North Star Gold Project, Carlin Trend, Nevada Earn-in Option & Joint Venture Agreement with Teck Resources Limited

TSX.V: ANE

VANCOUVER, Dec. 18, 2013 /CNW/ - Altan Nevada Minerals Limited, TSX.V: ANE ("Altan Nevada" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has entered into an agreement with a wholly owned subsidiary of Teck Resources Limited, Canada's largest diversified resources company ("Teck"), to further explore the Company's North Star Gold Project (the "Project") situated on the Carlin Trend, northern Nevada , whereby Teck has the option to earn up to an undivided 70% interest in the North Star Property (the "Property") and participate as joint venturers by incurring $5,000,000 in expenditure on the project (the "Agreement").

Mr Evan Jones, President & CEO of Altan Nevada commented:

"We are delighted to be moving this project forward with a company of the caliber of Teck. This independently validates Altan Nevada's view that North Star is a compelling target.

"As shareholders will be aware, the ability for junior explorers such as Altan Nevada to raise capital to fund a significant drilling program is somewhat limited in the current market environment. As such, by entering into this agreement, Altan Nevada will be able to participate in the drilling of a project that we otherwise may not have been in a position to evaluate for some time.

With permitting already in place, drilling at North Star is expected to commence towards the middle of 2014. Altan Nevada and Teck will work together to finalize drill targets in the intervening period.

North Star

North Star is an under-explored gold play situated at the northern end of the Carlin Trend, one of the world's major gold districts with cumulative gold production to date of in excess of 80 million ounces. The project is situated approximately 55 km north-northwest and along strike from Barrick Gold Corporation's Goldstrike mine, which has cumulative gold production to date of approximately 40 million ounces and current proven and probable reserves of approximately 12 million ounces.

Altan Nevada's interest in the Project, which covers an area of 3,152 acres, consists of 163 lode mining claims, 44 of which are owned by the Company, with the balance held under option from Genesis Gold Corp, a Utah Corporation ("Underlying Option Agreement").

In 2011, a mapping and sampling campaign was undertaken for the purpose of verifying previous geochemistry profiling and identifying targets. A follow-up deep looking IP profile obtained in 2011 demonstrated the presence of a major structure associated with a chargeability feature at depth. Following the excavation of two exploratory trenches in late 2012, the Company announced encouraging assay results including gold values up to 1.06 g/t over 3 m within much broader gold bearing zones ranging from 18 m wide in Trench 3 up to 63 m wide in Trench 2. Within the gold bearing zones, geochemical anomalies of arsenic, antimony and thallium confirmed the presence of Carlin-type alteration and mineralization.

As such, North Star is considered by Altan Nevada to be a compelling target.

The Agreement

Pursuant to the Agreement (key terms of which are summarized in the following discussion), Teck can earn an undivided interest of up to 70% in North Star pursuant to two options.

Under the first option, Teck can earn a 55% interest by:

• Incurring aggregate expenditure of $2.5 million on or in respect of the Project over four years, in accordance with the following schedule:

On or before	Cumulative Aggregate Expenditures
December 31, 2014		$400,000
December 31, 2015		$1,000,000
December 31, 2017		$2,500,000

• Making payments when due per the Underlying Option Agreement

It is noted that:

• Teck is obligated to spend the amount of $400,000 by December 31, 2014
  
  
• Unless Teck fulfills its obligations under the first option, it will have no ongoing interest in the Project

Upon satisfying its obligations under the first option, Teck is entitled to nominate its intention to exercise the second option, pursuant to which it can earn an additional 15% interest in the Project (for an aggregate 70% interest) by:

• Incurring further expenditure of $2.5 million on or in respect of the Project (for aggregate expenditure of $5 million) by December 31, 2019
  
  
• Making payments when due per the Underlying Option Agreement

If Teck nominates its intention to exercise the second option but fails to meet its obligations thereunder, its ongoing interest in the Project shall be 55%.

Pursuant to the Agreement, the North Star Joint Venture is deemed to be formed at the later of:

• The date Teck fulfills its requirements under the first option
  
  
• The date the second option terminates or expires unexercised, in the event it should do so (and providing Teck so nominates in the first instance)
  
  
• The date Teck fulfills its requirements under the second option

From the date of formation of the Joint Venture, both Altan Nevada and Teck are responsible for costs in proportion to their respective pro-rata interests.

The Joint Venture agreement is to include provisions consistent with an agreement of this type, including as it relates to such matters as project management, production decision, calculation of costs and dilution.

It is noted that claims held under option from Genesis are the subject of a Net Smelter Royalty payable on the commencement of production.

Altan Nevada Exploration Manager, Brion Theriault, a Certified Professional Geologist (AIPG), is the "qualified person" under National Instrument 43-101 who has reviewed the technical disclosure in this news release and is responsible for the technical information contained in this release.

About Altan Nevada
Altan Nevada is a leading exploration innovator focused on the discovery of large-scale ore systems in under-explored districts of Nevada, USA. The Company's holdings in Nevada currently total more than 15,002 hectares. Projects include two potential district-scale extensions to the north Carlin Gold Trend, three Yerington District copper-gold targets and three large-scale gold alteration systems along the Walker Lane lineament in central Nevada.

On behalf of Altan Nevada Minerals Limited,

"Evan Jones"

Evan Jones, President & CEO

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This press release may contain forward looking statements including those describing Altan Nevada's future plans and the expectations of management that a stated result or condition will occur. Any statement addressing future events or conditions necessarily involves inherent risk and uncertainty. Actual results can differ materially from those anticipated by management at the time of writing due to many factors, the majority of which are beyond the control of Altan Nevada and its management. Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Image with caption: "Figure 1 - Gravity map of Carlin Trend, illustrating proximity of North Star to producing mines, including Goldstrike. (CNW Group/Altan Nevada Minerals Limited)". Image available at: http://photos.newswire.ca/images/download/20131218_C5409_PHOTO_EN_35110.jpg

Image with caption: "Figure 2 - North Star trench location on geology background showing soil arsenic anomaly and gold results from trench samples. (CNW Group/Altan Nevada Minerals Limited)". Image available at: http://photos.newswire.ca/images/download/20131218_C5409_PHOTO_EN_35111.jpg

SOURCE: Altan Nevada Minerals Limited

Altan Nevada Minerals Limited
Tel: [phone]
Email: [email protected]
Web: www.altnev.com