If it isn't grown, it has to be mined!"
There is an
enormous demand for the metals and minerals mined in Nevada. Over
the course of a lifetime, every American baby born will need :
- 1390 lbs. of copper
- 1.279 troy ounces of gold
- 20,226 lbs. of clays
|
- 29,336 lbs. of salt
- 65,543 lbs. of cement
- 1.55 million lbs. of stone, sand & gravel
|
Minerals Produced in Nevada and Some of Their Uses:
BARITE
drilling muds; manufacture of rubber; bowling balls; medical purposes.
CLAYS
cooking utensiles.
DIATOMITE
filters; absorbents; kitty litter.
DOLOMITE
nutritional additives; building stone.
GOLD
dentistry and medicine; scientific and electronic instruments
(computers, telephones, vehicle airbags, cameras, televisions, video
cassette recorders, compact discs); as an electrolyte in the
electroplating industry; jewelry and arts; medallions and coins; ingots
as a store of value.
GYPSUM
prefabricated wall board; industrial or building plaster; cement manufacturing; agriculture.
LEAD
lead batteries; gasoline additives; solders, seals, and bearings; TV
tubes; TV glass; construction; communications; protective coatings;
ceramics and crystal glass; tubes or containers; type metal or foil;
X-ray and gamma radiation shielding; soundproofing material in
construction; ammunition.
LIMESTONE
concrete
aggregate; lime - the chief raw ingredient in cement; fertilizer and
soil conditioner; a flux in the melting of iron; paints; plastics;
livestock feed as a source of calcium.
LITHIUM
ceramics; glass; in primary aluminum production; in the manufacture of
lubricants and greases; rocket propellants; vitamin A synthesis; silver
solders; underwater buoyancy devices; batteries.
MAGNESITE
in the chemical industry; refractory materials.
MOLYBDENUM
in alloy steels to make automotive parts, construction equipment, gas
transmission pipes, stainless steels for water distribution systems,
food handling equipment, chemical processing equipment, home, hospital,
and laboratory requirements; tool steels bearings, dies, machining
components; cast irons steel mill rolls, auto parts, crusher parts;
lubricants as catalysts, paint pigments, corrosion inhibitors, smoke
and flame retardant, dry lubricants.
PERLITE
soil conditioner
PETROLEUM
diesel, kerosene, stove oil, and asphalt
SALT
road de-icing
SAND & GRAVEL
concrete; bricks; roads; a basic building block of society
SILICA
glass (Nevada's is mainly used in bottles and jars).
SILVER
photography; chemistry, electronics; currency; alloy; lining vats and
other equipment for chemical reaction vessels and water distillation;
jewelry; catalyst in manufacture of ethylene; mirrors; electric
conductors; batteries; silver plating; table cutlery; dental, medical
and scientific equipment; electrical contacts; bearing metal; magnet
windings; brazing alloys, solder.
SULFUR
in
manufacture of sulfuric acid, fertilizers, chemicals, explosives,
dyestuffs, petroleum refining; vulcanization of rubber; fungicides.
TUNGSTEN
metalworking; construction and electrical machinery and equipment;
transportation equipment; as filament in light bulbs; as a carbide in
drilling equipment; in heat and radiation shielding; textile dyes,
enamels, paints and for coloring glass.
ZINC
as
protective coating on steel; die casting; as an allying metal with
copper to make brass; in rubber and paints; electroplating; metal
spraying; automotive parts; electrical fuses; anodes; dry cell
batteries; fungicides; nutrition; chemicals; roof gutter; engravers'
plates; cable wrappings; organ pipes; in pennies; and in additives to
lubricating oils and greases. Zinc oxides: in medicine, in paints, as
an activator and accelerator in vulcanizing rubber; as an electrostatic
and photo conductive agent in photocopying.
