The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1898-06-23
JERSEY MICA QUARRlES.
How the Big Deposits Over
the State Border Are
Worked.
LARGEST IN THE UNION
Enormous Quantities Avail
able---Uses Of the
Mineral.
LARGEST IN H UNION

RTODaDl the idfSSRt NSPCs
mica ever discovered in the United states
If not in the world at large, exists Will
in six or seven miles of the New Jersey
line in Orange county, New YORK. says
the Newark sunday Call" It is called
a mica mine. but is better Described a.
a quarry. because the wide seam o. ~
valuable mineral is really an o~utcroppihs
and it has not been necessary 10 SIM q
shaft to develop 1t. It is IN piain Vie"
as an irregular filling of a assure IN Ing
country rock for a distance OF more tnah
a quarter of a mile, the vein peihg from
two inches to eighteen inches IN Wioth
and showing on the face OF a bluti' IN the
he'd of a beautiful trout stream ana up
the easy slope of a long side hill Al q
conservative calculation five hundred
tons of fine mica can be seen on the sur
face.
Usually mica deposits are In pocKets
containing a few pounds OF marketaoie
material, and it just pays wages IN North
Carolina to transport the sheet mica from
twenty to sixty miles to market, Wnile
the scrap is left upon the ground Inc
fine white mica of North Carolina Is
worth from 81 to Sc a pound, according
to size. and the average price LOT ten
wears is said to be $3.50 per pound. II
occurs there in large crystals, Dull they
are invariably in isolated pockets ana not
in continuous seams, and two tons OF
country rock nave to be blasted away TO
get at the valuable material. The aim OF
all mica miners has been to get stove
sheets. because of the price which the
clear material commands, 1t being in
.. t-.4.x.or x--or+h afynpcf IFS weight
In silver. This material is found, how
ever, in such small deposits and al such
a distance from railroads that it does not
pay to transport the scraps ana trlIh-
mings. There are other uses Tor mica'
however, and they are extending year py
year. One of the most recent applications
of the coarse ground material is in max
ing fre-proof plastering for buildings ana
no~n-conductive covering material Tor
boilers and steam pipes. 1t is the same as
asbestos in its chemical constituents and
it's heat resisting qualities. Then, too, a
large field has been found for the smaller
plates in electrical work. It is used for
insulating the leavessof the commutators
in all dynamos, motors, boosters and gen.
orators and for a score of other purposes,
| including the covering of porcelain house
fittings in wiring up buildings The larg-
est use, however, is for paper facing.
Wall paper manufacturers use thousands
of tons every month in the year for inn
parting a lustre to paper. For this pur-
| pose the scrap mica is ground in water
by a secret process and then dried. There
| are three firms in this country having NH
ca grinding plants, and they sell the
ground material at from $40 to 800 a ton.
Ground mica is used also as a lubricant
for wagons and heavy journals when mix
ed with heavy oil or fat.
At frequent intervals finds of mica
nave been made in this State, and have
caused momentary excitement, but as an
invariable rule the pockets hay been
small like those in North Carolina, Yer
mont, lowe and Montana, and the work
of removing waste rock has kept the
owners of the mines from making more
than days wages even when the pro-
duct was of the most superior character.
The seam of mica which is now being
developed in Orange county is on a farm
near Mt. Bashan Lake, between Monroe
and Southfelds. 1t was first opened about
fifteen years ago, when there was no
market of any account for anything but
white stove sheets. A year ago several
Newarkers heard of it, and, after examin-
ing the tract. formed a partnership for
the purpose of putting the material on
the market. Al good road leads directly
into the quarry from the Erie station at
Monroe, and the haul is down hill for
miles. Shipments are being made
to Jersey City every week. The mica be-
s,- eo1J al oroac IN fha oTsndfpp mills If
is put up in bags containing 200 pounds
each and hauled to a freight car which
| carries twenty tons to the water front. A
| wagon load is a ton and a half and three
men easily get hat much waste out in a
week while taking out the large crystals
of sheet mica, which are held in reserve
for cutting purposes. The waste stock
| sells for $40 a ton, and the sheet stock
| will average at least s~eventy-fve cents a
| pound on the ground.
The Orange county mica is not white
| enough to pass for stove material. 1t is
known as amber or smoky mica, but IS
| free from iron oxides, and analysis shows
that is as good as any for insulating pur-
poses. Plates a foot square are being
| obtained every day ana One of the largest
| specimens in the store house, which con-
tains nearly forty tons of plate mica,
measures sixteen by eighteen inches with
out fault or break.
The enterprise is known as the Nom
| basha Mining Company, a local corrup-
| ton Of the name Mt. Basilan. The Presi-
dent is John S. Day, the Newark builder.
and q. B. Clum, of New York. a promi-
nent bluestone dealer, is Secretary and
Treasurer, while Jacob Clark, a Newark