VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA – JANUARY 17, 2017: ALTAIR RESOURCES INC. (“Altair” or the “Company”) (TSXV: AVX; Germany FRA: 90A; ISIN: CA02137W1014; WKN: WKN A2ALMP) Mr. John Huguet, Chairman of the Board and CEO, provides the following update:
We have just released the geological assessment of the technical reports for the Crepulje Zinc Project on our 90% owned, 9.8 square kilometer Crepulje License, Mitrovica, Kosovo (see news release January 11th, 2017). This release featured, among many other news-worthy items, the four new discoveries made on the property in 2016. Importantly, the discoveries included some of the highest grade zinc samples produced through exploration in the industry over the past several years. Our trenching results now include over 450 meters of chip sampling over various widths at multiple locations with grades ranging from 2% to 40% zinc, and averaging 25% zinc and 2.5% lead. While these are only chip samples, they provide guidance for the Board to make targeting decisions. The Board knows we need to test this property with diamond drilling, and today has signed our first diamond drilling contract with the local subsidiary of Cabo Drilling. The project will start this March, with drilling to commence April 5th, weather permitting. If possible a gravity program will precede the drilling program. We have just closed our financing and have funds in hand to complete this program.
We will initially test the zinc continuity in a target zone 500 meters long by 300 meters wide and 50 meters deep. The geologists have identified this zone as containing smithsonite mineralization, thereby explaining the high grades we have encountered. Smithsonite mineralization is usually caused by the supergene cycle of enrichment overlying the hypogene cycle. We intend to test the depth of these surface showings and test the continuity of this occurrence with the first phase of our drill program. This will be a results-driven drill program. If we are successful in proving up continuity it is most likely we would expand the drilling, both in length and depth to further test the extent of the zinc mineralization. If this were the case Altair would go back to the market for additional financing. If the results do not justify going further we will close up the project.
The zone encountered so far on the property extends for a strike length of over 5,000 meters, open to the South, with widths ranging between 200 and 500 meters. Work in 2007 and 2008 by Lydian, a previous operator, tied some of the surface showings to zinc mineralization down to 400 meters. Fortunately for Altair, they stopped short of the new discovery zones. Our local technical team, headed by Professor A. Kodra, PHD, Geology, who co-authored the book on the Geology of Kosovo, is responsible for the new discoveries. We have recently strengthened our technical team with the addition of Stewart A. Jackson, PHD, P. Geo and Qualified Person. Dr. Jackson brings over 50 years of exploration experience to the team. He has worked on some of the major zinc discoveries on a world wide scale including, Pine Point, Pyramid, Red Dog and the Tennessee zinc districts. Stewart tells us that deposits with these characteristics can be potentially of district scale, and can also be identified fairly early in the drilling program. While failure is always a possibility, and one must be prepared for this, the prospect justifies fully the steps we have now committed to take: testing for the continuity with diamond drilling. There is a definite risk/ reward factor here. We should be able to determine the next appropriate steps with these initial results.
The Crepulje Project is located just 20 kilometers from the Trepja Mining Complex which had been in production commercially since 1920, with some records stretching back to the time of the Romans. Zinc grades varied over a broad range, throughout the 90 plus years of commercial production. Zinc was mined from near surface to depths below 1,400 meters. At its peak the Trepja Mine employed over 20,000 workers. Kosovo is a mining friendly jurisdiction, with a young workforce and infrastructure readily available.
The contents of this press release have been reviewed and approved by Dr. Stewart A Jackson, P.Geo. a Technical Advisor to the Company, and a Qualified Person under National Instrument 43-101.
ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD,
“John Huguet”
John Huguet, FCPA, FCMA
Chairman and CEO
