Guyana's Altair Expands South Oko Gold Project Exploration Area with New 29 km² License

en.Wedoany.com Reported - On September 17, Australian company Altair Minerals announced that through a binding agreement it has acquired an option interest in an exploration license of approximately 29 km² adjacent to the South Oko gold project, increasing the company's controlled strike length along the Oko Shear Contact by approximately 30%, from about 14 km to about 18 km. The new license area is immediately adjacent to Altair's existing South Oko operations, where reverse circulation drilling and geochemical extension sampling are underway.

Under the agreement, Altair has paid a signing fee of US$175,000 and entered a 60-day due diligence period. Upon completion of due diligence, the company must pay US$1.075 million to commence the first 12-month option period; thereafter, it may extend the option for up to 48 months by paying US$650,000 per year. If Altair ultimately exercises the option, it must pay an additional US$4.5 million to acquire a 100% beneficial interest in the relevant license.

The new license expands the total area of the Greater Oko project to approximately 457 km². Altair is currently advancing a 30,000-meter drilling program at Greater Oko, with reverse circulation drilling already underway at South Oko and drilling also being carried out concurrently at North Peters. The company announced on September 1 that reverse circulation drilling had commenced at both South Oko and North Peters.

The new license covers the extension area of the Oko Shear Contact. Altair plans to complete target generation for the new block within approximately 3 months and incorporate the selected targets into the existing reverse circulation drilling program or subsequent diamond drilling. The related work will be carried out integrating geological, geochemical, geomorphological, and structural data.

South Oko has previously yielded multiple rounds of exploration results. On August 24, Altair announced drilling intercept results from South Oko, including 10 meters at a gold grade of 10.15 g/t; on September 1, the company further commenced reverse circulation drilling at South Oko and North Peters. The newly added license area directly adjoins the area where drilling and geochemical sampling are currently being conducted.