Vancouver, BC – December 8 2006, Altair Ventures Inc. (“Altair”) (TSX-V: AVX.P) is pleased to announce that it has signed a Letter of Intent dated December 7, 2006 with Great Panther Resources Limited of Vancouver, British Columbia (“Great Panther”)(TSX: GPR) pursuant to which Altair anticipates being granted an option to earn a 70% interest in Great Panther’s 100% owned San Antonio Property in Chihuahua, Mexico, with Great Panther remaining the operator during the option period. The transaction is proposed to constitute Altair’s Qualifying Transaction such that Altair will meet Tier 2 Mining Issuer requirements of the TSX Venture Exchange.
The 11,946 hectare San Antonio property lies in the Guadalupe y Calvo Mining District of southwest Chihuahua State, Mexico along the Sierra Madre Geological Trend. The Property contains a zone of recently discovered gold-copper mineralisation and associated alteration more than 14 square kilometres in size.
Multiple targets have been identified by Great Panther at San Antonio within a variety of geological settings, including gold-copper veins, breccias and stockworks, as well as silver-lead-zinc veins. A total of 20 separate mineralised structures have been identified to date. Underground sampling by Great Panther in 2004 along the Santo Niño Zone returned an average grade of 7.75g/t gold over an average width of 3.03 meters along a 25 meter strike length.
Ten diamond drill holes were subsequently completed on this structure, testing approximately 150m of strike extent and to a depth of 130m. The best intersection was returned from drill-hole 05-SN05, wherein the Santo Niño Zone is split in two by a felsic dyke. The upper portion of the zone correlates well with the underground sampling, returning 3.0m of 9.4g/t Au and 0.27% Cu within 6.3m of 4.87g/t Au and 0.20% Cu, while the lower section returned 2.8m of 2.42g/t Au and 0.06% copper. The most northwesterly hole on the Santo Niño Zone (05-SN15) intersected 2.5m of 4.52g/t Au and 0.14% Cu within 11.8m of 2.36g/t Au and 0.53% copper. The Santo Niño Zone is known to extend for more than 1,000 metres along strike with a vertical extent of more than 300 metres and remains open in all directions. Total expenditures on the property by Great Panther have been US$ 563,157, including US$ 50,000 in option payments.
The above fieldwork at San Antonio, as reported in Great Panther’s press release dated July 26, 2005, was carried out under the supervision of consulting geologist Matthew D. Gray, Ph.D., C.P.G. of Resource Geosciences de Mexico, S.A. de C.V. and Robert F. Brown, P.Eng, V.P. Exploration for Great Panther. Mr. Brown is Great Panther’s Qualified Person for the project under the meaning of National Instrument 43-101. Diamond drilling was conducted by BDW Drilling of Guadalajara, Mexico and all samples were assayed by ALS Chemex Labs.
Mineralisation on the San Antonio Property is found in the Lower Series Volcanics, which are the most common host to the multitude of large epithermal deposits in the Sierra Madre Occidental, such as El Sauzal (Glamis Gold), Dolores (Minefinders), and Ocampo (Gammon Lake) to name just a few. Great Panther’s work to date has enhanced the understanding of the geological setting at San Antonio and outlined several targets worthy of follow-up exploration. Altair has commissioned an updated NI43-101 report and is currently reviewing all data with its consultants and formulating plans for an exploration program.
Pursuant to the Letter of Intent, Altair proposes to make staged payments and share issuances to Great Panther totalling US$200,000 and 200,000 common shares over 3 years. Altair must also spend a total of US$1,000,000 in exploration on the project over the same period. The agreement is subject to completion of satisfactory due diligence, applicable regulatory approvals, completion of a definitive option agreement and financing.
