MINERALS

Non-fuel minerals play a crucial role in the Kansas economy. These minerals include sand and gravel (used in construction and concrete), building stone, salt, clay, and other industrial minerals. The KGS undertakes research and reporting related to many of these minerals.

Industrial Minerals

The KGS answers questions from staff, public, State agencies, and private companies regarding quarry locations, identification of geologic members and formations, and properties of such minerals or materials. Other requests require literature searches or occasional lab work, especially x-ray diffraction or optical microscopy, and in one case, determining porosity and permeability of building stone. In addition, a preproposal was submitted to the Kansas Department of Transportation, aimed at evaluating the limestone aggregate resources in Douglas, Franklin, and Miami counties.

Surface geology of Kansas, showing counties producing aggregate, from Public Information Circular 6, January 1997.

Intrusives

Lamproites are potentially diamond-bearing intrusive and extrusive igneous rocks that occur in Woodson and Wilson counties. The rocks are exposed at or near the surface and are believed to have been volcanic in nature. A tectonic study of the area is complete and an in-hole seismic study was conducted to determine whether the lamproite can be recognized in the subsurface. A study of the chemical nature and variation within individual sills (or branches of the lamproite) was started. This involved the sampling, preparation, and chemical analysis of 66 samples for major, minor, and trace elements. In Riley and Marshall counties, 13 intrusive features called kimberlites occur, three of which were discovered in 1999. A limited amount of field work was conducted and the core was described in some detail to enable sampling of the materials for chemical analyses.

Generalized diagram of a kimberlite pipe, from Public Information Circular 16, July 2000.

Stone Preservation Studies

Research continued on the consolidating effects of treatments on sandstones bearing Native American rock art. A study was conducted using ethyl silicate on samples collected from beds of the Tongue River Sandstone at Castle Butte in central Montana, showing that the treatments produced increased strength and freeze-thaw resistance without sealing the pore system. Similarly, positive results were obtained from two other studies at St. Victor Provincial Petroglyph Park, Saskatchewan, Canada, and Steamboat Butte, Montana. Currently, studies are underway for two sites in California.

List of 2002 Publications—Minerals References

Kansas Geological Survey

Online May 20, 2003