The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1897-12-04
VALUABLE MICA.
Jerseys Geological Structure
Favors the Deposit Of
This Useful Metal.

One of the commonest mineral products
of the world is mica. There IS no coun-
try on the face of the earth in which
it is entirely absent as a component part
of the country rock, yet it is one OF the
most valuable of natures gifts when 1t
displays itself at it's best in the form
known to biologists as muscovite, says
the Newark Sunday Call"
Mica is the name of a group of miner
ais, but the world has to do with only
one variety in the group, and with thai
| only when the flakes are large enough to
be of commercial value. Stove mica,
often enormously called isinglass, is the
form in which it is most familiar to ev-
erybody. but the same mineral occurs in
minute flakes in our granite pavements,
i'm gneissoid rocks and in the sal of our
country roads. Commercial mica is that
which. when mined, can be cut into
squares and parallelograms ana used LOT
purposes in which ranspafency Ieslso
lance to heat or electrical insulation are
the desirable factors. Upon the size OF
the plates which can be cut the price
depends, and the waste is SO great That
the finished product is usually worth ITS
weight in silver. Moreover, the price IS
increasing wear by year owing TO Inc
large demand for the best quallty OF clear
mica for insulating leaves IN the con
SITuCl.OIl VI IL 49,
orators. Nothing has yet been round 70
replace mica for this purpose, ana the
consumption of this mineral for tins pur-
pose bids fair to outstrlp It's t~llne-hoHof-
ed use for stove lights. Everybody is
familiar with natures glass IN stove
doors. and everybody mathematics II ior
its habit of scaling off and preaklns un-
der the slightest p~royocation, yer rev
people realize it's value as a commercial
commodity, or know of any other use Tor
It Than that to which it is applied IN the
- Hzl-., i, 4 l<,ann hat thew
have to pay dearly for renewals when
the mica gives out, and generally they
wonder Why it is 50 high in price.
The value of mica depends upon lts
souare inches. A plate six inches by eight
inches. no matter how thin 1t may pc, IS
worth six or eight times as much as a
sheet three by tour inches, ana the iat-
ter sheet is worth six or eignt times as
much as one an inch smaller each way
This is because mica is never, found IN
massive form. 1t occurs IN pockets IN
the country rock, which must De plasteu
AWAY to secure it. The mica is found IN
the form of a six-sided crystal, usually,
and from this irregular form the plates
must be cut. From one crystal a nunared
plates may be Spit on alteI = r n5rfI,
slab is squared up, by means OF powerful
shears The trimmings are ground up INTO
fine powder and sold fer many purposes
at an extremely low price. GROUND mica
IS used for facing fine printing paper, Tor
roofing. for wood filling, for adding weight
and BODY to paint, and for axle grease
and other lubricating purposes, ana TOT
imparting lustre to wall paper. me d oIa
nieces which will be large enough to sell
to stove men or to make l~nsuiallng Idhes
for electric c~ommutatorS. AS an lnsulatof
for electricity there Is no natural pFoducL
which exceis mica, and manufacturers OF
insulated wire and tubing consume large
quantities of It.
Mica seldom occurs IN TINS county, "a
large pieces, and the biggest American
faFe known was found many years ago
in Arkansas. 1t measured twenty-five
| inches in length by sixteen inches IN
width Siberia, however, is said to nave
nrod1eed a sheet q yard in diameter, and
some large pieces have been mined IN
Sweden and Norway. The earliest dls-
c~overies Of mica m tins ! s. @c aefway w and
| Grafton. and the men controlling the
mines there afterward secured the MINES
in Bakersville, N. G., where the principal
mining. is lone today. There are Sevefai
small deposits being worked in Maine
and New Hampshire now, and small
denosits are being pecked at in New York,
panrsylvania and Maryland, but the most
industry is displayed in Canada.
Al jts hest the mica mining is prosecuted
without system and without modern app
Tliances. The richest mines IN thls eoun-
Nv are in the Western North Carolina,
and none of them are within thirty miles
Of A railroad. The drilling is done WIN
hand hammers, and the ,prooucl Is hauled
Nv bull teams over bad reads
n the nearest railroad Guarries, and no
eften,nt is made to market it. The region
is mountainous, and for many months in
ibe wear the roads are impossible. The
s+rear1s are without bridges, and the larg-
ar ones are at times too deep for fording.
INC heds of the smaller streams frequent-
" form part of the country road, and es-
neciaIly in descending or ascending the
heavy grades a prospector takes
his life in his hands if he ventures among
these mountains, because every stranger
is Instantly put down for a revenue officer
Nv fine moonshiners, who dominate the re-
zion Al its best ii is a four days trip for
3 light wagon from the nearest railroad
Station to the mica deposits at Bakers
vile. - -
mica except In small fakes, and yet the
geoloeicaT formation is particularly Ia
yorable in the northern counties. Mica Is
8 silieate of ~magnesia, allied to tale SER
| pentine g~neissic rock and granite. Hu-
mmors have been rife of mica discoveries in
ing has come of them, yet biologists
would NOT be surprised if fine pockets of
mnscoyite were discovered anywhere in
tha hills between Boonton and Sterling
Mountains. as everything which goes with
mica is to be found in the rock formation
| If these hills. A stimulus to prospecting
| Is found in the fact that commercial mica
| is worth it's weight in deprecated silver,
and a mica miIe within 100
| miles OF New York is better than a double
claim ON any Alaskan waters.
-
10 Cure q Geld Ia One Day.
Take Laxative Bromo ouinine Tablets. All