Until the 19th century, large crystals of mica were quite rare and expensive as a result of the limited supply in Europe. However, its price dramatically dropped when large reserves were found and mined in Africa and South America after the early 19th century.

Scrap and flake mica is produced all over the world. The flake mica comes from several sources: the metamorphic rock called schist as a by-product of processing feldspar and kaolin resources, from placer deposits, and from pegmatites. Major producers of flake mica are Canada, India, Finland, and Japan. Sheet mica is considerably less abundant than flake and scrap mica. Sheet mica is occasionally recovered from mining scrap and flake mica. The most important sources of sheet mica are the pegmatite deposits. Major sheet mica mining countries are India, Belgium, Germany and China.

Properties and uses
Mica has a high dielectric strength and excellent chemical stability, making it a favored material for manufacturing capacitors for radio frequency applications. It has also been used as an insulator in high voltage electrical equipment. It is also birefringent and is commonly used to make quarter and half wave plates.

Because mica is resistant to heat it is used instead of glass in windows for stoves and kerosene heaters. Mica sheets also used for manufacturing of mica band heaters.

Illites or clay micas have a low cation exchange capacity for 2:1 clays. K+ ions between layers of mica prevent swelling by blocking water molecules.

Aventurine is a variety of quartz with mica inclusions used as a gemstone.

Pressed Mica sheets are often used in place of glass in greenhouses