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Time to Fillyaboots with ECR Minerals (AIM:ECR) as Victoria Gold Projects continue to evolve and gold attracts record investments.
Time to Fillyaboots with ECR Minerals (AIM:ECR) as Victoria Gold Projects continue to evolve and gold attracts record investments.
- High grade assays at Timor
- Exploration underway at Avoca
- Whole of bag testing results at Creswick
- Record breaking month for gold
- Time to Fillyaboots
For those keen on regular progress updates, Australia-focussed mining company ECR Minerals (AIM: ECR) hits the mark by keeping investors up to date with their every move on Twitter. Of late, the three major developments over August at Timor, Avoca and Creswick projects have focussed attention, driven as much as anything by the rising demand for gold amid dwindling macroeconomic conditions.
1) High grade assay results demonstrate potential for Timor Gold Project to follow in the footsteps of Maryborough goldfield
The first of these was an impressive set of rock chip sampling results at the Timor project, which gave ECR investors plenty to smile about at the beginning of the month.
High grade gold assays of 22.6 g/t and 26.3 g/t were recorded respectively from Shaw’s Reef and Anglo-Saxon Reef prospects.
Mined to 152m depth, ECR revealed that Shaw’s Reef had produced 11,465 ounces at a grade of 20.93 g/t Au. Meanwhile, four samples from the Anglo-Saxon Reef averaged 8.12 g/t Au.
Not bad eh? Well on top of that, the reconnaissance had also “discovered the Brilliant / Northumbria reef and its extensive gold workings, including an old open cut” ..according to CEO Craig Brown.
“This prospect area extends over a length of approximately 500m and is up to 80m wide and assays from 13 samples indicate widespread low-grade gold mineralisation.”
These results indicate that Timor may well follow on from the historical success of the Maryborough Goldfield.
Maryborough, which lies within the area covered by the Timor license, previously produced over 640,000 ounces of gold from hard-rock and alluvial sources, with 220,000 ounces mined from hard-rock operations at an average grade of 14g/t gold.
Northumbria Reef open cut
2) Avoca Exploration Underway
In addition to Timor, there was plenty of news forthcoming from ECR’s other Victoria sites. On the 14th of August the Company announced it had begun exploration at Henry’s Hill within the Avoca gold project license area.
The company now has active exploration works underway at four projects within the Victorian goldfields region, including Bailieston, Creswick, Timor and now Avoca.
“We are delighted to be highly active in the Victoria Goldfields region, at a time when the area is attracting considerable interest from larger companies and investors” commented Craig Brown.
Previously seven samples have been taken from the roadside reserve at Henry’s Hill, with three of these returning 5.1, 1.4 and 1.3 g/t gold.
With land access permission secured from the landowner and ever keen to keep the ball rolling, ECR will be commencing soil geochemistry and field mapping imminently.
3) Whole of bag testing results at Creswick:
Now for Creswick, the one we’ve all been waiting on. This is ECR’s strategic priority, with potential to be a multi-million ounce gold deposit.
Craig Brown and his team have been quick to try to progress the project and understand the impact of the nuggety nature of it’s gold deposits – conducting whole-of-bag testing in order to gain more representative results than from the original 2 kg assays.
Despite delays due to inclement weather at Victoria, ECR were happy to announce that work was underway and generating important results from the gravity and electrostatic concentration (GEC) of gold process, constructed under the guidance of the highly accredited resource geologist Keith Whitehouse.
GEC uses the dual processes of gravity and chargeability, which not only sounds rather impressive, but is capable of removing coarse, fine and ultrafine particles of gold from the RC samples.
According to Craig Brown.. “the results so far have demonstrated significant variability from the original assays, demonstrating that the small sample size can overstate and understate results.”
“Notably the original 44.63 g/t assay from the 2 kg sample from CSR006 (15-16 m) is increased to 63.03 g/t.”
To help support the process, ECR have appointed mining geologist and geometallurgist Dr Simon Dominy. With over 25 years’ experience Dr Dominy looks to be the man to help ECR evaluate their results, review the sampling process and guide future exploration & project development work at Creswick.
