Monday, September 5, 2011

Arizona Minerals Yearbook 2007 released


The advance release copy of Volume 2 of the USGS Mineral Yearbook 2007 [right] arrived recently and is available online. There is a chapter for each state, including one for Arizona prepared in cooperation with the Arizona Dept. of Mines & Mineral Resources (which was consolidated with AZGS last month).

In addition, the advance release for the national 2008 Statistical Summary came out in June and for the 2009 Statistical Summary in August.

From the abstract for the 2007 Vol 2:
In 2007, Arizona’s nonfuel raw mineral production was valued at $7.26 billion, based upon annual U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) data. This was a $510 million, or 7.6%, increase from the State’s total nonfuel mineral value in 2006, which then had increased by $2.4 billion, or up more than 55%, from that of 2005. In 2007, for the third consecutive year, Arizona led the Nation in total nonfuel mineral production value among the 50 States, accounting for 10.4% of the U.S. total. Arizona continued to be the Nation’s leading copperproducing State in 2007 and accounted for 63% of the total U.S. copper mine production. Copper was the State’s foremost nonfuel mineral produced, accounting for nearly 73% of the total nonfuel mineral production value, followed in descending order of value by molybdenum, construction sand and gravel (with 9% of the State’s total value), cement (portland and masonry), crushed stone (about 2% of the value), and lime.