1995 - 2004
The Altar project was first explored and drilled by CRA/Rio Tinto
(2,841 m, 7 holes).
Exploration History
251 holes totaling 113,428 m drilled to September 2018
2005
Peregrine, a Canadian exploration company, subsequently optioned the property from Rio Tinto.
2005 - 2011
Peregrine expanded the property to >12,200 ha and completed drilling to define an initial mineral resource estimate at Altar Central and Altar East. (56,761 m, 146 drill holes)
July 2011
Peregrine Metals was acquired by Stillwater for ~US$490 MM for its Altar project.
2012 - 2013
A total of 38,380 m was drilled by Stillwater.
(97,981 m total drilled, 80 holes)
2013
Stillwater refocuses on PGM production, Altar declared a non-core asset.
2014 - 2015
Exploration at Altar was limited to surface mapping and the collection of baseline environmental data.
2016
US$4 MM was spent on drilling which led to discovery of the QDM Cu-Au Radio porphyry.
(4,893 m, 8 holes)
May 2017
Sibanye completed their acquisition of Stillwater, retaining a 100% interest in the Altar project.
2017
US$1.7 MM was spent on drilling focusing on the QDM porphyry discovered in 2016.
(5,630 m, 7 holes)
Spring 2018
Drilling by Sibanye-Stillwater – cost sharing agreement in place with Regulus / Aldebaran.
(4,923 m, 3 holes + 1 extension of deeper drilling by Sibanye-Stillwater)
Fall 2018
Aldebaran JV agreement with Sibanye-Stillwater to acquire the Altar project finalized.
2019
Aldebaran drilled 5,400 m in four diamond core holes to explore and expand the higher-grade zones to identify a higher-grade resource within the project, as well as identify and drill test several new target areas. Two of the three holes that reached their target depth intersected long intervals of higher than current resource grade material, one of which (QDM-19-41) was the discovery of a new porphyry centre.
Drill Results
Altar East | ||||||
| Drill Hole | From (m) | To (m) | Length (m) | Cu % | Au g/t | Cu Eq% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ALD 173 | 12.00 | 941.00 | 929.00 | 0.44 | 0.24 | 0.62 |
| including | 324.00 | 860.00 | 536.00 | 0.57 | 0.34 | 0.82 |
| ALD 176 | 72.00 | 951.25 | 879.25 | 0.53 | 0.29 | 0.76 |
| including | 456.00 | 951.25 | 495.25 | 0.71 | 0.39 | 1.01 |
Altar Central | ||||||
| Drill Hole | From (m) | To (m) | Length (m) | Cu % | Au g/t | Cu Eq% |
| ALD 043 | 210.00 | 1009.70 | 799.70 | 0.69 | 0.06 | 0.73 |
| including | 210.00 | 292.00 | 82.00 | 0.96 | 0.08 | 1.03 |
| and | 576.00 | 951.80 | 375.80 | 0.85 | 0.04 | 0.89 |
| ALD 049 | 132.00 | 951.60 | 819.60 | 0.62 | 0.10 | 0.70 |
| including | 264.00 | 616.00 | 352.00 | 0.78 | 0.17 | 0.91 |
QDM-Radio Porphyry | ||||||
| Drill Hole | From (m) | To (m) | Length (m) | Cu % | Au g/t | Cu Eq% |
| QDM 034 | 634.00 | 1006.00 | 372.00 | 0.59 | 0.46 | 0.95 |
| including | 840.00 | 940.00 | 100.00 | 1.07 | 0.96 | 1.82 |
| including | 852.00 | 918.00 | 66.00 | 1.32 | 1.22 | 2.27 |
| including | 882.00 | 918.00 | 36.00 | 1.72 | 1.62 | 2.99 |
Reported intervals based on cutoffs of 0.2% CuEq and 0.5% CuEq.
CuEq = Cu% + ((Au ppm * $/oz Au + Ag ppm * $/oz Ag)/(22.0462 * 31.1035 * $/lb Cu))
CuEq metal prices used are: Cu = US$2.25/lb, Au = US$1,100/oz and Ag = US$14/oz
