([Teenage Time] No. 10) The picture is added later. The first-generation mica factory female worker (91-year-old mother) mica flakes. It was around the first few years of the 1960s, when I was a child and the author could only vaguely remember it. I remember that my mother, who w

([Youth Time] No. 10) The picture is added later

The first generation female mica factory worker (91-year-old mother)

Mica pieces

Around the first few years of the 1960s, the author as a child could only vaguely remember things. I remember that my mother, who was about 28 years old at the time, went to work in a mica factory in Habahe County to peel mica, and worked as a temporary worker in a mica ore processing factory for more than two years in order to earn money to support the family.

At that time, the wages of temporary workers in the mica factory were relatively high, and they could earn more than 40 yuan per month. If any of the temporary workers is willing to work in the factory for a long time, as long as they perform well, regardless of their family status, the factory promises that they can be converted into full-time employees of the state.

The mica factory is located in the middle area between the west side of the town primary school wall and the east side of Erdaoqu. There are several dirt bungalows with a small yard. Two of the houses are the cutting workshop and finished product inspection room, one is an office, and the other two are collective labor workshops for processing mica.

The person in charge of the factory is a technician sent by the county, named Zhang Daomin. He manages the factory, focusing on production technology, and leads more than a dozen female employees to peel mica every day. Among the workers, there are Han and ethnic groups, and most of them are women and their family members. Many aunts bring their nursing infants to work.

My mother also took her nursing sister with her. When she was working, she put her in a cardboard box in front of her and gave her a small object as a toy. She peeled the mica with her hands and looked after the doll at the same time. I am a boy, more than two years older than my sister, so my mother entrusts me to the care of our neighbor Apa when she is at work.

Raw Mineral Mica Block

A boy in Apa’s family is the same age as me, and the other two sisters are one to two years older than me respectively. Mom peeled mica for two years, and I played at Apa's house for two years. In order to express her gratitude, my mother would give Apa two pairs of embroidered shoes every year. When she had time, she would also teach Apa how to cook Han Chinese hot dishes...

Apa could not speak Chinese well, so I often played with his children outside. In order to make it easier for me to call me, Apa gave me the Kazakh name of "Wali Khan". Now when I need to register an online platform APP, I usually use Walihan as my online name.

The labor in the mica factory is to deliver the mica lumps transported from the mine to the processing factory mothers and other female workers, who use sharpened hacksaw blades to peel them off layer by layer, then go through the side knife workshop to trim them, and then grade and pack them for transportation. My mother told me that these mica are used on airplanes.

Mica is a rock-forming mineral in the form of hexagonal flaky crystals. It is characterized by insulation and high temperature resistance. The most commonly used material in industry is sericite, which is widely used in coatings, paints, electrical insulation, welding rods, plastics, papermaking, asphalt, rubber and other chemical industries.

Habahe County is very rich in mineral resources. It was later praised as "a pearl in the non-ferrous metal belt" by the national geological and mineral department. However, due to the constraints of geological exploration technology at that time, deep mining of minerals was still blank. However, mica is a superficial non-metallic mineral deposit in mountainous areas, which is easy to mine and requires little investment. Therefore, the mica flakes peeled by mothers at that time were famous far and wide and very popular.

My mother worked in the mica factory for two years. No matter it was severe cold or scorching heat, she went to get off work on time from nine to five every day. And I take my sister to work almost every day. Except for taking time off when sick, I never miss work. Because the mica my mother peels is of good quality and high grade, she often helps newbies entering the factory and teaches the peeling techniques to ethnic female workers step by step, which has been well received by the factory leaders and everyone.

Based on the recommendation of the masses and the mother’s usual work performance, the factory decided to convert the mother into a full-time worker. The sewing shop in the county (the predecessor of the Handicrafts Federation) also had to send my mother to work, but because my mother-in-law and my grandmother had a chronic respiratory disease, and there were more children in the family, the whole family couldn't live without my mother.So she declined the factory's kindness, and my mother never went to work again.

Later, due to the large reserves and high-grade mica mines in the region such as Fuyun and Altay County, large-scale mica mines with high grades were mined one after another. Old mica factories in various places (including XPCC enterprises) have undergone technological transformation and expansion, carried out large-scale operations, and significantly reduced production costs. Also because of the successful development of artificial mica, the early mica factory in Habahe County was closed, ending its mission.

Today, in my hometown of Habahe County, the Ashele polymetal mine, the second largest in Asia after the Ural Copper Mine in Russia, has been built in the mountains and hills of Jiangjulek Front, Russia. Its gold output was once among the best in the Altay region.. A planned modern future copper city with a population of 100,000 people is under steady development and construction.

As the first generation of temporary female miners in the history of Habahe County, my mother, although uneducated and a dependent, still receives a monthly living allowance of more than 2,000 yuan from the government. My mother said that she would never dream of supporting the Communist Party in her next life.

This year, my mother has reached the age of 91, and my eldest son is already approaching his seventies. Several of her own brothers and sisters have passed away long ago. Although the old man now suffers from geriatric diseases and takes medicine every day, his memory is quite good and he can still basically take care of himself. Speaking of the past, she can still stutter and tell you stories about her youth...

Semi-finished mica raw material