While natural mica powder comes from rocks, synthetic mica is made in a lab. It’s also known as synthetic fluorphlogopite, and is created from magnesium aluminum silicate sheets.

In the depths of India's illegal mica mines, where children as young as five work alongside adults, lurks a dark, hidden secret - the cover-up of child deaths with seven killed in the past two ...

The Legacy of Exploitation in Mica Mining. Eight-year-old Frederic works morning or afternoon shifts, depending on his school schedule, sorting mica alongside his elder brother.

When India went into lockdown last March and Tota Rai lost his cleaning job in the textile hub of Surat, he knew working in the illegal mica mining industry back home was his only option.

But the retailer, which has stores in almost 50 countries, then discovered this year that the synthetic mica it was using instead also had traces of natural mica. The company said it is tackling that.

Natural mica comes in several different “colours” – from white to brown ... use mined natural mica. That illegal mica mining is linked to child labour is not news to cosmetics giants.

Mining for Mica. Share full article. From Godey's Magazine. July 17, 1898; Credit... The New York Times Archives. See the article in its original context from July 17, 1898, Page 15 Buy Reprints.

THE mica industry is indebted to the author of this “Guide” for the current system of mining in Kodarma, the most prolific mica field in the world. His memoirs on that field are well known.

While mica shines in the make-up industry, mining it is dangerous work. Mica is sourced from more than 35 countries, mainly India, Madagascar, China, South Africa and Brazil.