GOUVERNEUR — Nearly 30 former St. Lawrence Zinc employees were offered employment with the Stillwater Mining Co.

Stillwater wrapped up recruiting sessions Friday at Mullin's Family Restaurant, 1230 Route 11, for former St. Lawrence Zinc miners, electricians and fixed maintenance personnel. Stillwater officials said about 60 interviews were done.

"We were really pleased with the quality of people that came, including the experience of the miners," said Ed Johnson of Stillwater. "Some people signed right up and others still need to talk it over with their families."

The company gave those undecided people who were offered jobs two weeks to make a decision. The choice to work in the Stillwater mines means moving about 2,000 miles from St. Lawrence County to Montana.

HudBay Minerals, the parent company of St. Lawrence Zinc, closed its zinc mine Aug. 22 because of increasing operating costs and low prices for the metal, eliminating about 200 jobs.

The Winnipeg, Manitoba, company reopened the mine in late 2005 because of record zinc prices. A small group of workers will stay on to maintain St. Lawrence Zinc's operation.

Stillwater extracts, refines and markets platinum and palladium, a metal used in catalytic converters. When the zinc mines laid off more than 140 people seven years ago, Stillwater started interviewing in Gouverneur within days of the news. The Stillwater mines use methods similar to those used at Balmat.

"You hate to see this happen to the community, but it's fortunate for us that we recruited some talented people," Mr. Johnson said.

The company offers mining salaries from just under $20 an hour to $23 an hour, which is more than the St. Lawrence Zinc miners were earning. Workers also can earn bonuses and overtime. Stillwater would pay relocation expenses.