Altair Acquires Zinc Properties and a Production Facility at Pan American Mine and Caselton Concentrator, Pioche, Nevada, USA
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwired - Apr 5, 2017) - Altair Resources Inc. ("Altair" or the "Company") (TSX VENTURE:AVX)(FRANKFURT:90A) (ISIN: CA02137W1014) (WKN: WKN A2ALMP) Mr. Harold (Roy) Shipes, President and CEO, is pleased to announce the agreement for the acquisition of the Pan American Zinc Mine and the Caselton Concentrator located in the Comet and Caselton Mining Districts of Lincoln County, near Pioche, Nevada, USA.
"It is our goal to put this former zinc mine and processing plant located in Nevada into production to service the increased demand for zinc expected by the re-building of America's infrastructure," stated Harold Shipes, President and CEO of Altair. "Already, zinc prices have doubled in three years and supply is tight."
Agreement Highlights
The company has executed a binding letter of intent for the acquisition of 100% of the assets, from an arm's length individual, for the purchase price of US $ 1,460,000, of which US $ 60,000 has been paid. The balance owing of US $ 1,400,000 is payable in staged payments, with a payment of US $ 100,000 due on each of September 15th and December 1st 2017 and thereafter a scheduled payment plan of US $100,000 per quarter. The US $ 1,400,000 will bear interest at 5% per annum from January 1st 2018 until paid in full. The vendor will be securing purchase price by way of a mortgage charge over the purchased assets.
Project Highlights
The Pan American Mine
The Pan American Mine comprises 880 acres of patented surface and mineral rights, plus 1600 acres of federal unpatented mining claims. The Mine is a fully developed underground room and pillar mine previously operated by Bunker Hill Mining at a rate of 1500 tons per day with low cost bulk mining methods that used rubber tired haulage and mining equipment. The Bunker Hill Company processed the output of the Pan American mine at the Caselton Concentrator, 12 miles from the mine, at a rate of 1500 tons per day. The processed material averaged 2.7% zinc, 1.8% lead, 1.6 ounces of silver per ton and 8.6% manganese. Bunker Hill records indicate an historic resource of 1.7 million tons, of which 732,000 tons are developed for immediate mining. The work program for the Pan American Mine includes confirmation of the resource, acquiring dewatering permits and the design and permitting of a new tailings dam. Altair will commence these activities immediately upon closing of the acquisition.
The Pan American Mine historic resource estimate was prepared by the Bunker Hill Company. The estimate was established through both surface drilling and underground sampling. The reader is cautioned that a Qualified Person has not done sufficient work to classify the historical estimate as a current mineral resource or mineral reserve. Altair is not treating the historical estimate as a current mineral resource or mineral reserve, has not verified the historical resource estimate, and is not relying on it. Altair plans to "twin" certain high grade holes and drill in-fill holes in order to upgrade the historical estimate to a current mineral resource.
The Caselton Concentrator is a complete three stage mill for the flotation of zinc, lead/silver, and manganese concentrates, including two stage closed circuit crushing, three grinding mills with closed circuit classification and three circuit flotation (including thickening and filtration). The mill has been maintained in excellent condition, and has all required infrastructure for operations, including electric power, water, warehouses and shops. It was last operated in 1989 by Bunker Hill with an average throughput of 1500 tpd. The mill has a nominal capacity of 2000 tpd. Rehabilitation and permitting activities will begin immediately upon closing of the acquisition.
The Geology of the Pioche Silver-Zinc-Lead District
All of the principal mines in the Pioche District were underground mines developed on very large sulphide replacement "channels" or structural zones containing silver, zinc, lead, gold and manganese in sedimentary replacements with commercial ore grades, but with varying grade in each channel. The three principal and most significant channels are the Caselton or Combined Metals Channel, the Prince Channel and the Pan American Channel. These zones of limestone replacement are known to extend for several miles in length and range from 100 feet to as much as 1,800 feet wide with individual bedded replacements up to 90 feet thick. Typically, they historically graded 2.3 ounces of silver and 0.02 ounces of gold per ton, 2.5% lead, 3.5% zinc and 12% manganese dioxide.
Financing
In order to complete this acquisition the Company will be conducting a non-brokered financing to raise gross proceeds of up to $3,500,000. The Company will issue up to 17,500,000 units at a price of $0.20 per unit, with each unit comprising one common share and one warrant. Each warrant will entitle the holder to purchase an additional common share at a price of $0.26 for a period of three years. A finder's fee will be payable on this financing.
The technical information in this Press Release has been reviewed and approved by Dr. Stewart A. Jackson, PGeo., a Qualified Person under National Instrument 43-101, and a Technical Advisor to the Company.
To learn more about Altair, please visit http://altairresources.com.
ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD,
Harold Shipes, President and CEO
Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
