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Population: 55,000 (estimated by board of supervisors).
Location: South central portion of state.

Kern County, because of its immense, productive oil fields, stands pre-eminent among all counties of California in the value of its mineral output, the exact figures for 1915 being $25,335,184. This is larger by more than seventeen million dollars than the succeeding county on the list. This figure also exceeds the value of the total gold output of the entire state by approximately $3,000,000. The 1914 mineral output for the county was worth $28,047,957.

Among the mineral resources, developed and undeveloped, of this section are: Antimony, asbestos, asphalt, barytes, borax, brick, clay, copper, fuller's earth, gems, gold, gypsum, iron, lead, limestone, magnesite, marble, mineral paint, natural gas, petroleum, potash, salt, silver, soapstone, soda, sulphur, and tungsten.

Commercial production for 1915 was as follows:

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*Includes cement, clay (pottery), fuller's earth, gypsum, magnesite, salt, tungsten.

KINGS.

Area: 1,159 square miles.

Population: 16,230 (1910 census).

Location: South central portion of state.

Little development has taken place in Kings County along mineral lines to date. Deposits of fuller's earth, gypsum, mineral paint, natural gas, and quicksilver, of undetermined extent, have been found in the county. Some drilling for oil is under way.

In fiftieth place, commercial production for 1915 was as follows:

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Location: About fifty miles north of San Francisco Bay and the same distance inland from the Pacific Ocean.

On account of its topography and natural beauties, Lake County is sometimes referred to as the Switzerland of America. The mineral resources which exist here are many and varied, actual production being comparatively small, as shown by the table below. Some of the leading minerals found in this section, in part as yet undeveloped, are borax, chromite, clay, copper, gems, gold, gypsum, mineral water, quicksilver, silver, and sulphur.

In forty-seventh place, commercial production for 1915 was as follows:

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LASSEN.

Area: 4,531 square miles.

Population: 7,000 (estimated by board of supervisors, 1913).

Location: Northeast portion of state.

Lassen County is one of the least explored sections of California. Since about 1912 a railroad traversing the county north and south has been in operation, thus affording opportunity for development along mineral and other lines.

Among the mineral resources of this county are copper, gems, gypsum, gold, silver, and sulphur.

In fifty-sixth place, commercial production for 1915 was as follows:

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Population: 800,000 (estimated by Chamber of Commerce, 1913). Mineral production in Los Angeles County for the year 1915 amounted in value to $4,168,612, as compared with the 1914 output, worth $4,665,504. This county ranks fifth in the state as a mineral producer.

Its output of brick was nearly a million dollars, and that of petroleum amounted nearly to two million dollars. Among its mineral resources may be noted asphalt, barytes, borax, brick, clay, fuller's earth, gems, gold, graphite, gypsum, infusorial earth, limestone, marble, mineral paint, mineral water, natural gas, petroleum, salt, glass-sand, sandstone, serpentine, silver, soapstone, and miscellaneous stone. Some potash is obtained from kelp.

Commercial production for 1915 was as follows:

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MADERA.

Area: 2,112 square miles.

Population: 15,000 (estimated by Chamber of Commerce, 1913).
Location: East central portion of state.

Madera County produced six mineral substances during the year 1915, having a total value of $145,063, as compared with the 1914 output, worth $203,517. This county contains deposits of copper, gold, iron, lead, molybdenum, pumice, silver, and building stone.

In forty-first place, commercial production for 1915 was as follows:

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Mineral production in Marin County during the year 1915 reached a value of $160,528, as compared to the 1914 output, worth $554,137. The considerable decrease was due to completion early in the year of three large contracts for rubble and macadam-the Key Route mole, San Francisco waterfront.bulkhead and the Exposition roadways-rock for all of which came from Marin County. This county is not especially prolific in minerals, although among its resources along these lines are brick, gems, manganese, mineral water, soapstone, and miscellaneous. stone.

In fortieth place, commercial production for 1915 was:

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MARIPOSA.

Area: 1,463 square miles.

Population: 3,956 (1910 census).

Location: Most southerly of the Mother Lode counties. East central portion of state.

Mariposa County is one of the distinctly "mining" counties of the state, although it stands but thirty-first on the list of counties in regard to the value of its mineral output for 1915, with a total of $412,326, as compared with the 1914 figures of $187,870. The increase is due to gold.

Its mineral resources are varied; among the more important items being barytes, copper, gems, gold, lead, marble, silver, slate, soapstone, and miscellaneous stone.

Commercial production for 1915 was as follows:

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Area: 3,453 square miles.

Population: 23,929 (1910 census).

Location: Joins Humboldt County on the south and bounded by the Pacific Ocean on the west.

Mendocino's annual mineral production is small, the 1915 output being valued at $24,536, ranking it forty-ninth among the counties. That of 1914, however, was worth $560. The increase is due to manganese.

Deposits of undetermined value, of asbestos, chromite, coal, copper, graphite, magnesite, and mineral water have been found, as well as traces of gold and silver. For the coming year there are good prospects for a continued commercial yield of manganese ore. Commercial production for 1915 was as follows:

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