- Total 2012 drilling: Over 7,500 meters planned
- 85.1 m of 2.50 g/t Au
Vancouver, BC – October 25, 2012: Altair Gold Inc. (TSX-V: AVX; “the Company”) is pleased to announce that it has commenced Phase 2 drilling. The Company anticipates drilling an additional 4,000 metres during this Phase, which would bring the total drilling completed in 2012 to over 7,500 metres. The drilling will focus on the Kena Gold Zone (‘KGZ’), the Gold Mountain Zone (‘GMZ’) and an area referred to as the High Grade Corridor (‘HGC’).
“Phase 1 drilling at Kena, comprising 19 holes into the KGZ and the GMZ, returned results that demonstrated strong continuity of gold mineralization”, stated Fayyaz Alimohamed, Altair’s President & CEO. “With continuity comes the capability to add ounces to the current resource, which the Phase 2 program should continue to expand”.
The Phase 2 program will test the down-dip continuity of part of the KGZ, fill in gaps in the GMZ and test an area along strike of the KGZ that may be part of the HGC.
Metallics Assaying
Following the identification of visible gold in the Phase 1 drill core, Altair completed “Metallics” assaying on selected samples of core. In some samples the Metallics assay is higher than the previous Fire Assay, indicating that coarse gold may exist in some sections of core, even when not recorded visually. This coarse gold is postulated to have been screened from the sample during the standard ICP or Fire Assay analysis. Some samples returned a significant upgrade in gold content by using the Metallics assay procedure.
Of the 12 samples submitted, there was an average increase in gold grade of 14.4% by utilizing Metallics assaying. An example of the effect of this can be seen in the revisions to the results of the first two holes of the 2012 Phase 1 drill program in the table below:
| Hole ID | From (m) | To (m) | Length (m) | Au (g/t) | Metallics Assay Au (g/t) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
12KG01 includes: |
10.31
71.93 |
128.05
114.60 |
117.74
42.67 |
1.04
1.93 |
1.15
2.15 |
|
12KG02 includes: |
15.20
44.50 |
100.30
86.15 |
85.10
41.65 |
2.07
3.76 |
2.50
4.64 |
The significance of this test is that the over all grade of gold mineralization on the Kena Property may be higher than currently thought. However, a more extensive program of Metallics assaying will be necessary in order to be statistically meaningful enough to draw any conclusions.
Kena Gold Zone
Altair previously released the results of 9 drill holes completed in the Kena Gold Zone, which returned long intercepts of significant gold mineralization containing ‘bonanza’ grades, including 32.9g/t Au over 2.95 metres (47.55m to 50.5m) in 12KG02. Significant results from the rest of the Kena Gold Zone drill holes are tabled below:
Significant Results from the Kena Gold Zone 2012 Phase 1 Drilling
| Hole ID | From (m) | To (m) | Length (m) | Au (g/t) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
12KG03 |
6.09 | 77.97 | 71.88 | 0.53 |
|
12KG04 includes: |
4.88
82.85 |
137.47
90.87 |
132.59
8.02 |
0.42
1.52 |
|
12KG05 includes: |
3.05
14.33 |
154.53
42.68 |
151.48
28.35 |
0.61
1.06 |
|
12KG07 |
20.15 | 95.47 | 75.32 | 0.64 |
|
12KG08 includes: |
3.00
32.20 |
154.84
55.58 |
151.84
23.38 |
0.58
0.89 |
*Note: True width of intercept not known, and may be less than the interval indicated
Drilling into the Kena Gold Zone returned gold values that are similar to those previously returned from drilling within that part of the Kena Property, and are consistent with block model grades used in the current resource estimate. Drilling depths ranged from 150 to 185 metres.
Gold Mountain Zone
Significant results from the first 2 drill holes completed on the Gold Mountain Zone are tabled below (from Altair News Release dated September 10, 2012):
Significant Results from Initial Holes at Gold Mountain Zone
| Hole ID | From (m) | To (m) | Length (m) | Au (g/t) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
12GM-01 includes: |
10.97
21.25 |
106.32
44.34 |
95.35
23.09 |
1.37
2.66 |
|
12GM-02 includes: |
100.80
137.50 |
156.97
150.88 |
56.17
13.38 |
0.55
0.74 |
*Note: True width of intercept not known, and may be less than the interval indicated
Altair has completed step-out drilling from the central zone at Gold Mountain, with 9 more drill holes completed along the projection of the zone to the southeast. These holes were interspersed over a distance of approximately 1,000 metres from holes 12GM-01 and 12GM-02, with an average 110 metre interval between holes. The results from these widely spaced drill holes are summarized below:
Highlights From Step Out Holes – Gold Mountain Zone
| Hole ID | From (m) | To (m) | Length (m) | Au (g/t) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
12GM-03 |
111.25 | 156.97 | 45.72 | 0.45 |
|
12GM-04 includes: |
3.05
3.05 |
56.69
23.16 |
53.64
20.11 |
0.59
1.03 |
|
12GM-07 |
73.81 | 96.52 | 22.71 | 1.12 |
|
12GM-10 and: |
135.94
198.37 |
168.00
202.36 |
32.06
3.99 |
0.56
1.05 |
*Note: True width of intercept not known, and may be less than the interval indicated
The results are encouraging in that elevated gold values were returned from areas not previously tested by drilling. Holes 12GM-05, 12GM-06, 12GM-08, 12GM-09 and 12GM-11 did not intersect significant mineralization. Altair plans to further test the Gold Mountain Zone in Phase 2 drilling.
The revised NI 43-101 (May 2012) compliant Measured & Indicated Mineral Resource for the Kena Property is 549,000 ounces of gold and the Inferred Mineral Resource is 513,000 ounces of gold, all based upon a 0.30g/t Au cutoff:
Gold Mountain Zone
| Tonnes | Grade (g/t) | Ounces Au | |
|---|---|---|---|
| MEASURED | 1,840,000 | 0.87 | 51,000 |
| INDICATED | 9,010,000 | 0.68 | 198,000 |
| TOTAL M&I | 10,850,000 | 0.71 | 249,000 |
| INFERRED | 22,110,000 | 0.60 | 428,000 |
Kena Gold Zone
| Tonnes | Grade (g/t) | Ounces Au | |
|---|---|---|---|
| MEASURED | 2,910,000 | 0.77 | 72,000 |
| INDICATED | 11,773,973 | 0.60 | 228,000 |
| TOTAL M&I | 14,683,973 | 0.64 | 300,000 |
| INFERRED | 3,800,000 | 0.70 | 85,000 |
The Qualified Person for the Kena Property is Mr. Warner Gruenwald, P.Geo. and VP Exploration for Altair Ventures Inc.
For further information please contact Justin Schroenn at (604) 780-1371, or e-mail [email protected] .
ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD
“Fayyaz Alimohamed”
Fayyaz Alimohamed, President & 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.
