Mining - The Mining of Brazilian Mica in Stripping Operations (Mining Tech., May 1946, T.P. 2023)

It is well known that the excellent mica from Brazil played a most vital role in World War 11. Increased production from Brazil was necessary and with the assent of the Brazilian Government engineers from the united' States went down to study the problem. One of the means advocated by a former Chief of Metals and Minerals Branch of the Board of Economic Warfare, Mr. Carl Schwegler, was the use of stripping machinery. On a pegmatite dike favorable for stripping, a small number of miners could produce as much mica per day as an underground mine employing many times the same number of men. Type of Deposit Favorable The most favorable type of pegmatite for stripping is that which lies more or less parallel to the surface of the slope of a hill. Pegmatite dikes that cut directly into a hill are not suitable for stripping except where a long outcrop extends along the slope. Then just the outcrop could be stripped to some advantage. The ratio at no time should be greater than 1: 3; i.e., I cu. m. of pegmatite to 3 cu. m. of waste, unless the pegmatite was extremely rich throughout the dike. The Economics of Stripping When a mineral is badly needed to win a war, not too much heed can be paid to costs. The object is to produce rapidly and in quantity. Again, a deposit containing a superior grade of mica may be worked although the pegmatite is more costly to work than another deposit containing a considerably greater amount of poor-grade mica. For example: one deposit may have a little mica that will run 11 per cent good stain and better when trimmed and contain 2 kg, of crude mica per cubic meter of pegmatite, while another may run 0.2 per cent of good stain and better, and have a mica content of 10 kg. per cubic meter. A number of stripping projects were found in the vicinity of Raul Soares, Minas Gerais. These were sampled in the various old workings by cutting out a cubic meter of pegmatite and saving the usable mica. Because of the proximity to the surface of most stripping projects, about 34 per cent only of the mica is good for trimming. The other 66 per cent is too badly weathered to be of use. In Table I are given data collected on five properties near Raul Soares. In Table I, "value per cubic meter of pegmatite" means the value of the qualified mica obtainable. This does not include the half trimmed and splittings. By "value per cubic meter of matter" is meant the value of the qualified mica per cubic meter of material excavated; i.e. both waste and pegmatite. This is the figure that should be used to determine whether the operation will be profitable or not, as the cost of stripping is about $0.14 per cubic meter. With new machinery not subject to breakdowns, the cost per cubic meter should be around $0.10 to $0.15. To this should be