AUSTRALIAN MICA

Evening Post, Volume CXXX, Issue 92, 15 October 1940, Page 8

AUSTRALIAN MICA

STRONG WAR DEMAND

(By Trans-Tasman Atr Mail, from ''The Post's" Representative.)

SYDNEY, October 10

Introduction of modern mining methods under strict Government supervision would, according to experts, increase immeasurably the output of mica from the Central Australian fields at Hart's Range. Every nation manufacturing armaments for prosecution of the war is anxious to get mica. The sudden jump in value to about £212 a ton between 1939 and 1940 is a direct result of the wartime demand. Last year's output of 35 tons realised £21,113 an all-time record in terms of money, although in 1935 65 tons was mined. In the last 10 years, production has fluctuated between 21 tons and 65 tons, and the value between £5000 and £21,000.

The mica producing area covers 4000 square miles, and its possibilities are as yet practically unexplored. In the past, antiquated mining methods have been used by the 45 Italian nationals and naturalised Australians working the field. Hart's Range, the only deposit yet discovered in Australia, was first worked in 1893, when six hundredweight of metal realised 134 pounds of mica. If modern mining methods and modern machinery are introduced, Australian production should be tripled within a short time. Australia's requirements are at present not extensive, but the surplus would find a real market in America, which can only produce 15 per cent, of its needs. Despite the increased wartime demand, it is estimated that there are abundant supplies of mica in Australia for the next 15 years. The Australian mineral is equal in quality to any produced elsewhere.