LATE PALEOZOIC ULTRA HIGH GRADE (FOOD GRADE 99+% CAO3) CALCITE LIMESTONE, RIGHT STAR MINE, BIG BEAR CITY QUADRANGLE, SAN BERNARDINO MOUNTAINS, CA

This deposit is tentatively assigned to the Permian Bird Springs Formation. The ultra high CaCO3 content may have been influenced by precipitation of increased atmospheric CO2 near the end of the Paleozoic (Koeberl, C. et al., 2004).

After core drilling and bulk sampling of several thousand tons from an existing quarry, the USDA/USFS (Gutierrez, J., 2003) validated this discovery. The State Board of Mines and Geology has classified and zoned it MRZ-2 as an economic mineral deposit (Smart Ranch Limestone Deposit, OFR-89-12, Miller, R., 1989).

The existing quarry has produced about 50,000 tons since the 1940's. Mining exposed a bright white calcite limestone that was fractured and stained with iron oxide. Close examination of the geology reveals that the adjacent Helendale fault created a drag fold and fractured the calcite marble, allowing ground water bearing iron oxide to leach into the deposit staining the fractures during the late Pleistocene when it was covered by an iron-bearing alluvial fan from the south west side of the fault. Core drilling reveals that the iron stained fractures disappear a few meters beyond the existing excavation.

Several hundred thousand tons of ultra high grade calcite have been blocked out. Several million tons of ore are indicated from geology and drilling of this 30+ m. thick bed. Analysis of the measured reserves are as high as 99.8% and average better than 99%+ percent calcium carbonate with a brightness of 98 or better. This material has been certified as food grade by the University of Houston (Hymel, P., 2003).