Cement plant celebrates 50 years in the High Desert
With half a century of mining and manufacturing in the High Desert, Mitsubishi Cement Corp.’s Cushenbury plant in Lucerne Valley is a landmark in the local economy.
Established in 1957 as the Kaiser cement plant on the north slope of the San Bernardino Mountains, the facility manufactured cement from low-grade limestone and supplied high-grade limestone to Kaiser’s steel mill in Fontana.
“This plant has been a great boon for Lucerne Valley, not only in furnishing work, but also because of the time and energy spent helping the community,” said Chuck Rader, a retired supervisor who worked at the facility in 1959.
Sold to Mitsubishi Cement in the late 1980s, the plant currently employs 174 workers and produces about 1.7Mta of cement to supply contractors and ready-mix dealers in Southern California, Arizona and Nevada.
Published under Cement News
