Sterling Finalizes Preparations for Upper Mine Exploration Cross-Cut

Sterling Mining Company (OTCBB: SRLM - News) today reported that Sterling crews are preparing for continued development of an exploration cross-cut, at an elevation of 2,672 feet, east of the historic Polaris Mine workings in the upper mine area of the Sunshine Mine.

The cross-cut's advance was interrupted briefly upon the completion of the Sterling Tunnel Project to allow geologists to map and evaluate newly exposed structures and make a smooth transition from contractor to in-house mining. The cross-cut is designed to probe unexplored projections of the Sunshine vein system east of the known production areas and, at the same time, provide a platform for diamond drilling into the Yankee Girl vein some 1,200 feet south of the Sunshine system. Zones of alteration and mineralization have been identified and are being studied to guide exploration efforts.

"We are working to open up a stretch of ground that had multiple siderite-quartz veins on the Polaris Mine 900 level, some 100 feet above us," stated Jeff Moe, Sunshine Chief Geologist. "This work also puts us within striking distance of the Yankee Girl vein which our drilling probed from the Silver Summit side in 2006 and which is unexplored out in front of us for a strike length of over 3,000 feet."

Advancing the cross-cut is expected to resume in early July and is only one of the several major projects that are unfolding simultaneously at the mine.

Sterling Mining Company's workforce at the Sunshine Mine has grown to 66 full-time employees, and is projected to reach over 100 by the end of this year as production resumes, currently forecasted for no later than December 2007.

Source : biz.yahoo.com/bw