Allegheny Mineral Corp. says limestone no less important
Mark Snyder acknowledges that limestone mining gets little attention compared with its coal counterpart.
But he thinks the mineral, which his company, Allegheny Mineral Corp., has mined for years, is no less important than coal.
“It's actually the major constituent in making Portland cement,” Snyder said. “You look at your house, your foundation has concrete in it, your basement floor has concrete in it.”
He said limestone is even used in making roof shingles.
“Limestone has been one of the oldest building materials used by man” said Jamal Rostami, a mining engineering professor at Penn State University. “Quick lime concrete has been used for thousands of years.”
Pennsylvania has been a producer of limestone for more than 100 years, according to Darrell Lewis, Allegheny Mineral's chief engineer. As for the Alle-Kiski Valley region, he said, “The first underground mine, I believe, was started in 1889.”
He said that was the mine started by Michigan Limestone, a subsidiary of U.S. Steel, which used the mineral in steel production. Once it was mined out, it became the mushroom mine near Worthington.
The use of limestone in making steel is not what it once was because so much of the metal is recycled. But, limestone still has plenty of other uses. It is used extensively as aggregate in building roads as well as making cement for the construction industry.
“For aggregate, we are talking millions of tons of limestone for that use,” Rostami said.
Because it has a high pH level, Snyder said it is used to lower the acidity of soil in agricultural applications and to neutralize the acidity of emissions from coal-fired power plants. It is even used as rock dust to help neutralize gases in coal mines.
“It essentially absorbs sulfur dioxide,” Rostami said.
According to Rostami, limestone that is very pure in its calcium carbonate content is used for chemical applications, including the medical industry.
“Some pills actually do have minute amounts of calcium carbonate in them,” Rostami said.
Tom Yerace is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. He can be reached at 724-226-4675 or tyerace@tribweb.com.
