191Ji\ Certain Mineeal Eesoukces 97 



ever, there has been no mining of either of these minerals for 

 commercial purposes . 



MICA. 



The first mica mining in *he South was very evidently 

 done by the Indians as old underground workings have been 

 encountered, in some of which Indian implements have been 

 found. That the Indians were attracted by the transparency 

 of mica, probably for ornamental purposes, is shown by the old 

 workings on mica veins that exist in western North Carolina. 

 In a num'ber of old workings which have been discovered and 

 re-opened, stone Indian relics have been found. An interesth 

 ing discovery has recently been made in Ohio in some of the 

 old Indian mounds, which have been opened, of beads which 

 closely resemble pearls. The outer covering of these beads is 

 minute scales of a partially altered mica. As no mica oc- 

 curs in Ohio, it must have been brought from some of the east- 

 ern states and perhaps from the mines of this section. Just 

 what use the ISTorth Carolina Indians made of the mica they 

 obtained is unknown, but as it could be readily cut and made 

 into all sorts of shapes and was transparent, it would natural- 

 ly attract the Indian. 



The mining of mica for commercial purposes was first com- 

 menced in 1867, in North Carolina, and the mica obtained 

 was superior to any mica that had ever been put on the market, 

 and immediately became the standard mica by which other 

 micas were judged. Since that date mica mining has been 

 carried on in Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and 

 Alabama, but with considerable variation in the production of 

 the mineral. About 1885 there began the importation of mica 

 (duty free) from India and a little later from Canada. This 

 at once began to affect the Southern production, which con- 

 tinued to decrease until the McKinley tariff bill became effec- 

 tive in 1892-93, which placed a duty on mica. As one of the 

 principal uses of mica was in stoves that were used for heating 

 houses, there was a large falling off in the demand for the min- 

 eral with the decrease in the use of stoves for this purpose fol- 

 lowing the introduction of other methods for heating houses. 



