The announcement by Star Mountain Resources, Inc. (OTC: SMRS) of the Sully discovery validates the company’s decision to reactivate the Balmat mine. The company’s recently completed district-wide review and evaluation, which targeted zinc mineralization in the Balmat-Edwards Mining District of St. Lawrence County, New York, yielded encouraging results. The review identified significant potential zinc mineralization, labeled the ‘Sully discovery’, in the Upper Marble unit at a location approximately one mile southwest of the historic Hyatt Mine and four miles northeast of the Balmat mine. The Upper Marble unit contains the rock within which the ore deposit occurs, known as host rock in the industry. Star Mountain’s Sully discovery is important because it increases the possibility that the company is sitting on reserves greater that those indicated by already completed feasibility studies.
Out of 12 drill holes executed on the Sully target in 2007 and 2008, seven intersected massive sulfide zinc mineralization. The drilling operations revealed significant thicknesses of zinc mineralization that can be correlated over approximately 1,500 feet along strike and up to 500 feet across strike. The strike of a bed is the direction of a straight line that connects two points of equal elevation on the bed.
The richness of the results was particularly promising. The seven drill holes yielded nine readings. The percentage of zinc assayed ranged from 1.4% to 24.7%. The average of the nine readings was 11.6%; the standard deviation was 7.4%.
On the release of the findings, Star Mountain Resources President Mark Osterberg pointed out that the Balmat-Edwards District has been in near continuous production for 100 years and that, on average, every 17 years a new mine has been discovered. The company, he said, will advance its exploration efforts and is confident it can “add to the record of discovery.”
Although further studies are required to confirm the economic viability of the mineralized material, the Sully discovery, naturally, raises the chances that further significant deposits of zinc are present in the Balmat-Edwards area. The area has historically proven to be rich in zinc. Star Mountain’s mining properties there consist of four mines: Balmat, Edwards, Hyatt and Pierrepont. Edwards was in operation from 1915 to 1980; Pierrepont produced from 1982 to 2001; and Hyatt operated from 1974 to 1998. The Balmat mine operated continuously from 1930 to 2001, when production ceased due to depressed zinc metal prices. Production then resumed in 2006 until falling prices caused it to be shuttered again in the fall of 2008.
The greater Balmat-Edwards-Pierrepont district has produced in excess of 43 million tons of 9.4% zinc during its 76 years of operation, while the Balmat mine has produced 33.8 million tons of 8.6% zinc ore since operations began in 1930. It’s beginning to look as if Balmat may be just the tip of the Star Mountain iceberg.
Star Mountain Resources, Inc. is a junior exploration and mining company focused on acquiring and consolidating mining claims, mineral leases, producing mines, and historic mines with production and future growth potential. Its operations are currently focused on base metal and precious metal mining acquisitions in North America, and on re-commencing mining activities at the Balmat Zinc mine in upstate New York.
For more information, visit www.starmountainresources.com
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