Ontzinc checks extensions at Balmat

Underground drilling by Ontzinc (OTZ-V) at the Balmat zinc mine in upstate New York has confirmed extensions of known mineralization.

Three holes drilled from the mine’s 3700 Level intersected zinc mineralization on extensions of three bodies of high-grade zinc mineralization in the mine’s Mahler zone. Hole 1479-F encountered five separate sulphide intersections ranging from 0.6 to 4.8 metres in length. Two 3.8-metre intersections graded 24.5% and 24% zinc; a 1.5-metre intersection graded 31.81%; and a 4.8-metre zone ran 6.47%.

A second hole, 1481-F, intersected a 5.2-metre intersection running 24.4% zinc, with two narrower intersections further up. The third hole, 1480-F, cut three zones with grades in the 1.8% to 7.8% range.

Balmat, formerly held by St. Joe Minerals, produced about 30 million tonnes at a grade of 9.5% zinc between 1930 and 2001. A resource and reserve audit in January 2003 put the project’s reserves at 1.8 million tonnes grading 11.94% zinc, including 643,000 tonnes grading 12.77% zinc in the Mahler zone.