ALTAIR VENTURES INC. (TSX-V: AVX) is pleased to announce that diamond drilling has commenced on the San Antonio project in southern Chihuahua State, Mexico. The program will comprise a minimum of 1,500 metres in 9 holes and will test a district scale epithermal system that has been identified on the 11,946 hectare property. The San Antonio gold-copper project has been optioned from Great Panther Resources Limited (TSX: GPR), who is the operator. Altair Ventures can earn a 70% interest in the property.
Previous exploration and drilling (2004 to 2006) by Great Panther on the San Antonio project led to the recognition of the district scale potential of the mineralization here. Exploration in 2007, funded by Altair Ventures, has provided further details of a vertically-zoned, 12-kilometre long system of mineralization and alteration that appears to be gold-copper rich near the base, grading to silver-gold-lead-zinc in the upper portions.
Mapping and sampling this year have identified five primary areas of alteration / mineralization: 1) the Breccia Gossan Zone (bulk tonnage, high sulphidation epithermal gold-copper system), 2) the San Cayetano Zone (low sulphidation quartz-barite-galena-sphalerite-pyrite, silver-gold vein), 3) the San Cayetano South Zone (low sulphidation quartz-galena-sphalerite-pyrite, silver-gold vein), 4) the La Gringa Zone (low sulphidation quartz-galena-sphalerite-pyrite, silver-gold vein) and 5) the La Gringa North Zone (low sulphidation quartz-galena-sphalerite-pyrite, gold-silver vein).
The Breccia Gossan Zone is a 2,000 by 800 metre area of intense silica and clay alteration interpreted to represent the middle to lower level of the mineralizing system at San Antonio, while the vein style mineralization in the other zones is thought to reflect the upper portions of the system. The focus of the present diamond drilling program is to evaluate these five key areas on the project and determine how they are related.
A review of surface chip channel sampling in these areas from 2004/5 and 2007 includes 1.5 metres @ 7.5g/t gold, 11g/t silver; 0.3 metres @ 300g/t silver, 0.47% lead and 3.62% zinc; and 1.2 metres @ 268g/t silver, 0.29% lead, and 1.22% zinc, all from the San Cayetano South Zone. From the La Gringa North Zone, results from surface include 1.5 metres @ 0.19g/t gold, 289g/t silver, 0.51% lead, and 0.76% zinc; and 3.0 metres @ 0.99g/t gold, 23g/t silver, 0.26% lead, and 0.18% zinc. The San Cayetano Zone returned values of 1.0 metre @ 538g/t silver and 0.24% lead; and 1.2 metres @ 109g/t silver, 0.99% lead, and 0.35% zinc. Further details and a map of the project can be found on the Altair Ventures website at www.altairventuresinc.com.
The San Antonio property is located in the Sierra Madre Belt, 80 kilometres NNW of the Guadalupe y Calvo Mining District, which has historically produced more than 2 million ounces of gold, and 80 kilometres SSE of the Batopilas area which hosts Goldcorp’s El Sauzal Mine, (2006 proven and probable reserve of 1.7 million ounces gold). Great Panther and Altair Ventures are exploring a previously unrecognized, 3 by 17 kilometre “window” of Tertiary Lower Series volcanic rocks containing epithermal gold-copper-silver-lead-zinc mineralization that has never been explored by modern methods.
The drilling program is being supervised in the field by Resource Geosciences Mexico of Hermosillo, Sonora. All rock samples are sent to SGS Labs in Durango for analyses. Core drilling is being conducted by BDW Drilling of Guadalajara, Mexico. Robert F. Brown, P.Eng. and Vice-President of Exploration for Great Panther and its wholly owned subsidiary, Minera Mexicana El Rosario, S.A. de C.V., is designated as the Qualified Person for the San Antonio Project under the meaning of NI 43-101 and has reviewed this news release.
About the Company
Altair is an exploration company focused on gold and silver projects. Altair also has an option to earn a 75% interest in Full Metal Minerals’ (TSX-V: FMM) CJ property in Alaska. For further information please contact Kareen McKinnon at (604) 638-8968, fax at (604) 688-8309 or email [email protected]
ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD
“Fayyaz Alimohamed”
Fayyaz Alimohamed, President & CEO
This release includes certain statements that may be deemed to be “forward-looking statements”. All statements in this release, other than statements of historical facts, that address events or developments that management of Altair expects, are forward-looking statements. Although management believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance, and actual results or developments may differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. Altair undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements if management’s beliefs, estimates or opinions, or other factors, should change. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements, including, without limitation, with respect to Altair electing to exercise the option with Great Panther, market prices, exploration and development successes, continued availability of capital and financing, and general economic, market or business conditions. Please see the public filings of Altair at www.sedar.com for further information.
The TSX Venture Exchange Inc. does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
