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Balmat No. 2, 3, and 4 mines

Past Producer in St. Lawrence county in New York, United States with commodities Zinc, Lead, Sulfur-Pyrite, Silver
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Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10082070
MRDS ID W044662
Record type Deposit
Current site name Balmat No. 2, 3, and 4 mines
Alternate or previous names Stone Farm Prospect (No. 2), No. 2 open pit mine, No. 3 open pit mine

Geographic coordinates

Point of reference Geographic coordinates: Elevation UTM Precision Relative position Point location
Main Entrance -75.39977, 44.25218 (WGS84) 207 1000 Location is for No. 2 shaft, 0.67 miles S18W of BM 674, north of town of Balmat., 30, 30
(click for info)
Main Entrance -75.40237, 44.26665 (WGS84) 210 100 Balmat. No. 3 shaft is 0.48 miles N41W of BM 674, north of Balmat.
Main Entrance -75.40987, 44.26387 (WGS84) 100 Balmat No. 4 is 0.72 miles N74W of BM 674, north of town of Balmat.
Ore Body -75.40179, 44.25138 (WGS84) 210 500 No. 2 open pit (MAS record)
Ore Body -75.40739, 44.26438 (WGS84) 210 No. 3 open pit (MAS record)

Geographic areas

Country State County
United States New York St. Lawrence

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Zinc Primary
Lead Secondary
Sulfur-Pyrite Secondary
Silver Tertiary

Comments on the commodity information

  • Supergene minerals are present at Balmat No. 2, including magnetite, hematite, and secondary forms of sphalerite, galena, chalcopyrite, bornite, and willemite (Lea and Dill, 1968).

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Sphalerite Ore
Galena Ore
Pyrite Gangue
Diopside Gangue
Quartz Gangue
Calcite Gangue
Serpentine Gangue
Talc Gangue
Barite Gangue
Anhydrite Gangue

Alteration

  • (Local) Dolomitization; Silicification

Mineral occurrence model information

Model code 208
USGS model code 31a
BC deposit profile E14
Deposit model name Sedimentary exhalative Zn-Pb
Mark3 model number 13

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Metamorphic Rock > Metasedimentary Rock > Marble
    Rock unit name Upper Marble Formation
    Rock description Upper Marble Formation
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Proterozoic

Nearby scientific data

Main Entrance (1) -75.39977, 44.25218
ListMap
Main Entrance (2) -75.40237, 44.26665
ListMap
Main Entrance (3) -75.40987, 44.26387
ListMap
Ore Body (4) -75.40179, 44.25138
ListMap
Ore Body (5) -75.40739, 44.26438
ListMap

Geologic structures

Type Description Terms
Local Sylvia Lake syncline (No. 2 mine)
Local Gleason fault (No. 3 mine)
Local Fowler syncline (No. 4 mine)

Ore body information

  • Name of the ore body No. 2 mine
    General form STRATABOUND
  • Name of the ore body No. 4 mine
    Strike N50E
    Dip 45W
    Thickness 550M
    Depth to top 198M
    Width 3000M
    Length 16000M
    Area 180HA
    Field Value
    Type of Orebody #1 SEDIMENTARY
    Shape of Orebody #1 LENTICULAR
    Type of Orebody #2 BRECCIA FILL
    Shape of Orebody #2 TABULAR
    Type of Orebody #3 SHEAR ZONE
    Shape of Orebody #3 OTHER
    Primary mode of Origin SEDIMENTATION
    Secondary mode of Origin METAMORPHISM
    Primary Ore Control FOLDING
    Secondary Ore Control LITHOLOGY
    Degree of Wallrock Alter. NONE
    Type of Wallrock Alter. #1 UNKNOWN
    Strike And Dip N50E
    Minimum Depth to Top 0
    Avg. Thick. Unconsol. Mat. 9
    Min. Thick. Unconsol. Mat. 0
    Total Surface Area (HA) 180
    Date of Last Modification 830407

Comments on the ore body information

  • No. 4 orebodies vary from 0.5 to 15 meters thick, 15 to 250 meters long. Deposits are lenticular, pod-shaped, or tablular. Deposit type is stratabound eipigneitc.

