ECR Minerals #ECR – Fire Assay Results Confirm High Grade Gold Photon Analysis Numbers At Tambo, Victoria

ECR Minerals plc (LON: ECR), the exploration and development company focused on gold in Australia, is pleased to provide the fire assay gold results from the historic Duke of Cornwall Mine, Swifts Creek (Tambo), Victoria, Australia.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Fire assay of 37 rock chips at the Duke of Cornwall Lode improves earlier best result from photon analysis from 51.5 g/t Au to 52.2 g/t Au
• 10 Samples returned results above 5 g/t Au
• Additional gold results for 19 rock chips include more best results including 9.79 g/t Au, 8.55 g/t Au and 5.31 g/t Au
• The results fall within the 95% confidence interval indicating photon analysis does offer a reliable indication of fire assay results

Background to Photon Assay Analysis

As announced on 10 June 2024, ECR Minerals undertook an exploration campaign at its Eastern Victorian exploration tenement (EL007484) which included detailed mapping of historical gold workings and the collection of 56 rock chips and 84 soil samples at spaced intervals across and along strike of the known mineralisation. Initial testing of 37 rock chips using the Photon Assay method returned significant results with 8 samples showing gold concentrations exceeding 5 g/t Au, including a best result of 51.5 g/t Au.

Fire Assay Comparison

The Board has now received the gold and multi-element results for all 56 rock chip samples, analysed using both traditional Fire Assay and ME-ICPMS methods. In comparing the 37 Photon Assays to the Fire Assays, all samples are within a 95% confidence level. The largest variance observed between assay methods was 2.05 g/t Au in rock chip BTR054. It is acknowledged that gold results inherently exhibit some variance, as evidenced by duplicate and repeat testing for Au (refer to Table 1 below). A vein previously sampled in 2023, with a fire assay indicating 0.2 metres at 22 g/t Au, produced a photon analysis result consistent with expectations, measuring 24 g/t Au.

Multi-Element Pathfinders

All rock chip samples also underwent ME-ICP analysis to determine levels of Silver, Arsenic, Bismuth, Copper, Lead, and Zinc. Elements such as Arsenic (As) have traditionally been a key indicator for gold mineralisation. Bismuth (Bi) has shown the closest correlation with gold at higher elevations and falls within the detectable range of a pXRF device, a valuable tool included in the Company’s exploration toolkit (refer to Chart 1 below). Pathfinder elements can be crucial for expediting and cost-effectively generating future regional exploration targets.

Table One: Results above 5g/t Gold from 56 Rock Chip Samples, Tambo Project Exploration. Comparison between earlier Photon Analysis also shown.

* Fire Assay Average grade = (Au g/t + duplicate + repeat) / number of analysis

No other rock chip samples returned results above 5 g/t Au.

Chart 1: Plot of Au (g/t) against Bismuth (ppm) showing close correlation between the two elements.

Mike Whitlow Chief Operating Officer commented: “The high grade gold results, and perhaps more importantly, the statistically significant correlation to the fire assay data has validated our decision to implement photon assaying at Tambo. A best result of 52.2 g/t Au in rock chips is an exceptional outcome and I look forward to our exploration teams resuming work at the project in due course.

“In Queensland, the earlier recovery of visible gold through our washplant at Blue Mountain has exceeded expectations and we’re eagerly awaiting the results of laboratory analysis which will guide our next steps for the project. In the coming days, I’m looking forward to our chief geologist Adam Jones joining our field crews at Lolworth where initial hard rock trenching is planned for Gorge Creek West.”  

Adam Jones Chief Geologist added: “Our geological team has been very impressed with the Photon Assay method, noting its close correlation with reported Fire Assays. It not only provides faster and more cost-effective results but also represents a significant shift in our approach moving forward. Our next objective at this prospect is to confirm the consistency of gold hits within the vein structure which is likely to include a short drill program.”

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.

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

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.

ABOUT PHOTONASSAY

Developed by Australia’s national science agency, CSIRO, photon assay is described as a technique that can deliver faster, safer, and more accurate gold analysis. The developers of PhotonAssay are positioning it as an environmentally-friendly replacement for fire assay that can provide rapid turnaround on high sample volumes.  Samples can be processed in less than 2 minutes in an automated process, compared to 3-4 hours for fire assay samples. A number of companies have undertaken a thorough evaluation of the method on their projects by undertaking extensive testing against fire assays (currently considered the gold standard for grade determination) with excellent results. PhotonAssay is considered most suitable for coarse gold mineralisation where analysis of large sample sizes is advantageous.

The technique works by hitting samples with high-energy X-rays, which causes excitation of atomic nuclei allowing enhanced analysis of gold, silver, copper and other elements in as little as two minutes. A highly sensitive detector picks up the unique atomic signatures from these elements to determine concentrations.

PhotonAssay has the following features:

• Bulk measurement of large samples, typically 400–650 g
• Minimal sample preparation e.g. crush to 2–3 mm top-size
• Non-destructive; no chemical reagents required
• Rapid (< 2 mins per sample, 70 samples/hour)
• Excellent sensitivity (0.01 ppm detection limit on reagent blanks, 0.015-0.030 on typical gold ores)
• Independent of sample matrix, chemistry or mineralogy
• Fully-automated