Canada's Titan Mining has received approval from officials an upstate New York county to explore for additional zinc deposits to possibly open another mine or mines to augment its Empire State zinc mine, a county official said Friday.
St. Lawrence County legislator Jim Reagen said in an interview that the Toronto-based company recently approached the county to get permission to drill for zinc in several parts of the county. County government owns the mineral rights, he said.
"We were more than happy to give them permission to drill out properties and hopefully they will find something and extend their operations," Reagen said.
When Titan came to the St. Lawrence county, located on the Canadian border, a few years ago, the company indicated it wanted a long-term presence there, he recalled.
Although it recently laid off some of the employees, Titan continues to produce zinc at Empire State with approximately 90 employees, Reagen said. The mine has a large enough zinc concentrator that could accommodate multiple mining operations, he added.
The company has not said when full production will resume at Empire State.
Reagen said he expects drilling to begin soon. Titan officials could not be reached for comment Friday. Titan has said it expects to spend about $2 million on local drilling this year.
Zinc has been mined, on and off, in St. Lawrence County for more than a hundred years, though the last mine closed about a decade ago because of low zinc prices. The county also has deposits of other metals, including lead. If sufficient additional mineable zinc reserves are found, Reagen said he expects Titan will file for new mining permits.
"We're really pleased they are willing to do that kind of very aggressive exploration," he said. "This is a company that is looking at the future and is willing to invest in the county."