Comments on the geologic information

  • Proterozoic rocks of the Balmat-Edwards district are part of the Grenville Supergroup. Balmat No. 2 shaft mines the Main, Streeter, Hanging Wall, Number One and American orebodies. Host rocks are banded quartz-diopside, calcitic-siliceous marble and sepentinous diopsidic marble. The Sylvia Lake syncline plunges NNW at 25 degrees and dominates the structure of these orebodies. Sulfides flowed across stratigraphy along shears and into dilatent fold hinges and fractures, resulting in complex geology (DeLorriane et al., 1993). Balmat No. 3 shaft mined the Upper Gleason, Lower Gleason, West Gleason, Loomis, Loomis C, and part of the Sylvia Lake orebodies. Host rocks are dolomitic marbles, quartzite, and siliceous diopside (locally) (DeLorriane et al., 1993) Balmat No. 4 specifically mines the Fowler, Upper Fowler and Mud Pond orebodies. Host rocks are a quartz-diopside-dolomitic-calcitic marble (DeLorriane et al., 1993)

Economic information

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Operation type Surface-Underground
Development status Past Producer
Commodity type Metallic
Deposit size Large
Significant Yes
Discovery year 1838
Discovery method Ore-Mineral In Place
Year of first production 1930
Year of last production 2008
Production years 1930-2001, 2004-2008
Milling method Flotation

Mining district

District name Balmat-Edwards District

Land status

Ownership category Private

Ownership information

  • Type Owner-Operator
    Owner St. Joe's Mineral Resource Co., Unit Of Fluor Co.
    First year 1986
  • Type Owner-Operator
    Owner Zinc Corp. Of America
    ID 3001185
    Interest 100
    Home office P. O. Box 2266, Hailesboro, Ny 13645
    Year 1993

Production statistics

  • Year 1952
    Period 1952-2001
    Material ore
    Ore mined 5,700,000mt
    Accuracy Accurate
    Description No. 3 mine
    Importance Item Commodity Group Amount recovered Grade Recovery percentage
    Primary Zinc Zinc 9wt-pct
  • Year 2001
    Period 1930-2001
    Material ore
    Ore mined 17,800,000mt
    Accuracy Accurate
    Best? Y
    Description No. 2 mine
    Importance Item Commodity Group Amount recovered Grade Recovery percentage
    Major zinc Zinc Zinc 9wt-pct
  • Year 2001
    Period 1965-2001
    Material ore
    Ore mined 9,400,000mt
    Accuracy Accurate
    Description No. 4 mine
    Importance Item Commodity Group Amount recovered Grade Recovery percentage
    Primary Zinc Zinc 8wt-pct

Reserves and resources

  • Type In-situ
    Name No. 4 mine
    Estimate year 2001
    Inferred 3,100,000mt
    Demonstrated 2,000,000mt
    Total resources 5,100,000mt

Comments on the reserve resource information

  • Significant reserves remain in the area. The three most recent discoveries (New Fold [1997], Mahler [2000], and Northeast Fowler [2004]) may establish a fourth mining "cluster" ? the Balmat No. 5 Mine (Knight, 2005).

Workings at the site

  • Type of workings Underground
    Name of workings No. 4 mine
    Length 43191M
    Overall depth 900M
    Field Value
    MAS Development Schedule # 1
    Mining Record # 1
    Status of Mining Method ESTIMATE
    Mining Method OPEN STOPE
    Swell Factor .6
    Percent Waste Rock 0
    Percent Recovery 80
    Hardness of Rock HARDROCK WITH LITTLE WATER
    Rock Characteristics NO PLANES OF WEAKNESS
    Rock Support Chars. SUPPORTING MAY BACK SLAB
    Mine Support Chars. POST, HEADBOARD, CAPS, ROOF BOLTS
    Number of Shafts 7
    Length of Inclines (m) 700
    Slope of Inclines 15
    Number of Inclines 1
    Avg. Length of Adits (m) 0
    1st Condition of Workings OPEN
    2nd Condition of Workings PART ACCESSIBLE
    Capacity 3810
    Capacity Units MT ORE/DAY
    Unit Production Cost 16.33
    Units of Production $/MT ORE
    Operating Days per Year 252
    Operating Shifts per Day 2
    Year of Information 1978

Comments on the workings information

  • No. 3 mining methods include shrinkage, long hole and contour mining.

Comments on development

  • Year of discovery: No. 2 - 1927 No. 3 - 1945 No. 4 - 1965 Year of first production: No. 2 - 1930 No. 3 - 1952 No. 4 - 1965
  • No. 2 open pit mine MSHA INSPECTION REPORT 3-1-79. No. 3 open pit mine METAL AND NONMETAL HEALTH AND SAFETY INSPECTION 8/10/72. Neither open pit mine on the MSHA 1980 or 1981 lists.

