362 JOSEPH HYDE PRATT 



abundantly distributed throughout the United States, although 

 rocks in which mica is one of the chief constituents are very 

 common. At the present time deposits of commercial value 

 are known to occur in Alabama, Arizona, California, Colorado, 

 Connecticut, Georgia, Idaho, Maine, Missouri, Nevada, New 

 Hampshire, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Rhode 

 Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Vermont, Virginia, 

 and Wyoming; and in Arkansas there are also deposits which 

 may become of commercial importance. In most of these 

 states the deposits were not worked in 1902. In some of them 

 the deposits were not available on account of their distance 

 from railroads, this being especially true of those in Arizona, 

 Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, and Wyoming. In others 

 little has been done owing to the uncertainty of the price and 

 the demand. Many of the deposits of Maine have only re- 

 cently been opened, and therefore have not been extensively 

 developed. 



Mica was first produced in the eastern states along the 

 Appalachian mountains, and twenty years ago minmg was 

 carried on vigorously in Connecticut, New Hampshire, North 

 Carolina, and Virginia. In the eastern field the principal 

 mining is in North Carolina, which, since the beginning of the 

 mica industry in the United States, has been the chief producer 

 of the mineral. At just what time the first work was done on 

 the mica deposits of North Carolina is uncertain, and since 

 there is no record of the old mining and none of the inhabitants 

 of this section have any information whatever regarding these 

 old workings, they have been attributed to the Indians. Trees 

 2 feet and over in diameter have been observed growing from 

 these cuts. Stone implements have been found in some of the 

 old tunnels, indicating the antiquity of these workings. Most 

 of these old mines are located in Mitchell and Yancey counties. 



Of the north central states. South Dakota has been and 

 still is the state in which the largest quantity of mica is pro- 

 duced ; while of the western states and territories, New Mexico 

 has for a number of years been the largest producer, but is now 

 likely to have to give way to California. These California 

 deposits have only been opened up within the past few years, 

 but the mining is now being carried on quite extensively. At 



