The British Empire possesses in India the most important source of muscovite mica in the world and in Canada the only important supply of amber mica. In spite of England’s tremendous advantage with regard to raw material, Germany, through her important position in the electrical industry and the large measure of control acquired in the Indian mines, threatened to dominate the mica market of the world at the outbreak of the war. Since the outbreak of the war England has secured her position not only as the controlling center for raw mica but as the chief producing nation of electrical equipment. London is the distributing center of the world for Indian mica and London prices regulate the market. During the war Indian mica was controlled by the British Ministry of Munitions, and allotments were made to the associated nations at fixed prices.
In the development of the South American fields lies the best possibility of the world lessening its dependence upon England for this most essential raw material.
France is entirely dependent upon outside sources for her supply of mica. Before the war her demands were not large and were filled by Indian mica.
Although Germany before the war was entirely dependent on outside sources for mica, her leading position in the electrical industry enabled her to gain control of much of the Indian production. Every advantage was taken of this opportunity, and in 1914, according to the British Secretary of Munitions, the mica market of the world was at the point of being transferred from London to Hamburg. The deposits of German East Africa were being actively exploited and German commercial interests were being extended to South America.
Although probably possessing very large stocks in 1914, Germany felt very acutely the shortage of mica during the war. High prices were paid to Norway for the output of that country, but this source is probably entirely incapable of meeting the normal demands of Germany.
SUMMARY
Sheet mica is essential to the manufacture of a vast variety of electrical equipment, and must, therefore, be classed as one of the important raw materials of the world. The magneto, such a vital factor in modern transport on land, air and sea, depends upon mica for its construction, and mica condensers are indispensable in modern radio equipment.
India, Canada, and the United States are at present the most important mica-producing countries. Deposits of future importance from which production has thus far not been great are known in German East Africa, Brazil, Argentina and the Transvaal; from several other parts of the world more sporadic production is reported.
Unlike the development of many other raw materials the production of mica has not been universally undertaken on a large scale, nor have scientific methods been applied to its extraction. This has been largely due to the irregular nature of the deposits and their scattered position within a district, making considerable investment of capital in mining a particularly hazardous venture. Trading interests have, therefore, played an important part in controlling production and markets.
The British Empire, having within its boundaries a large proportion of the important mica-producing districts, at present dominates the situation politically. British commercial control, threatened by Germany’s leading position in the electrical industry and wide interests in Indian mines at the outbreak of war, is now firmly re-established, and Great Britain has taken the place in the electrical industry formerly held by Germany and Austria.