WSP01088

• File Number: 8112.600
• Description: Arkansas White Red Basins Interagency Committee - AWRBIAC -- Reports
• Basin: Arkansas
• Water Division: 2
• Date: 6/1/1977
• Title: Specific Problem Analysis Summary Report - 1975 National Assessment of Water and Related Land Resources - Part 2 of 2
• Water Supply Pro - Doc Type: Report/Study

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has quadrupled; pssture land has decreased slightly and production
of barley and oats has dropped from 75,575 acres to 14,104 aCres
in the two county area.ll See Table 2 for land USe patterns.

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The known deposits of lead and zinc ores have apparently been
mined out to economic limits leaving .surface land areas of tailing
piles, cave-in prone undermined areas, and shallow polluted water.
There has been no sustained ore production in the area since 1957.12

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Although a four foot thick, eight foot deep vein of coal was
reported in Newton County in 1871 and deposits of 94,000,000 tons
of coal are estimated in Jasper C~~nty, no commercial coal mining
has taken place in either county.

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No oil or,gas deposits have been reported in either Newton or
Jasper County although minor amounts have been recorded in McDonald
County to the south and extensive oil shale deposits are recorded
to the north and wes.t.14

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A brickyard operated for several yesrs early in this century
at Carthage, and some deposits of stoneware clay are reported
near Duenweg, but there are no apparent commercial clay operations
in the foreseeable future within the two-county area.1S

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Commercial stone production in the two-county area is princi-
pally dimension marble from Jasper County and construction, agri-
cultural, and chemical grades of crushed limestones from both
Newton and Jasper Counties. Stone production is relatively shallow
and covers small areas with little pollution of land, water or air
except in the immediate vicinity of operations.16 Under the cate-
gory of sand and gravel would fall the extensive use of tailings
from the abandoned mines for railroad ballast, sand blasting,
grinding and polishing and concrete aggregate. The value of ma-
terial produced under this classification amounts to slightly in
excess of th17e mtllion dollars annually in the Newton-Jasper
County area. Principal active stone operations are north of
Carthage in Jasper County.

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Tripoli deposits near Seneca were first mined in 1871 with
extensive mining operations near Racine developing in the esrly
1900's and phasing out with development of more extensive deposits
in nearby Oklahoma. Some small Missouri, production hss resumed
but the bulk of the Seneca mill supply is from Oklahoma.18

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Timber land in the Newton-Jasper County area is in a recovery
stage from over-cutting and wild woods fires which have held
timber production to a minimum. See Table 3.

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Oak sawlogs, stave bolts, posts and other miscellaneous
timber products that make up the commercial forest land in both

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