Altair Minerals Confirms Broad Gold Mineralisation with 10m at 10.15g/t at South Oko
Altair Minerals has confirmed a widespread gold mineralisation system at its South Oko prospect, highlighted by a standout trench intercept of 10m at 10.15g/t Au. The mineralised shear zone remains open and untested beneath duricrust, with a 15,000m RC drilling program set to test its full scale.
- Six deep trenches confirm gold mineralisation across 1.0km by 1.2km area
- 10m @ 10.15g/t Au ranks as fourth-best trench result on Oko Shear
- Mineralisation remains open and untested beneath duricrust to west and southwest
- Imminent 15,000m RC drilling program to test beneath duricrust cover
- Results support robust exploration model along 14km Oko Shear Contact
Significant Gold Intercepts Highlight South Oko Potential
Altair Minerals (ASX:ALR) has delivered a major boost to its South Oko project with maiden trenching results confirming a widespread and structurally controlled gold system. The highlight came from trench TR-W1-06, which returned 10 metres at 10.15 grams per tonne (g/t) gold, ranking as the fourth most significant trench intercept reported on the Oko Shear Contact to date based on grade multiplied by interval width.
All six deep trenches at the W1 anomaly intersected gold mineralisation across a 1.0 kilometre north-south strike and 1.2 kilometre east-west width, demonstrating a broad footprint that remains open in all directions. Other notable intercepts include 16m at 1.32g/t Au in TR-W1-09 and 10m at 1.42g/t Au in TR-W1-04, underscoring the scale and consistency of the mineralised system.
Duricrust Cover Masks Western Extensions
The trenches encountered a hard leached duricrust cap that prematurely terminated the mineralised zones on the western ends of TR-W1-04 and TR-W1-06. Ground IP chargeability surveys and structural interpretations suggest the shear corridor continues beneath this duricrust to the west and southwest, where it remains untested. This cover presents a significant exploration challenge but also a compelling opportunity, as the best mineralisation appears to lie just beneath this surface barrier.
Altair’s CEO Faheem Ahmed highlighted that the trenches have only tested the margin of what is believed to be the most prospective deformation zone. The company is poised to move from surface targeting to substantial drilling, with a 15,000-metre reverse circulation (RC) program imminent to penetrate the duricrust and define the full scale of the system.
Systematic Exploration Validates Targeting Model
The W1 anomaly, which is the largest coherent soil gold anomaly (>100ppb Au) identified on the Oko Shear Contact, has been systematically investigated through soil sampling, auger drilling, geophysics, and now trenching. Auger results confirmed the anomaly is proximal, not transported, while geophysical chargeability highs align with the mineralised shear zones. Grab samples from trench bases returned high-grade gold up to 35g/t, further validating the target.
Trenching has demonstrated mineralisation hosted predominantly within saprolite sheared volcanic sediments, with some occurrences at lithological contacts. The results closely correlate with geochemical and geophysical datasets, providing strong support for the exploration model and reinforcing the prospectivity of the broader 14-kilometre Oko Shear Contact held by Altair.
Broader Context in a Premier Gold Jurisdiction
South Oko sits within Guyana’s emerging greenstone belt, an extension of the prolific West African Birimian geology. The region has attracted significant attention following multi-million-ounce discoveries nearby, including a 5.9Moz deposit just 1.5 kilometres away. Recent multi-billion-dollar takeovers of peers like G2 Goldfields and Reunion Gold underscore the area’s rapid rise as a premier gold jurisdiction.
Altair’s substantial 428km2 landholding in Greater Oko represents a rare, contiguous position in this underexplored region. The company has already commenced a fully funded 75,000-metre drill campaign across Greater Oko, with the South Oko RC drilling phase set to follow the ongoing diamond drilling at North Peters, aiming to convert surface targets into defined mineral resources.
Bottom Line?
Altair’s trench results at South Oko mark a pivotal step, but the duricrust-covered extensions pose a test; the upcoming RC drilling will be crucial to unlocking the system’s true scale and grade continuity.
Questions in the middle?
- How will the 15,000m RC drilling program redefine the interpreted western shear corridor beneath duricrust?
- What grade and width continuity can be established at depth beyond the weathered saprolite zones?
- Could additional shear systems adjacent to the main W1 anomaly, like those indicated by trench 09, expand South Oko’s footprint?
