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14 MINERAL INDUSTRY OF CALIFORNIA.
CHAPTER TWO.
FUELS.
Among the most important mineral products of California are its
fuels. This subdivision includes coal, natural gas, and petroleum, the
combined values of which made up 75% of the state's entire mineral
output for the year 1923.
There are deposits of peat known in several localities in California,
small amounts of which are used as a fertilizer, and in stock-food
preparations, but none has as yet been recorded as utilized for fuel.
Comparison of values during 1922 and 1923 is shown in the follow-
ing table:
1922 1923 Increases-
Decrease —
Amount Value Amount Value Value
Coal 27,020 tons $135,100 1,010 tons $5,090 $130 010—
103,628,027M cu.ft. 6,990,030 240,405,397M cu.ft. 15,661,433 8.671,403+
Petroleum 138,468,222bbls. 173,381,265 262,875,690bbls. 242.731,309 69,350,044+
Total value. $180,506,395 $258,397,832
Net increase . $77,891,437+
COAL.
Bibliography : State Mineralogist Reports VII, XII,, XIII, XIV,
XV, XVII, XIX (inc.), pp. 152-157. U. S. G. S. Bulletins 285,
316, 431, 471, 581; An. Rpt. 22, Pt. III.
Coal production in California in 1923 totaled* only 1010 tons valued
at $5,090, being credited to Mendocino and Riverside counties. None
of it was marketed, but it was consumed for local camp purposes and
for power and forge use in development work on the deposits. Besides
the localities mentioned above, development work was also under way on
coal deposits in San Benito and Shasta counties. In the former, at
the property of the San Benito Coal Company, it is proposed to install
an electric-power generating and by-product plant, rather than to
ship the coal, owing to the distance from rail transportation.
Total Coal Production of California.
The very considerable output of coal in the years previous to 1883
was almost entirely from the Mount Diablo district. Contra Costa
County. Later the Tesla mine in Corral Hollow, Alameda County,
was an important producer for a few years. Stone Canyon, Monterey
County, was also an important producer for a short time, and there
has been some coal shipped from properties in Amador, Fresno, Orange,
Riverside, and Siskiyou counties. The following tabulation gives the
annual tonnages and values, according to available records:
