The Titan Mining Corp’s principal asset is its indirect ownership interest of Empire State Mines, LLC, which owns a group of high-grade zinc mines Empire State Mine’s #2, #3, #4, Hyatt, Pierrepont and Edwards mines (collectively referred Empire State Mine).
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Summary:
The carbonate hosted ESM zinc deposits are comprised of multiple zones in and around Fowler, NY. There are ten deposits currently considered as viable economic targets; American, Cal Marble, Fowler, Mahler, Mud Pond, N2, Northeast Fowler, New Fold, Sylvia Lake, and Turnpike.
Deposit Type
Initially formed in a marine sequence of carbonates and evaporates, the ESM deposits are broadly classified as Sedex in origin. They were deeply buried, metamorphosed to amphibolite grade and strongly deformed during the late Precambrian Grenville Orogen.
At ESM, intense metamorphism has obliterated the more subtle sedimentary features that characterize Sedex deposits, and post-depositional deformation has overprinted tectonic features. The ESM deposits occur in proximal facies rocks.
Sedex deposit formation may be limited to Proterozoic and Phanerozoic time since marine sulfate (SO4 2-) likely did not exist prior to the accumulation of oxygen in the atmosphere. ESM was deposited within this timeframe. Sedex deposits may correspond with regional and global anoxic events, which would have helped preserve higher concentrations of organic carbon during transport to anoxic distal basin facies.
Mineralization
The mineralization at ESM has been classified as sedimentary exhalative (Sedex) in origin. The composition is primarily massive sphalerite and only minor galena and pyrite. Massive and semimassive sphalerite-bearing deposits occur in siliceous dolomitic and evaporite-bearing marbles of the Upper Marble Formation of the Balmat-Edwards marble belt. These zinc-sulfide deposits lie in the core of the Sylvia Lake Syncline, a major poly-deformed fold lying between Balmat and Edwards. Zinc mineralization tends to follow evaporate deposition in the stratigraphic sequence. The region has experienced multiple metamorphic and intrusive events and large-scale ductile structures are common.
The Property contains 14 known zones of sphalerite mineralization. Three clusters have been defined consisting of three to five deposits each. The zinc mineralization extends from the surface down to a depth of 5,700 ft below surface. The zones are aerially scattered and all zones except NE Fowler and Cal Marble are connected by existing development to the shaft. The zones range in thickness from 2 ft to 50 ft with an overall plunge between 20° to 25° with local dips ranging from 0° to 90°. The deposit footprints are up to 500 ft wide and 9,000 ft long. The veins can display considerable geometrical variability depending on the degree of folding.
There are two mineralization styles recognized in the district. Stratiform high-grade massive sphalerite is interpreted as primary mineralization contemporaneous with deposition of the Upper Marbles. Discordant breccia-like “durchbewegung” textured sphalerite is considered to be secondary and remobilized along Sylva Lake Syncline scale brittle-ductile shear zones. Mine geologists conceptualize a primary-secondary relationship, where the stratiform mineralization is the primary source and the crosscutting zone, locally called “durch”, is the secondary. The structural model suggests that secondary resources are formed from sphalerite remobilized during metamorphism. The sphalerite migrates along structural conduits laterally from their source. The remobilized zones share similar trace element geochemical signatures with the interpreted primary zones. The durch contains highly variable amounts of occluded wall rock material, which imparts a distinctive texture. Previous workers have experienced exploration success using the structural model, defining four new zones in the 1990’s.