ECR Minerals #ECR – Latest Lolworth Gold Exploration Results Suggest Extended Mineralisation

ECR Minerals plc (LON: ECR), the exploration and development company focused on gold in Australia, is pleased to announce the latest gold exploration developments at its Lolworth Project, North Queensland, Australia. The results from the latest pan concentrate stream samples, whilst still early stage, are considered significant by the Directors as they suggest an extension in the size of the gold footprint south of the Reedy Creek area into Butterfly Creek. The latest soil results from the Gorge Creek West area also correlate with a quartz sub-crop which has been mapped across the ridgeline.

The Lolworth Project is located approximately 120km west of the historic gold mining centre of Charters Towers, North Queensland, Australia. The project consists of three exploration tenements (EPM27901, EPM27902 and EPM27903) which are operated by LUX Exploration Pty Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of ECR (“LUX”). Numerous Gold, Niobium and REE anomalies have been identified within the project.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Pan concentrate sampling south of the Reedy Creek drainage divide into Butterfly Creek indicates the likely existence of a gold source that also extends further south. Visible gold continues to be seen in sampling.
• The peak soil sampling results from Gorge Creek West area correlate along strike to a mapped quartz vein sub-crop. Further investigations are planned.
• Results from Flaggy Creek and Reedy Creek West soil sampling are due soon, with interpretation of these results determining the next steps to be taken. Operations have been paused while we evaluate our workplan.
• Follow-up investigations into targeting other Niobium and REE stream anomalies also in progress.

ECR Technical Director Adam Jones commented: “I am pleased to report good grades from pan concentrate sampling, which indicate that additional sources of gold could exist within the headwaters of Butterfly Creek and extend the region’s prospectivity some 2km further south of Reedy Creek. Local landholders have reported to us that good sizeable gold discoveries were made in this watershed by early prospectors and the evidence of our work to date supports these theories. In addition to this, the field team are steadily building a picture of extended gold mineralisation in the headwaters of Gorge Creek West resulting from on-going results from soil sampling and outcrop mapping.”

ECR Chief Operations Officer Mike Whitlow added: “Our Lolworth project is progressing nicely and we are consistently seeing visible gold, which supports the historical evidence, but more importantly validates our own thesis. We are collating the data into our work plan to conclude the reconnaissance work and prepare for the target generation stage. We expect to provide further updates soon.” 

Figure One: Plan showing the location of the latest results;

https://www.ecrminerals.com/images/2023/Fig1_Latest-Results-Lolworth_231115.jpg

Reportable results from sampling presented in Table 1 and Table 2 below.

STREAM SAMPLING INTO BUTTERFLY CREEK

Butterfly Creek runs south from the dividing range that separates the Reedy Creek area to the north (see Figure One above). Recent field work completed infill pan concentrate sampling along the headwaters of streams in the Reedy Creek area and Butterfly Creek, with visible gold consistently noted throughout the sampling process. The most recent lab results confirm these findings, with high concentrations of gold resulting in 962 ppm Au, 139 ppm Au and 29.7 ppm Au. One ppm is equal to One g/t Au; however, these results are from concentrating a 5kg stream sample into a laboratory sized sample and therefore are not representative of an in situ-resource within the stream. The results do however show the coarse nature of the gold, confirming that the stream is strongly gold-bearing and close to a nearby source up the hillslopes. From the sampling evidence received ECR can conclude the source of gold is likely to reside within the saddle ridge as marked on Figure One. The round coloured markers on the map relate to the corresponding gold grades in the map legend, with previous pan sampling results shown as coloured stars. Gold anomalies are clustered as shown on Figure One at Reedy Creek West, Reedy Creek and Gorge Creek West. ECR is still waiting for final soil sampling results within the Reedy Creek West area.

GORGE CREEK WEST SOIL SAMPLING

Results from soil sampling over part of the western ridgeline above the gold-bearing streams of Gorge Creek West have also been received. 14 samples report gold above background levels of 0.01 g/t Au, with best results of 0.39 g/t Au and 0.32 g/t Au. Although modest, these results are important in context as they correlate spatially along strike of a large quartz sub-crop vein exceeding 4 metres wide. This vein was sampled previously and delivered a best result of 0.56 g/t Au.

The results from the quartz sub-crop vein do not match the results from the creek below, where the team located numerous gold nuggets during previous pan concentrate sampling. A single rock chip along strike to the east returned 13.75 g/t Au, while rock chip results immediately to the north of the soil sampling and the quartz sub-crop show promise, with large outcrops of quartz veins (grading up to 3.13 g/t Au) sited adjacent to the contact of the intruded granite. Further investigation is required.

NIOBIUM AND REE EXPLORATION

Niobium (Nb) and Rare Earth elements discoveries have also been reported previously at Oaky Creek, which contains an anomalous (Nb) zone located in the northern part of the project area. Sampling work at Oaky Creek transitioned from Nb and REE exploration to gold exploration during the last couple of months to give landholders the chance to conduct agricultural activities in the north of the project area. ECR has a good working relationship with all landholders in the area, and field work to follow-up on the Niobium and REE regions will recommence at the earliest availability.

Table One. Gold results for all pan concentrate stream sampling from the Butterfly Creek region. Results in Au ppm. Best results presented first.

Table Two. Reportable gold results (> 0.01 g/t Au) for soil sampling the Gorge Creek West area.

REVIEW OF ANNOUNCEMENT BY QUALIFIED PERSON

This announcement has been reviewed by Adam Jones, Technical Director of Exploration 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 eight active exploration tenements and two in application (Ballarat and Tambo).

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), Mercator Gold Australia Pty Limited 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 90% interest in the Danglay gold project; an advanced exploration project located in a prolific gold and copper mining district in the north of the Philippines, which has a 43-101 compliant resource. ECR also holds a royalty on the SLM gold project in La Rioja Province, Argentina and can potentially receive up to US$2.7 million in aggregate across all licences