El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1918-12-14
OPEN MICA MINE
IN RIO ARRIBA
Ell Pasoans Now Working
Deposit In New Mexico
With Much Success.

l. NJ Stiles. oil operator, and John
c. Miller. mining engineer. both Of
FL Paso. are opening up a mica mine
in Apache canyon in the Petaca dis
trict, Rio Arriba county, New Mexico.
It IS said to be the largest deposit in
the United States. II not IN the world.
Messrs. Stiles and Miller state that
they have five parallel veins averag-
ing fully four feet wide, which crop
out for at least half a mile and all
are covered by 1s claims. For Is
months they have been working
quietly on this property which they
acquired, By location and they say
they have mined 10000 to $4,000
pounds Of block mica which is all
cleaned and stored, and from 10000
TO $4,000 pounds OF cleaned scrap
mica Some muscovite, the white
mica, has been shipped, and X Is said
TO be comparable TO that Of East In
dia, which country and the United
States are the principal producers OF
Mined In 1852.
Desultory mica mining had been
done on this deposit as far back as
1882, by a Mexican named Sandoval,
who took out some Of the best quail
ity in the form Of the largest and fin
est books" Of the clear white sheets,
and hauled IL by wagon b. way OF
Santa Fe TO Fort Leavenr Orth, Kan
Now the property is only u miles
from la MADEIRA. the saw mill station
Of Halleck & Howard on the branch
road from Taos on the Denver & Rio
Grande railroad. downhill haul from
the mines $500 feet above sea level
The mica is in pigmatite fissure
veins with a dip Of so degrees be-
tween granite and Quartzite, accord
ing to Mr.. stiles.
Demand for Mica
Mr. Miller located the claims, hav-
ing had his attention attracted to
these old. abandoned mines by the de-
mand for mica due principally to the
inability 70 import mica from India
during the war said MI. Stiles. I'VE
had IL all TO learn. for mica mining
Is so different from other kinds. He
worked II out there at the mines !
while went east visiting the mills /
where the raw product is prepared |
for the market also visited mica |
mines in North Carolina, which state /
produces so per cent OF the output Of ]
the United States. In that and other /
southern states II costs $500 a ton /
TO produce mica and II IS not mined. I
just .gophered' out by the farmers !
when farm work Is done They will /
dig their omen pits or cuts. find small 4
deposits, often only so TO 100 pounds. /
Buyers VIII then come around and /
buy Il I'd and when they have enough /
to justify it. send wagons 10 haul It I
70 the railroad.
Running \ Tunnel.
with US we start mining from
grass roots Mr.. Miller IS running
tunnel along the feet wall and then
the vein matter Is stripped carefully
from the HANGING wall by gadding
and picking We can stone and make
upraises and sink wines more like
real mining. The work IS done away
from the mineral so TO speak. for
fear Of hitting and thereby injuring
perhaps a fine hook" OF mica When d
ever mica dust shows on a drill that
hole IS abandoned. In the vein one
cannot tell when these books occur.
as they are irregular, being perpen-
dicular. horizontal OF at any angle.
We can mine comparatively cheaply.
while in the southern states II costs I
5000 a ton and in Canada, $40.