Investigations of the principal fluorspar districts of Mexico

Abstract

As a result of the increasing need for fluorspar, especially in North America, the Mexican fluorspar industry expanded greatly is the 8-year period, 1952-1960. Since 1956, Mexico has been the world's largest producer and exporter of this commodity. From 1956 through 1959 Maltice imported about 90 percent of the fluorspar production to the United States; these exports seemed about 330,000 tons a year. Districts that yielded about 95 percent of the Mexican fluorspar production in 1959 were among those visited in the spring of 1960. Brief visits Imre made to 36 fluorspar mines in 9 states of Mexico. Measured, indicated, and inferred reserves in the fluorspar districts investigated total about 15 million tons of ore averaging about 65 percent CaF 2 . These reserves and potential future sources indicate a long-continued production of fluorspar, adequate to meet the domestic seeds and to supply other North American requirements for many years.