The DEMR has initiated several new programs to address the needs of the Tribes as they seek to develop their natural resources effectively and enhance their revenue from development. Programs have been carefully designed to anticipate the direction that self-determination will be taking the tribes in future years. Each new program benefits Tribes by assisting them to become more directly involved in the control of their resources, or to provide specialized services that are too costly for an individual Tribe to operate and maintain themselves. These minerals always occur together in a deposit. For the purposes of this talk, I will refer to the natural deposit as gypsum.
Natural gypsum is beneficated by crushing and screening during mill processing to remove impurities.
In Wyoming, two plants in the Bighorn Basin calcine raw gypsum for wallboard manufacture. Plasters when mixed with water and allowed to dry harden into hydrated gypsum in shapes or coatings. Mountain Cement Co. Gypsum production in Wyoming has been at or near plant capacity since 1995. In 1999, a destructive hurricane season increased domestic demand for gypsum based construction products. There seems to be an opportunity for the expansion of gypsum production in the United States and especially in Wyoming.