White Mountain

I have been trying to get a good picture of this mine for years.  I don't know how to get up there, so this is the best I can do without a really good zoom lens.

The white scar that is visible on the northern portion of the Santa Rita Mountains near the old ghost town of Helvetia is an outcropping of calcium carbonate, or limestone. It is the site of an active open pit mine. The mine operates 24 hours per day, seven days per week and produces more than 217,000 tons of material per year. About twenty truckloads of material depart the mine site each day. It is estimated that the mine could produce at that rate for the next 20 years.

The whole mountain in that area is essentially limestone. The quarry that is currently being worked is not visible from the Green Valley area but is hidden behind an intervening hill.

Some of the uses for the calcium carbonate products produced at the mine are:
- Decorative Aquarium Rock.
- Decorative Landscape Rock.
- Calcium supplement used in animal feed.
- Filler in paint and roof coatings.
- Filler in drywall and in drywall plaster and grout.
- Pool mix, which is mixed with white cement for the finishing coat of plaster for swimming pools.
- Athletic Field Marker used for making the white stripes on athletic fields.
- Material which is used as a fire retardant.