Altair Minerals Appoints Simon Bolster to Accelerate Greater Oko Exploration

Simon Bolster Joins Altair to Boost Technical Firepower

Altair Minerals (ASX:ALR) has secured a heavyweight addition to its technical team with the appointment of Simon Bolster as Technical Advisor for the Greater Oko Project in Guyana. Bolster brings over three decades of global minerals exploration experience, specialising in regolith geochemistry and remote sensing; disciplines critical to interpreting complex weathering profiles and geochemical signals in greenstone belts like the Guiana Shield.

Bolster’s résumé includes senior roles at Newmont, Normandy, and Anglo American, along with consulting stints for Barrick and AngloGold. His expertise is particularly relevant as Altair advances the interpretation of geochemical anomalies at its South Oko (SOKO) prospect, where only about 3km of strike along the Oko Shear has been tested to date. This leaves a substantial 12km stretch untested, offering a sizeable runway for exploration growth.

Refining Targets and Accelerating Exploration

The appointment comes at a pivotal moment, with Altair preparing to drill at SOKO and continuing its diamond drilling campaign at North Peters. Bolster’s knowledge of regolith and duricrust profiles is expected to sharpen the company’s ability to prioritise drill targets and interpret geochemical data that can be masked or dispersed by transported cover and weathering.

Altair also plans to deploy detectORETM, a rapid gold assay technology co-founded by Bolster’s Portable PPB company. This CSIRO-invented pXRF-based system promises 24-hour turnaround on gold assays, enabling faster, data-driven exploration decisions and potentially lowering costs across Greater Oko’s expansive landholding.

Untapped Potential Along the Oko Shear

Geochemical testing along the Oko Shear has so far been limited to a fraction of the strike length, with neighbouring developers having tested approximately 14km to the north, resulting in six discoveries. Altair’s early work at SOKO has already identified two prominent anomalies ripe for drill testing, but much of the belt remains underexplored.

CEO Faheem Ahmed emphasised Bolster’s unique skill set, noting, “There are very few experts globally with Simon’s understanding of the relationship between geology, geochemistry and regolith profiles across Birimian and Guiana Shield.” Ahmed highlighted the company’s ambition to be the first in Guyana to employ detectORETM at scale, accelerating target generation and exploration efficiency.

Incentives and Next Steps

Bolster’s appointment is effective immediately under a 12-month consulting agreement, with options granted subject to shareholder approval. The package includes 3 million options exercisable at AUD 0.045 per share on commencement, and further tranches vesting after 12 and 24 months at increasing exercise prices.

Altair’s strategy now hinges on integrating Bolster’s expertise with its ongoing drilling and geochemical campaigns, which have recently uncovered high-grade gold and structural targets at South Oko and North Peters. The deployment of detectORETM could prove a game-changer in reducing assay turnaround times, a critical bottleneck in greenfield exploration.