Canadian junior Altai Resources (TSE) has bought the Bayat antimony oxide deposit in southwestern Turkey.
The deposit, which lies within a 512-hectare property east of the city of Afyon, is accessible by an all-weather road, with water and electricity sources nearby.
Mineralization occurs in an east-west-trending regional fault that stretches more than 500 metres in width. A 2-km-long section of the fault underlies the property.
Oxide mineralization, which, according to previous drilling, averages 20 metres in thickness, is exposed on surface over an area 300 metres wide by 310 metres long. Based on previous work and limited surface sampling, Altai has calculated a mineral inventory of 4.5 million tonnes averaging 3.4% antimony.
West of the surface exposure, the deposit is capped by limestone, and alteration and veining suggest the mineralization may extend westward for another 1 km. It is estimated that 25 million tonnes of ore-grade mineralization may lie under the limestone. In addition, the property hosts a waste pile of about 1.5 million metric tonnes.
Artisanal open-pit mining of the oxide ore has been going on intermittently for the past 30 years. Production from the deposit has been sold to an end-user in Gediz, 190 km west of the deposit.
Antimony is used mainly in the production of flame retardants, lead-acid batteries, ammunition and ceramics.
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