Revival of the Mama-Chuya mica-mining district: a substantiation of necessity and capability
Mama-Chuya mica-mining district is the largest in Russia and one of the largest in the world in terms of a value of sheet and flake muscovite resources. The region has favorable natural mining conditions and developed inner infrastructure. Since the 1990th the district has been experiencing a mica production decline initiated by the general collapse in Russian economics during the «post-perestroika» period. Though the economics grew quickly and stably in the beginning of the XXI century, mica miningin the district was frozen in the declined state because of cooperation and trade dealings breakup. Now the lion's share of the mica market in Russia is supported by import. The district possesses sufficient resources in terms of mineral potential and infrastructure to satisfy all the requirements of Russian economics for a long-term period without any import. A series of actions are proposed in the paper which would be able promoting muscovite wide-scale extracting and primary manufacturing in the district due to increasing of an investment attraction for the mineral deposits, mine stimulating and raising of domestic mica materials competitive capacity.