In 1874 General George Armstrong Custer led an expedition into the Black Hills of Dakota Territory. Camping along a small stream, now called French Creek, General Custer and the men of the 7th Cavalry discovered gold. Founded on this sight, the town of Custer, South Dakota began.  The first feldspar milling operation began business in 1928. For more than 80 years, high quality potash feldspar has been produced from the rich pegmatite ore deposits of the Black Hills mines with historically colorful names such as the White Elephant, the Pink Monster and the Bull Moose to name a few. It was the beginning of the Black Hills SD Feldspar mineral fame.  In 1970, Pacer Corporation acquired the original feldspar mining operations and today continues the tradition of producing high quality Potash Feldspar. Our Custer Feldspar or “Custer Spar” is a recognized name throughout the ceramic, sanitary whiteware, coatings and related industrial mineral industries.  In 1978, Pacer discovered and claimed the muscovite mica mineral deposits , a vast reserve of mica ore with unique flowability and reinforcement characteristics used to produce our high quality DakotaPURE mica.  In October 2005, Pacer opened a state-of-the-art mica processing facility, which more than doubled our production capacity and allowed for the integration of advanced processing technologies. Pacer is now well established as a reliable LCM mica (drilling mud) provider to the oil and natural gas drilling industries. Our South Dakota Natural Gas Drilling Mud is now active in most western state drilling operations. It continues to expand its high-end products into industrial mineral markets including: Powder coatings and mineral fillers, abrasives, adhesives, sealants, cementatious products, joint compound, and plastics.  With our commitment to excellence, technology and collaboration, together with ISO Certified quality control and environmental programs, Pacer can insure consistent product chemistry and sieves while giving us the versatility to produce products to meet our customers’ specific needs.