Evening star., 1897-04-17
MICA MINING IN NORTH. CAROLINA.
Where the Mineral In Found and Min
ing Methods.

Where the Mineral 1. Found and Min
ing Methods.
From the New York POST
For many years the mountains of west
ern North Carolina were the principal and
almost the only source from which we OBJ
tanned our commercial supply of mica
There are few sections in that region where
the soil does rot carry glittering ad-
mixture of more or less minute mica grains,
while holes in the ground, surrounded by
shining dump piles. are almost as numer
GUS as the houses Mica mining, as profit
able industry, has been less widespread
however. than the indications of possibly
profitable mines. Although there Is per-
haps no country in the mountains without
at least two or three mines that have paid
for the working, the most remunerative
district has been in the counties of Mitchell
and Yancey. in the northwestern part of
the state 1t is there that the bulk of the
work now being done is carried on.
Mica. as Is well known is one of the COM
ponent parts of granite rock. Examination
of any piece of true granite shows it to be
mingled mass of the three minerals,
quartz. feldspar and mica. In the ordinary
granite. used for constructive and other
purposes. these substances occur in small
and closely mingled particles. In the rock
from which commercial mica is obtained,
the formation Is upon what may be termed
gigantic scale. The quartz and the field
spar occur in huge masses. and the mica
in blocks of varying size, from those
weighing but few pounds up to rarely
occurring specimens of four to five hun
dred pounds weight
l visited not long ago mine of the larger
formation. / entered through an under
ground passage cut straight into the hill
side. l noticed, here and there in it's walls
and along its roof, large blocks of mica
which had not been removed. for fear that
their displacement would bring down more
than was desirable. The candle which l
carried enabled the nj
which there had been removed the masses
of mica bearing feldspar, often as large as
a good-sized room.
And just there lies the chief objection to
mica mining in North Carolina-its uncer-
tainty. The deposits occur in pockets One
may strike, as had been the case in this
mine, series of pockets, and be more or
less richly rewarded. He may. again, blast
and tunnel for months without an ounce
of Salable mica. On the whole mica min
ing is about as robust a gamble as any
thing ! know. Probably the bulk of the
mica which is now obtained in the North
Carolina mountains rs the result of the
labor of the people of the region. to whom
the work is a fascination, and whose living
expenses are reducad to a minimum. Few
make anything at it'll
AS has been said.l the mica comes from
the mines in block form of varying thick
ness. These blocks range in size from the
most abundant of four to eight or ten
inches measurement across the face, up to
those Of very rare Occurrence, of "a to 30
OF even 10 lnCneS,, IA DlOCk was recently
obtained In Mitchell county which meas
ured "a inches byA26 on. it's face. with a
thickness of Is inches. Its weight was
45O pounds The points of color. clarity
and freedom from flaws are all important
in the question of market value
The blocks. aftenibeing cleared from their
feldspar matrix, are split into sheets of
proper thickness. Hntp,the sheets are sorted
into grades. The Sheets are sometimes
sold In the rough bht usually are cut into
certain liked sizes, ranging from small bits
OF two inches by three up to the largest
sizes obtainable.; AS SO large a percentage
of the product Is used for stove doors
there are certain sizes for which the de-
mand is greatest. The sheets are sold by
the pound. the price being based upon the
size and quality, and ranging from about
forty cents up to almost many dollars
The mica is cut and trimmed by means Of
large shears. Here is presented i curious
claim, which my observation leads me to
accept as true. 1t is said that these shears
rarely, If ever. require sharpening and are
practically kept in sharp-crItt;ny condition
by abrasion of the material through which
they pass
During the last few years the American
Industry has greatly fallen off. From 1891
to 1885, inclusive. the demand for mica
was good and prices were high. A large
army of men. most of whom would have
been better off on their farms raising corn
ana wheat, potatoes and cabbages. were
tramping the hills and digging useless holes
In the ground in search of what Is locally
known as glass This is doubtless e con-
traction of 'isinglass.' under y hich mis-
taken name the material is commonly
known. During that period the outpu: of
mica from North Carolina amounted in
value to a million and a quarter of dollars.
For the same term of years, from 1891 to
1880. the value of the output vas but
little over $3O0,o9O This was owing both
to the production of a smaller quantity
and to reduced prices. Due to competition
with the mica imported from the East In
dies.