The directors and officers of Altair will not change and consist of the following individuals:
Fayyaz Alimohamed, President, Chief Executive Officer & Director. Mr. Alimohamed has a B.Sc.(Hons.) degree in Economics from the London School of Economics (University of London) and is a Certified General Accountant (CGA). He has over 20 years experience in investment management, finance and consultancy. He previously worked at the Aga Khan University Hospital, Financial and Management Services Ltd. (a management consultancy set up by Morgan Grenfell & Co. Limited and Booz Allen Hamilton, Inc.) and as the Chief Financial Officer of AccelRate Power Systems Inc. (formerly the Key Capital Group). He then moved to Dubai where he became Director of Investments for the Cupola Group, a large operating and investment conglomerate. He is the President of Acamar Advisors, which provides management consultancy and corporate communications services.
Robert A. Archer, P.Geo., Director. A career explorationist, Mr. Archer has an B.Sc. (Hons.) degree in Geology from Laurentian University in Ontario and is a registered Professional Geologist. He spent more than 15 years with major mining companies including Newmont Exploration Canada Ltd., Rio Algom Exploration Inc., Placer Dome Canada Ltd., and Noranda Exploration Inc. During that time he specialized in generative exploration and participated in 3 positive feasibility studies at Canadian gold mines, including the 14 million ounce Dome Mine in Timmins. In the past 10 years he has held various positions at the senior management level of junior exploration companies. He is currently President and Chief Executive Officer of Great Panther Resources Limited, the company he co-founded 3 years ago. During that time he has been instrumental in raising more than $35 million for Great Panther Resources Limited.
Shehzad Bharmal, Director. Mr. Bharmal has a B.Sc. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of British Columbia. He has over 15 years of experience in the mining industry with operating experience at mines and smelters. As Manager, Energy and Commercial Services, at Teck Cominco Metals Ltd., he is responsible for concentrate purchasing for the Trail smelter, chemical and industrial sales, and surplus energy sales. His previous roles included managing plant operations, capital projects and infrastructure construction and maintenance.
Tony M. Ricci, (CA), Chief Financial Officer & Corporate Secretary. Mr. Ricci has a Diploma of Technology from BCIT, a Business Administration Degree from Lakehead University, Ontario and is a Chartered Accountant (CA). He has over 18 years of practice experience, mainly with public companies listed on Canadian and U.S. stock exchanges. Previously, he had worked as a manager with Amec Inc. (formerly H.A. Simons Ltd.) and with KPMG as a senior accountant. Mr. Ricci is the Chief Financial Officer of Alma Resources Ltd. and Norsemont Mining Inc., and is the Chief Financial Officer and a director of Keegan Resources Inc.
The Qualifying Transaction is an arm’s length Qualifying Transaction and will not be subject to shareholder approval. Robert Archer, a director of Altair, is the President & CEO of Great Panther and, consequently, will not participate in Altair board decisions concerning the proposed transaction. Altair will make an application to the Exchange for an exemption from the sponsorship requirements of the Exchange policies. There is no certainty that such exemption will be granted.
“As Great Panther is focused on becoming one of the primary silver producers in the world, this has created an exciting opportunity for Altair to partner with Great Panther in exploring the potential for San Antonio to host a significant gold-copper deposit. This relationship allows Altair to leverage Great Panther’s substantial operating expertise in Mexico, where it has an extensive production and exploration capability” said Altair’s President and CEO, Fayyaz Alimohamed.
Completion of the transaction is subject to a number of conditions, including but not limited to, Exchange acceptance and if applicable pursuant to Exchange requirements, majority of the minority shareholder approval. Where applicable, the transaction cannot close until the required shareholder approval is obtained. There can be no assurance that the transaction will be completed as proposed or at all.
Investors are cautioned that, except as disclosed in the management information circular or filing statement to be prepared in connection with the transaction, any information released or received with respect to the transaction may not be accurate or complete and should not be relied upon. Trading in the securities of a capital pool company should be considered highly speculative.
The TSX Venture Exchange Inc. has in no way passed upon the merits of the proposed transaction and has neither approved nor disapproved the contents of this press release.
For further information please contact Fayyaz Alimohamed at (604) 681-1405, fax at (604) 688-8309 or e-mail [email protected].
ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD
“Fayyaz Alimohamed”
Fayyaz Alimohamed, President & CEO
