News Release 543

INDUSTRIAL MINERAL ONLINE
SEARCH ENGINE NOW AVAILABLE

Volume 36-543

Contact: Van Beydler

(For immediate release)

573-522-2343

JEFFERSON CITY, MO, SEPT. 8, 2008 -- –There are about 800 active industrial mineral mine sites in Missouri, and most counties in Missouri have some kind of industrial mineral mining activity. The Missouri Department of Natural Resources has created a new Web page that allows individuals to easily search for permittee information, maps and satellite photos about these mining companies. 

Using a specially created online search engine, anyone can select a Missouri county and generate a list of mining sites in that county, find the company name and get general information about that company. A quick click on the record number will provide precise location data and more. 

“This search engine makes it easy for the public to find mining sites in specific geographic areas,” said Larry Coen, director of the department’s Land Reclamation Program.  “Most requests that come into the agency involve a geographic area reference.  For instance, if someone were to call in wanting to know how many limestone quarries are located in the St. Louis area, we can now refer them to the site and they can do their search much more efficiently. Our inspectors will also be able to use it before they respond to citizen concerns.  They can visit the Web site to see if there are other mine sites located in the area so they can conduct multiple site inspections on their way.” 

The site is updated monthly using location and company information tables being; these are updated directly to the Web.  Additional links allow users to view interactive maps of the counties containing Geographic Information System, or GIS, layers.  These layers can be turned on and off so the user can customize the map to show mine sites in relation to highways, waterways and county boundaries.

The Department of Natural Resources plans to add additional features to include a search by commodity. The public is invited to suggest additions to add in the search criteria.  Contact Bill Zeaman in the department’s Land Reclamation Program by telephone at 573-751-1312 to suggest items to include in future updates. 

For more information, visit the department’s Land Reclamation Program Web site at www.dnr.mo.gov/asp/lrp/impermits/search.asp.

For news releases on the Web, visit www.dnr.mo.gov/newsrel. For a complete listing of the department's upcoming meetings, hearings and events, visit the department's online calendar at www.dnr.mo.gov/calendar/search.do.

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