MICA    DEPOSITS    OF    WESTERN    NORTH    CAROLINA.  401 
the  Balsam  Mountain  region,  in  parts  of  Haywood,  Jackson,  and 
Transylvania  counties,  by  the  Federal  and  State  surveys.  The  writer 
wishes  to  express  his  appreciation  of  the  aid  rendered  him  by  Mr.  Arthur 
Keith  in  the  preparation  of  these  pages. 
Active  mica  mining  has  been  carried  on  in  North  Carolina  for  the 
last  thirty-eight  years,  though  with  varying  degrees  of  energy  and 
success.  The  remains  of  ancient  workings  with  crude  stone  tools 
around  some  of  the  better  deposits  give  evidence  of  early  mining  by 
the  aborigines  or  prehistoric  people.  The  starting  of  the  present 
industry  is  generally  credited  to  Thomas  L.  Clingman,  who  had  the 
Silvers  mine  opened  in  Yancey  County  in  1868.  After  taking  out  some 
good  blocks  of  mica  he  was  called  away  by  other  duties  without  dis- 
posing of  them.  The  mica  was  brought  to  the  attention  of  Heap  & 
Clapp,  stove  dealers,  of  Knoxville,  Tenn.,  who  recognized  its  value  and 
shortly  after  started  work  on  this  and  other  mines. 
It  is  claimed  that  the  earliest  mica  mining  in  North  Carolina  was 
done  in  Jackson  County  in  1867  by  a  Mr.  Person,  of  Philadelphia.  In 
1858  a  specimen  of  mica  from  Jackson  County  was  exhibited  at  the 
State  fair  in  Columbia,  S.  C,  by  D.  D.  Davies.  Nine  years  later, 
after  the  value  of  mica  was  better  recognized,  Mr.  Person  came  to 
Jackson  County  and  started  operations  on  numerous  prospects  known 
to  Mr.  Davies. 
After  a  number  of  years  of  depression  due  to  low  market  values  at 
the  time  when  India  mica  was  imported  into  the  country  in  large 
quantities,  the  production  is  again  increasing.  Especially  during  the 
last  two  years  has  the  industry  gained  strength,  and  at  the  present  time 
many  companies  and  private  persons  are  examining  or  developing  old 
and  new  mines  and  prospects. 
For  more  detailed  information  on  mica  than  it  is  possible  to  give  in 
a  brief  report  of  this  nature,  the  reader  is  referred  to  the  following 
publications: 
Pratt,  J.  H.     The  Mining  Industry  in  North  Carolina,  annual  publication  of  North 
Carolina  Geol.  Survey,  1900-1904. 
Production  of  mica  in  the  United  States:  Mineral  Resources  for  1905  and  several  years 
preceding,  U.  S.  Geol.  Survey.     Especial  attention  is  called  to  the  report  by  J.  A. 
Holmes  in  the  volume  for  1898  (Twentieth  Ann.  Rept.,  pt.  <i,  continued,  1899, 
pp.  691-707). 
Ells,  R.  W.     Mica  deposits  of  Canada:  Mineral  Resources  of  Canada,  1904,  Canada 
Geol.  Survey. 
Cirkel,  Fritz.     Mica,  Its  Occurrence,  Exploitation,  and  Uses,  Mines  Branch,  Dept. 
Interior,  Canada,  1905. 
Colles,  G.  W.     Mica  and  the  mica  industry:  Jour.  Franklin  Inst.,  Philadelphia,  vol. 
160,  1905,  pp.  275-294.     Reprinted  in  book  form  in  1906. 
