REG - ECR Minerals PLC - Australia Projects Update

ECR MineralsAnnouncement

10/09/2024 07:00

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RNS Number : 5002D  ECR Minerals PLC  10 September 2024

10 September 2024

 

ECR MINERALS PLC

 

("ECR Minerals", "ECR" or the "Company")

 

Australia Projects Update

 

Up to 75.6g/t Gold Rock Chip Identified at Lolworth, Queensland

Maiden Diamond Drilling Program to Commence at Tambo Gold Project in Coming
Weeks

Drilling Application Lodged to Follow up 32% Antimony Result At Bailieston,
Victoria

 

ECR Minerals plc (LON: ECR), the exploration and development company focused
on gold in Australia, is pleased to announce an update on its gold and rare
earths projects in Queensland and Victoria.

 

HIGHLIGHTS

 

Queensland

●     Up to 75.6 g/t gold rock chip discovered at the Uncle Terry
Prospect at the Lolworth Project

●     Results expected from enhanced gold recovery process at the Blue
Mountain Project

 

Victoria

●     Planning for diamond drill programme to commence at the Tambo Gold
Project in coming weeks

●     Drilling application lodged to further investigate the potential
at Bailieston given the recently announced exceptional Antimony results

 

Lolworth, Queensland

Two field teams have been working on site at the Company's Lolworth Project
since early May 2024, where initial field work across several gold prospects
in the Upper Gorge Creek showed promising signs, including visible gold in
streams and hillsides.

 

First rock chip results now received from the Uncle Terry Prospect are
encouraging, with samples of up to 75.6 g/t Au, 1.32 g/t Au and 1.29 g/t Au
from a new mineralised quartz vein situated approximately 400m north-west from
the main prospect. Follow-up mapping has traced the visible part of this
outcrop for at least 100m in strike and ending in a quartz blow where Galena
(Lead-Silver) is clearly visible. Numerous mineralised quartz shears at least
1m wide have been mapped over the entire Uncle Terry Prospect area. The main
shear zone is showing to host Lead (Pb) and Silver (Ag) with best outcrop rock
chips of 1.89% Pb and 11 samples greater than 5 g/t Ag, including two
highlights of 272 g/t Ag and 69 g/t Ag. ECR's field teams are currently
extending soil sampling to explore for hidden gold-bearing outcrops in the
immediate vicinity.

 

The results for 378 rock chip samples covering all five gold prospects at the
Lolworth Project are due in the coming weeks. Confirmation of the presence of
further high-grade gold is expected, as samples anomalous in silver have been
routinely sent to the laboratory for gold analysis. Silver has been identified
as the strongest pathfinder element correlating to gold mineralisation at the
Lolworth Project.

 

Stream sampling for gold and rare earths on the eastern side of the 1,000 km²
project area is progressing well and nearing completion. Regional geological
mapping has indicated the presence of significant pegmatitic intrusions.
Previous work suggests that this eastern area features the same geological
formations as the Oaky Creek region of the tenement where stream sampling has
previously detected niobium in concentrate samples.

 

ECR's field crews have also taken a bulk sample from the Oaky Creek Niobium
streamline which will be used for mineralogical purposes to aid in tracking
down the source rock.

 

Table 1: Summary of latest rockchip results from the Uncle Terry Prospect,
Lolworth.

 

 Prospect            Sample ID                  Easting     Northing      Au g/t      Ag g/t  Pb %
 Uncle Terry         LWC432                     312178      7752097       75.6        272     0.03
 Uncle Terry         LWC431                     312194      7752128       1.32        1.5     0.02
 Uncle Terry         LWC463                     308392      7751048       1.29        4.3     0.02
 Uncle Terry         LWC548                     312418      7751770       0.08        69.00   0.09
 Uncle Terry         LWC545                     312418      7751766       0.02        12.20   0.23
 Uncle Terry         LWC401                     312355      7751894       0.04        11.00   0.00
 Uncle Terry         LWC410                     312382      7751852       0.01        10.60   0.00
 Uncle Terry         LWC481                     312327      7751879       0.01        8.40    0.00
 Uncle Terry         LWC402                     312358      7751890       0.03        8.10    0.24
 Uncle Terry         LWC544                     312420      7751766       0.01        7.50    0.14
 Uncle Terry         LWC406                     312370      7751870       0.01        6.70    0.00
 Uncle Terry         LWC543                     312420      7751764       0.01        6.10    0.04
 Uncle Terry         LWC546                     312418      7751766       0.01        5.40    0.40
 Uncle Terry         LWC549                     312420      7751769       0.01        0.20    1.89

 *Locations in GDA94 Zone 55 datum.

 

Blue Mountain, Queensland

As announced on 1 August 2024, a trenching and bulk concentrate sampling
programme was undertaken at the Blue Mountain Project during July of this
year. A total of 15.4 cubic metres of alluvial gravel was processed through a
pilot trommel wash plant, yielding 9.95 grammes of visible gold, an overall
average of 1.55 grammes per b.c.m. Additionally, six bulk samples of sluice
box concentrates were submitted for laboratory analysis, with best results
including 192.15 g/t Au and 97.40 g/t Au within these concentrates.

 

Given these highly encouraging results ECR has submitted further samples to
the laboratory to undergo an enhanced gold recovery process to determine the
potential commercial options for recovery. The results are expected in the
coming weeks.

 

The Blue Mountain Project consists of two exploration permits (EPM27175 and
EPM27183). Both permits are in good standing and the Company has recently
applied to extend the terms for an additional five years. Both tenements
contain at least 12km of strike length available for follow up sampling and
testing.

