Vancouver, British Columbia, August 23, 2011 - Kent Exploration (TSXV:KEX) commences operation at its fully permitted Barite Mine. The company's Barite Mine, located at Flagstaff Mountain in Steven's County, Washington, consists of 36 unpatented claims, covering 720 acres.
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The previous mine operator, C. E. Minerals, operated the project for approximately 4 years, which ended in 1984 due to market conditions. Based in Paris, France, C.E. Minerals is a world leader in the manufacture and supply of industrial minerals. While under C.E. Minerals control, they conducted approximately 19,000 feet of rotary air blast drill holes during delineation of the barite deposit.
Kent has obtained substantially all of the historic mine data, including a layered physical model of the deposit, survey maps, drill hole data, assays, doctoral theses etc., prior to performing approximately 1,300 feet of HQ diamond drill holes through the barite that substantially confirmed the reported historic grade and extent of the barite deposit.
C.E. Minerals, in its published reports, estimated there was a resource of approximately 1,950,000 tons containing approximately 67% of 4.2 SG barite, which would yield about 1.3 million tons of contained barite. We must caution you that these are historic numbers and that they cannot be relied upon as current minerals resources.
C. E. Minerals reportedly mined approximately 85,000 tons, and left about 30,000 tons of barite on the property. Kent has completed the initial processing of this barite, and is now conducting secondary processing and upgrading to a specific gravity of 4.1 for delivery at the mine gate to Albar Industrial Minerals, who has an agreement to purchase a minimum 20,000 tons per annum. With barite's current price of US$52 per ton, this could be worth roughly $1 million per year. The company is permitted to mine up to 100,000 tons of barite per annum.
As a side benefit, the company has received expressions of interest to purchase up to 10,000 tons of waste rock this year for use in local construction operations.
Nearly 95% of the barite sold in the United States is used as a weighting agent in gas and oil well drilling fluids. Barite is also commonly used as a filler, extender or weighting agent in products such as paints plastics and rubber. Ultrapure barite, consumed as a liquid, is used as a contrast medium in medical x-ray examinations.
Graeme O'Neill, President & CEO of Kent stated "We are very pleased that the company has reached the significant milestone of having a permitted mine, and any positive cash flow will assist us in funding ongoing exploration on our New Zealand gold projects, the Silver Hill project in British Columbia, and in reducing share dilution".
The shares currently trade at $0.08, and with approximately 66 million shares outstanding, is capitalized at $5 million. Earlier this year, the company spun-off its Australian gold properties into a new company, Archean Star, which was issued as a dividend to shareholders.
For a more information on Kent's many projects, visit their website www.kent-exploration.com (http://www.kent-exploration.com/), phone 604-684-3394 or email company@kent-exploration.com (mailto:company@kent-exploration.com).
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