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Mining

Mining

The lake has been "mined" since 1859. On our tour we learned that as much as 38% of the asphalt used in the United States comes from Pitch Lake. Ken thinks this number is much too high as he worked for an asphalt company in his youth and they produced 20 to 25 tons of asphalt a day. Only 180 tons of pitch are mined per day in this lake. Hmm...the numbers don't add up.