The idea, said McLemore, was to intersperse the technical side of the story with comments from Wal-Mart holiday shoppers. They'll be giving us a tape. Well, for one thing, there's the tree itself, and no matter where it might have originated, it could still have a New Mexico connection through potash, which is mined on the southeast side of the state, near Carlsbad. Surface and ground water resources also are needed to grow the trees, and then there are the metals used for cutting them, she said. Molybdenum, mined near Taos and some by-products from the Santa Rita open pit copper mine at Chino, near Silver City, is used in making steel.
Silver is a component of electrical wire, alloys and foil, as is copper.
Add to the list gold, magnesium, manganese, zinc, iron ore, aluminum and chromium, for everything from nails and screws to electric circuit boards and metal tubing. And where would lights be without those thin filaments of tungsten metal, a relatively inexpensive material produced from the minerals sheelite and wolframite. While we're on the subject of industrial recipes, think about those shiny holiday ornaments and their brightly metallic colors. The mineral titanium oxide produces white, while yellows, browns, and some reds are a result of iron ore. McLemore said Christmas tree prices in general reflect the commercial cost of growing the trees, cutting them, and then transporting them to select markets.