
the natural state it resembles a tufa. Stuccc and false
marble, both colored and natural, are prepared from a small
aggregate developed in shaping the large stone. This fine
aggregate was formerly discarded.

Lime Processing
Lime is calcium oxide (CaO) that has been formed by
firing limestone (CaCO,) to a temperature at which most of
its carbon dioxide (CO2) is removed. Only high-calcium
lime is manufactuerd in Florida, the limestone from which
it is manufactured analyzing close to 99 per cent calcium
carbonate. Refractory limes or dolomitic limes are manu-
factured in the United States, and Florida has deposits of
dolomitic limestone which could be used, but at the present
there is no production.
All Florida lime kilns are vertical shaft, continuous feed
type kilns, usually constructed of brick, with open hoppers at
the top and a fire box, which is fired by wood, at the bottom.
The height of the kiln is limited, and is usually less than
20 feet, because the Florida limestone is soft and friable and
tends to compact and clog the kilns at greater heights. The
kilns are kept filled, and this requires a constant supply of
limestone from the quarry. For this reason a stock pile is
usually maintained to cover delays in quarrying. Limestone
lumps between 4 and 8 inches in diameter are carried up a
small ramp in cable cars and dumped into the kilns. The
kilns are fired to approximately 1700 degrees Fahrenheit and
are drawn once each 8 hours. In general, the more porous,
granular structure of the Ocala limestone requires both
larger pieces for support in the kiln while firing, and higher
temperatures for release of its CO2, in comparison with the
Miami oolitic limestone. If the pressure of the carbon di-
oxide is allowed to build up in the kiln during firing, re-
carbonation may result, so the prompt removal of the gas is
necessary for complete calcination. This is accomplished in
most kilns by forced drafts through open chimneys. No
attempt is made to utilize the carbon dioxide produced in the
firing of limestone in Florida, either in the manufacture of

FLORIDA MINERAL INDUSTRY

dry ice or as an aid to calcination by recirculation through
the kiln (see Bowles and Banks, 1936, p. 31).
Lump lime generally retains the form of the limestone
from which it was made and 100 pounds of limestone will

Figure 19. The limestone pit of the Miami Lime and Chemical
Company, Miami, Dade County, in SW'4 SW/, Sec. 23, T54S, R40E.
The Miami oolitic limestone is high in sand but is of sufficient purity
in the vicinity of Miami to be used in the manufacture of lime, if the
rock is hand selected.

produce approximately 56 pounds of quick lime. Quick lime
is very active chemically and will air slake by recombination
with moisture and carbon dioxide from the atmosphere in
a short time, and therefore will not stand storage for long
periods. The tendency among manufacturers of lime is to
convert quick lime to the more stable hydrated lime before
storage, and to sell the lump on order.
After firing, the lump lime is drawn into wheelbarrows
and allowed to cool. Overburned portions, appearing as dark
and fused lumps, and underburned lumps, identified only
through long experience, are eliminated and allowed to slake
in outside storage piles and then sold for a soil conditioner.
Hydrated lime is prepared by crushing the lump lime as it
comes from the kiln to sizes below one inch in diameter,
slaking it by the addition of water, and then running the
hydrate over air separator cones in which sand grains and

102 FLORIDA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY-BULLETIN TWENTY-FOUR

unslaked particles are eliminated. Lime is slaked by the
addition of approximately 18 pounds of water to 56 pounds
of quick lime in mechanical mixers, called hydrators. The
two hydrators of general use have been described by Bowles
and Banks (1936( pp. 32-33) as follows:

"The intermittent type consists of a circular iron pan, which
revolves horizontally and is large enough to hold about 112
tons of hydrated lime, and a shaft with arms radiating from
its lower end suspended in the center of the pan; the arms
carry plows that scrape the bottom of the pan as it revolves
thus mixing the lime and water thoroughly. The pan is kept
revolving until the evolution of steam 'ceases (indicating that
hydration is complete) and the lime becomes light and dry.
The machine is covered by a hood and stack. A continuous
hydrator consists of long iron tubes, one above the other, in
each of which is a screw conveyor. Lime is placed in the top
tube, and water is added through a stack at one end of the
tube. They are mixed by the screw conveyors and at the same
time carried through the tubes. When the mixture reaches
the end of the pipe it is completely hydrated."

Hydrated lime is sacked by automatic sacking machines
in paper bags. It has the advantage of being easily stored,
is slaked for use, and all impurities have been eliminated.
The transportation of quick lime is cheaper in that charges
are not paid on water content, but it must be handled care-
fully and be packed in waterproof and airproof containers to
avoid slaking. Where the destination is close some of both
limes are sold in bulk. In addition to lime some of the pro-
ducers make a mortar mix by adding cement, pulverized
limestone, and pulverized slag to lime.