 

Tambo Project, Victoria

On 12 July 2024, ECR Minerals announced the fire assay gold results from the
historic Duke of Cornwall Mine in Swifts Creek (Tambo Gold Project) with a
best result including 52.2 g/t Au. A total of 10 samples returned
results above 5 g/t Au. Subsequently, 84 soil samples were taken
perpendicular to the strike of the Duke of Cornwall lode to gain a better
understanding of the geochemical orientation with a best result of 0.56 ppm
Au.

 

ECR Minerals is pleased to announce that terms have now been agreed with a
drilling contractor and a site visit by ECR chief geologist, Adam Jones, is
due to take place this week. A maiden diamond drilling campaign is expected to
commence at the project in the coming weeks.

 

Bailieston, Victoria

On 3 July 2024, ECR Minerals announced results from additional testing for the
critical mineral Antimony (Sb) from diamond core previously drilled at
Bailieston, Central Victoria. 44 samples were submitted for additional
multi-element testing with best results including 0.3m grading 32% Sb and 0.1m
grading 1.20 % Sb.

 

A drilling application has now been lodged with the relevant Governmental
authorities to further investigate the potential at Bailieston given the
recently announced exceptional Antimony results. Further details will be
announced in due course.

 

The ECR Board made the decision to reanalyse diamond core samples for Antimony
from the Bailieston Project, drilled during the 2021-2022 campaign, due to the
Melbourne Geological Zone's reputation as a prominent host for Antimony lodes
and the increasing demand for this critical mineral.

 

The Costerfield Mine, owned by Mandalay Resources, is a significant Antimony
producer in the region, recording 1,860 tonnes of Sb in 2023. Nearby, Nagambie
Resources recently announced a maiden JORC inferred resource estimate of
17,800 tonnes of Sb, while Southern Cross Gold has been actively exploring for
Antimony at its Sunday Creek Project.

 

ECR Minerals holds exploration licenses situated 45 kilometres east of
Costerfield and 25 kilometres west of Nagambie. ECR's Bailieston Prospect
(HR3) is positioned on the Bailieston Anticline, renowned for its Antimony
mineralisation.

 

Mike Whitlow, Managing Director, said: "It has been a highly productive year
for ECR, with significant progress made across our portfolio of gold and rare
earths projects, and exploration activities are set to accelerate even
further. We consider that we're on the verge of identifying the key sources of
gold at Lolworth, with a number of high-priority drill targets soon to be
lined up for testing. This marks a pivotal step forward as we look to unlock
the project's full potential. At the Blue Mountain Project, we are eagerly
anticipating the results from our enhanced gold recovery process which will be
critical in guiding us towards the potential commercial options for gold
extraction. In Victoria, our focus remains firmly on drilling. We're set to
commence drilling at the Tambo Project in the coming weeks and work is
underway to further explore the highly prospective Antimony potential at
Bailieston. With the recent surge in this critical mineral's price, we believe
that the Bailieston project's Antimony potential may become increasingly
significant."

 

REVIEW OF ANNOUNCEMENT BY QUALIFIED PERSON

This announcement has been reviewed by Adam Jones, Chief Geologist at ECR
Minerals plc. Adam Jones is a professional geologist and is a Member of
the Australian Institute of Geoscientists (MAIG). He is a qualified person
as that term is defined by the AIM Note for Mining, Oil and Gas Companies.

 

Market Abuse Regulation (MAR) Disclosure

This announcement contains inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of
the Market Abuse Regulation (EU) 596/2014 as it forms part of UK domestic law
by virtue of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 ("MAR"), and is
disclosed in accordance with the Company's obligations under Article 17 of
MAR.

 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:

 

 ECR Minerals plc                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           Tel: +44 (0) 1738 317 693
 Nick Tulloch, Chairman

 Andrew Scott, Director

 Email:

 info@ecrminerals.com (mailto:info@ecrminerals.com)
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Glossary

 

 Ag:    Silver
 Au:    Gold
 b.c.m  Bank Cubic Metre
 g/t:   Grammes per Tonne (Metric)
 HR3:   The Bailieston Prospect
 JORC:  Australasian Code for Reporting of Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves' of
        December 2012 ("JORC Code") as prepared by the Joint Ore Reserves Committee of
        the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy.
 km:    Kilometres (Metric)
 km²:   Kilometre squared (Metric)
 M:     Metres (Metric)
 Pb:    Lead
 ppm:   Parts per million (Metric)
 Sb:    Antimony

 

ABOUT ECR MINERALS PLC

 

ECR Minerals is a mineral exploration and development company. ECR's wholly
owned Australian subsidiary Mercator Gold Australia Pty Ltd ("MGA") has 100%
ownership of the Bailieston and Creswick gold projects in central Victoria,
Australia, has six licence applications outstanding which includes one licence
application lodged in eastern Victoria (Tambo gold project).

 

ECR also owns 100% of an Australian subsidiary LUX Exploration Pty Ltd ("LUX")
which has three approved exploration permits covering 946 km2 over a
relatively unexplored area in Lolworth Range, Queensland, Australia. The
Company has also submitted a license application at Kondaparinga which is
approximately 120km2 in area and located within the Hodgkinson Gold
Province, 80km NW of Mareeba, North Queensland.

 

Following the sale of the Avoca, Moormbool and Timor gold projects in
Victoria, Australia to Fosterville South Exploration Ltd (TSX-V: FSX) and the
subsequent spin-out of the Avoca and Timor projects to Leviathan Gold Ltd
(TSX-V: LVX), MGA has the right to receive up to A$2 million in payments
subject to future resource estimation or production from projects sold to
Fosterville South Exploration Limited.  ECR holds a royalty on the SLM gold
project in La Rioja Province, Argentina which could potentially receive up to
US$2.7 million in aggregate across all licences.

 

MGA also has approximately A$75 million of unutilised tax losses incurred
during previous operations.

 

 

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