Altair Resources Inc. said April 5 that it signed a deal to acquire the Pan American zinc mine and the Caselton concentrator in Nevada from an arm's-length individual for about US$1.5 million.

The company has paid US$60,000 of the consideration, with the balance to be settled in staged payments at an interest rate of 5% per annum from Jan. 1, 2018, until paid in full. The vendor will secure the purchase price by way of a mortgage charge over the purchased assets.

To complete the deal, Altair will undertake a nonbrokered placement of 17.5 million units at 20 Canadian cents apiece to raise up to C$3.5 million.

According to Altair President and CEO Harold Shipes, the company aims to resume operations at the historical mine and processing plant amid increasing demand for zinc, driven by the expected increase in U.S. infrastructure spending.

The Pan American mine is a fully developed underground room-and-pillar mine that previously operated at a rate of 1,500 tonnes per day, while the Caselton concentrator is a complete three-stage mill that was last operated in 1989 with a throughput of 1,500 tonnes per day.

Altair plans to start a work program at Pan American, including resource confirmation, securing certain permits and designing a new tailings dam, immediately upon closing the acquisition.

The company also recently expanded its Crepulje zinc-lead-silver property in Kosovo.