State

The Mica Industry Very few pcoplp know very Hindi about it. lint so far as several western c*ounties are eoncerneil. it's the biggest tiling in !\orth Carolina. fit; W4. kl lTII SAIMHKS NOKTII Carolina leads «hr Cnit- ed Slain» in Ни- prod urt inn "f mica. Almost everyone iii North Caro¬ lina. nl йоте Ним- or otbrr in hi* <»r her life, ha* heard or read I hr above stall-limit . Civic-minded Tar Heels luivr long proclaimed thi* state’* miea industry a* one of its ninny “fimls." Ilnl liow ina i iv North Curolinian* knon anything oImiiiI tin* .state'* mien industry — how it started, what it un-ails to the state in dollars and cent* and in employment, what is it* pres- out status, and wlmt are its pros|H*ct* for the flit lire f North ('arnlina'* mica industry probably originated with the Indian* centuries iiirn, according to II. .1. Itryson, Stale Hcologist. but just what use I lie Indians made of the sub- stance i* a bit vague. An Important Economic Asset Т. it i* an iiu|iorlan! rronomir asset to tlir few Western North Caro¬ lina roiintie* when- the mineral is found. What is mica, anyhow * It's hanl to say just what the mineral is without resort in к to a lot of scientific and geological terms, but miea actually is a mineral consist ing of thin, flexible scab**, having a shiny, pearly and al¬ most metiillie luster. The wale* of mica lire easily separated, and are sometimes no! more than ЗОО.ОПШН part of an inch in thickness, if you can imagine anything that thin. Miea i* found in various rock formations, and in North t'andina seem* to In* routined to a handful of western count ie*. The miea industry in thi* stale is centered in Mitchell. Avery, and Van¬ eev count ies. but overspread* into Buneomlie. Ilav wood, and Macon counties, according to (ieologi*! Mry- Mill. And what d*M-s uiiea mean to North Carolina from an economic stand- | м и 1 1 1 f .lust this : There are at present seven com¬ panies engaged in mining or grind¬ ing miea in Western North Caro¬ lina. and several other plant* an- in process of construction. These plants employ several hundred men. hut it is difficult to estimate just how much employment the miea industry af¬ fords because of the fact that a con¬ siderable quantity of miea is pro- dueed as by-product* of clay and feldspar. At any rate, the industry is a Cod- send to luilf a dozen counties in the mountain* of the state, where there is no agriculture to speak of and not much industry. In 1937. the last year for which complete figure* are available. North Carolina produced 1,057.316 |иппи1* of miea. which was worth #127.388. according to Department of Com¬ merce figures. And when you con¬ sider the fact that the entire output of this country in 1937 wit* valued at only around #71*МИЮ. you can readily see that North Carolina pro¬ duces more miea than all the other states put together. As for the future of North Caro¬ lina’* miea industry, indication* are that it is exceedingly bright. Consider the use* to which miea is put and you will understand why the industry may lie expected to grow. Seventy-seven per cent of the coun¬ try's uiiea output is used in the man¬ ufacture of rooting. 12 |»er cent is used in the wallpa|>cr industry, and •i |*er cent is used hv paint manufac¬ turer*. In other words. 95 per cent of the miea output is used in indus¬ tries connected with the building triu Ies. With a housing shortage recognized as a national problem and the gov¬ ernment as well as private industry doing everything possible to stimu¬ late a building Immuii. there i* a defi¬ nite likelihood that rooting. wallpa|ier and |iaiut are going to lie much ill demand during the next few years. which will mean an increased demand and brtter price for mica. In fart, activities in the mica in¬ dustry in Western North Carolina |Hiint to the fact that such a boom is expected. At the present time, three new plants are lieing constructed. The Tar Heel Mien Company, lo¬ cated at I'lumtree, in Avery County, is building a new #30.000 mica grind¬ ing plant. At Burnsville, in Yancey County. Washington capital is constructing a $50.000 mica recovery plant. And the Cherokee Mineral Com¬ pany of Hickory, is building a large mica recovery plant near Kllenlmro. in Rutherford County. This expansion on the part of the mien industry certainly indicates or portend* an upturn in the industry in the near future. Foreign Competition As a matter of fact, thi* industry would lie a truly big thing in North Carolina but for the matter of for¬ eign competition. No state in this country can produce miea as cheaply or in such quantities as North Caro¬ lina. but imported scrap mica, which is produced by cheap foreign labor and enters this country duty-free is a real competitor of North Carolina’s mica recovery plants. In fact, some of the mica-grinding mills in the Spruce Pine district buy much of their mica from abroad. A tariff on mica im¬ ports would put many thousands of dollar* into the (siekets of North Car¬ olina mica-producer*, and it i* not at all improbable that such a tariff may he imposed. Hut regard I os* of that, the housing industry is certain to boom in this country, and when that happens the miea industry will boom, too. And Western North Carolina is getting ready to cash in on that ex¬ pected boom. Mica may toon become more than just another ” first'' to this state.