Reference information

Links to other databases

Agency Database name Acronym Record ID Notes
USGS Mineral Resources Data System MRDS W044662
U.S. Bureau of Mines Minerals Availability System MAS 0360890023 MRDS dep_id 10199794 merged into 10082070
USGS Mineral Resources Data System MRDS W020670 MRDS dep_id 10199794 merged into 10082070
Mine Safety and Health Administration MSHA MSHA 3000591
USGS Mineral Resources Data System MRDS W044663 MRDS dep_id 10082071 merged into 10082070
U.S. Bureau of Mines Minerals Availability System MAS 0360890001 MRDS dep_id 10199838 merged into 10082070
Mine Safety and Health Administration MSHA MSHA 3001185 MRDS dep_id 10199838 merged into 10082070
USGS Mineral Resources Data System MRDS W044661 MRDS dep_id 10100923 merged into 10082070
U.S. Bureau of Mines Minerals Availability System MAS 0360890010 MRDS dep_id 10247734 merged into 10082070
USGS Mineral Resources Data System MRDS W020679 MRDS dep_id 10247734 merged into 10082070
Mine Safety and Health Administration MSHA MSHA 3001184 MRDS dep_id 10247734 merged into 10082070
U.S. Bureau of Mines Minerals Availability System MAS 0360890174 MRDS dep_id 10248348 merged into 10082070
Mine Safety and Health Administration MSHA MSHA 3001983 MRDS dep_id 10248348 merged into 10082070
U.S. Bureau of Mines Minerals Availability System MAS 0360890178 MRDS dep_id 10223636 merged into 10082070
Mine Safety and Health Administration MSHA MSHA 3001261 MRDS dep_id 10223636 merged into 10082070

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    LEA, E.R., AND DILL, D.B., JR., 1968, ZINC DEPOSITS OF THE BALMAT-EDWARDS DISTRICT, NEW YORK: IN RIDGE, J.D., ED., ORE DEPOSITS OF THE UNITED STATES 1933-1967 (GRATON-SALES VOLUME) V. 1: AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF MINING, METALLURGICAL AND PETROLEUM ENGINEERS, P. 20-48.

  • Geology

    Foose, M.P., 1979, A reinterpretation of the structural and stratigraphic setting of the Balmat-Edwards zinc deposits, northwest Adirondack lowlands, New York: Economic Geology, Scientific Communications, September, 1979, pp. 130-133.

  • Deposit

    DE LORRAINE, W.F., AND DILL, D.B., 1982, STRUCTURE, STRAITIGRAPHIC CONTROLS, AND GENESIS OF THE BALMAT ZINC DEPOSITS, NORTHWEST ADIRONDACKS, N.Y., GEOLOGIC ASSOCIATION OF CANADA, SPECIAL PAPER NO 25, P 571-596

  • Geology

    Foose, M.P., 1981, Geology, geochemistry, and regional resource implications of a stratabound sphalerite occurrence in the Northwest Adirondacks, New York:, U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 1519, 18 p.

  • Deposit

    LUEDKE, E.M., WRUCKE, C.T., AND GRAHAM, J.A., 1959, MINERAL OCCURRENCES OF NEW YORK STATE WITH SELECTED REFERENCES TO EACH LOCALITY: UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 1072-F, P. 444

  • Deposit

    Knight, Richard H., 2005, Recent zinc ore discoveries in the Balmat-Edwards district, northwest Adirondacks, New York state: a case history: Paper No. 20-6, Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs, Vol. 37, No. 1, p. 64.

  • Geology

    DELORRAINE, W.F., DILL, D.B., KNIGHT, R.H., AND JOHNSON, J.T., 1993, GEOLOGY OF THE BALMAT ZINC MINES, ST. LAWRENCE COUNTY, NEW YORK: IN THOMPSON, T.B., ED., SELECTED MINERAL DEPOSITS OF VERMONT AND THE ADIRONDACK MOUNTAINS, NEW YORK: SOCIETY OF ECONOMIC GEOLOGISTS GUIDEBOOK SERIES, V. 17, P. 26-48.

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 01-JAN-75 no name U.S. Bureau of Mines
Reporter 15-NOV-83 Eastern Field Operations Center (EFOC) U.S. Bureau of Mines Balmat No 2 and 3 open pit mine records 10248348 and 10223636
Reporter 01-DEC-83 Dunn, George U.S. Bureau of Mines 10199794 Balmat No. 2
Reporter 01-JAN-86 Nyahay, Richard E. (Kelly, William M.) New York State Geological Survey
Editor 14-NOV-03 Woodruff, Laurel G. U.S. Geological Survey Work done in Filemaker