Although Illinois is not usually thought of as a mining state,
northwestern and southern Illinois together produced in 1963 nearly
$5,000,000 worth of zinc, about $600,000 worth of lead, and $6,500,000
worth of fluorspar. The annual total value is about $12,000,000.
The southern Illinois fluorspar district has another distinction—for
many years its mines have been the major domestic source of the nation’s
fluorspar.