Quarry Problems

Some problems of the Florida limestone industry have
already been discussed under Crushed Stone (pages 68-84)
and elsewhere in this section. Silicious layers and boulders
and replaced and secondary limestone are troublesome in
the soft granular limestones as they are objectional in road
base courses and in lime burning. These materials and the
sand and clay in cavities must be removed by hand, or,
where they are abundant, they must be left and that part of
the. quarry abandoned, each of which increases production
-costs. This cost could be reduced somewhat by the sale of

FLORIDA MINERAL INDUSTRY

the silicious portions to local flint crushers, but this is appar-
ently not being done.
In the Miami area open quarries are operated within the
city limits and city regulations and restrictions force the use
of shallow shot holes and smaller charges of powder than
would ordinarily be used, thereby increasing the production
costs of these companies. However, the saving in transporta-
tion, most of the material being marketed in Miami, more
than repays this loss.
While cold weather in Florida causes few lost days in
mining, the heat of summer seasons lowers the efficiency of
labor, and the rainy season may raise the ground-water
surface above mining levels, thereby forcing a shutdown and
increasing the deterioration of machinery. This may be
combated in two ways: The quarry can be operated in two
levels, one of which is above high water levels; or a stock
pile may be maintained from which processing plants, such
as lime kilns, may be kept running and the market demands
can be covered. Almost no worker likes to work under wet
conditions and his efficiency is certainly decreased.
Shutdowns, whatever the cause, should be avoided as they
increase maintenance costs and have a tendency to cause the
more steady worker to migrate to more steady employment.
The resulting crew is less satisfactory. A loyal steady per-
sonnel is an intangible factor hard to evaluate, but increas-
ingly important now when man power is becoming more
scarce. Shutdowns are always expensive as machinery de-
teriorates as fast or faster than when in use and must be
overhauled before reopening if the delay is long. Further-
more, there is a loss of productive income and the salaried
men must be paid throughout this period when they no longer
produce. Where feasible, production should be continuous
and uniform, stock piles being built up during low markets
and expended during high.
Uses
Limestone and lime are used in so many different ways
in so many different industries that a simple list of the speci-
fications would require more space than is given in this
bulletin. Those producers interested in expansion of their
plants into new markets may refer to various publications

103

104 FLORIDA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY-BULLETIN TWENTY-FOUR

on limestone and dolomite by the U. S. Bureau of Mines and
to Lamar and Willman (1938). Attempts at manufacturing
the finished product from limestone in Florida lags far be-
hind other States, the rock usually being sold as crushed
stone.
The large part of the tonnage of limestone produced in
Florida is used in road base courses, concrete aggregate, and
cement and lime manufacture. Small amounts are sold as
soil conditioners and fertilizer fillers, dimension and orna-
mental stone, building blocks, for asphalt base, railroad
ballast, and riprap. The lime of Florida in 1941 was used in
mortars, water purification, insecticides, paper manufacture,
cosmetics and as agricultural lime.
Markets and Production
The large part of the limestone and products manufac-
tured from it are used in the State and only small amounts
are exported. The State Road Department favors the use of
soft limestone as road base course material and hard lime-
stone as concrete aggregate, and large quantities are used by
their contractors. Railroads prefer to use the material
which outcrops on their lines as railroad ballast because of
the saving in costs of maintenance, and in Florida this
material is usually limestone. Specifications for these uses
are discussed under Crushed Stone.
In 1941 there were 52 companies and individuals engaged
in mining limestone, 26 of which sold limestone for road base
courses, 6 for agricultural limestone, 10. for dimension, art,
and ornamental stone, 23 for concrete aggregate, road sur-
facing, asphaltic base courses, and asphaltic concrete, 1 for
cement manufacture, and 4 for lime and mortar manufac-
ture. "' Six of the companies producing concrete aggregate
were using part or all of their aggregate in manufacturing
concrete blocks and products, which sold for approximately
$1,293,965 in 1941.
The production of limestone increased in 1941 to the
second highest tonnage and value of the Florida limestone
industry, and intermittently mounted from the depression
low of 1932, when the limestone was valued at $1,258,119.

31 Some companies sell several different products although operat-
ing only one pit.

	Frontispiece
	Title Page
	Copyright
	Front Matter
	Foreword
	Table of Contents
	List of Illustrations
	Main
	Index

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