Gold sets record breaking highs
From a timing standpoint, ECR have hit the metaphorical bullseye considering the rapid rise in demand for safe-haven gold. Investors ploughed almost $5bn into the precious metal in August amid ongoing trade tensions and diminishing macroeconomic conditions, taking it to its highest level since April 2013.
Prices have remained high moving into September, with levels closing at US$1,551 a troy ounce on Wednesday the 4th of September. Analysts see no sign of prices dipping either.
Bloomberg Intelligence (BI) have said that US gold prices could be set for new record highs. Meanwhile Goldman Sachs upgraded its 6-month gold forecast at the beginning of August to $1,600 an ounce as trade tensions continue to escalate.
According to BI senior commodity strategist Mike McGlone:
“The dollar price of gold is on far more stable ground than it was about a decade ago. Some combination of sustained greenback strength and rapid stock-market appreciation should be necessary to suppress the metal’s price … Bottoming with the Federal Reserve’s interest-rate hike in 2015, the gold price appears to be situated for brighter days,” McGlone said in a September update.
Worsening economic data and the fast approaching Brexit deadline have also pushed the price of gold in British Pounds and Euros to new record highs.
The UK gold price in Pounds per ounce was up more than 50% from the eve of the UK’s vote to leave the EU back in June 2016, hitting £1279 on Tuesday the 3rd of September.
Time to Fillyaboots
All said, while ECR could be accused of being slightly trigger happy with their posts on Twitter, the reality is that the company have a lot to talk about.
As well as gold’s strength, with active exploration underway at four sites in Victoria and with nine exploration licences in the highly prospective Yilgarn region, ECR Minerals are certainly a company worth your attention if you’re looking to join the gold rush.
Each month the company continues to materially progress its projects, with August no exception. Timor’s high grade assay results give plenty of hope, putting a solid floor under the Company valuation, whilst recent exploration at Avoca demonstrates yet again that ECR are not resting on their laurels.
Finally, and of most importance thorough testing appears to be fully underway at Creswick, meaning ECR are moving ever closer to understanding the true value of their potential multi million ounce gold deposit. And with a market cap at just GBP3.5m, there has never been a better time to fillyaboots with this ambitious gold explorer.
By Harry Dacres-Dixon
Sources:
Gold Prices To Hit $1,575 In 3 Months, $1,600 In 6 Months – Goldman Sachs
Gold prices to pick off U.S. dollar high next – Bloomberg Intelligence
Investors pile into gold as trade conflict rumbles on
ECR Minerals #ECR – High Grade Gold Assays – Timor Gold Project – Australia
ECR Minerals #ECR – Exploration Commences at Henry’s Hill – Avoca Gold Project – Australia
ECR Minerals plc (ECR) Progress Update – Creswick Gold Project Australia
ECR Minerals #ECR – High Grade Gold Assays – Timor Gold Project – Australia
High Grade Gold Assays – Timor Gold Project – Australia
ECR Minerals plc (LON:ECR), the precious metals exploration and development company, is pleased to announce the receipt of high grade gold assays from the recently completed rock chip sampling programme at the Timor Gold Project (the “Project”) in Victoria, Australia.
The Timor Gold Project is one of five projects held by ECR in the Victorian Goldfields region, with three projects at Bailieston, Creswick and Timor now the subject of active exploration or project development operational activity.
Craig Brown, Chief Executive Officer commented: “I am extremely pleased to announce the receipt of high-grade gold assays from the Shaw’s Reef and Anglo-Saxon Reef prospects, during a recent reconnaissance sampling program where assays of 22.6 g/t and 26.3 g/t Au were received, respectively. Both these samples are of vein quartz taken randomly from the main waste dumps created by the old underground operations of the late 1800s & early 1900s.“
“Furthermore, the reconnaissance has discovered the Brilliant/Northumbria reef and its extensive gold workings, including an old open cut. This prospect area extends over a length of approximately 500m and is up to 80m wide and assays from 13 samples indicate widespread low-grade gold mineralisation.”
Highlights:
- Quartz vein material assayed 22.6 g/t from Shaw’s Reef main shaft waste dump, which mined to 152m depth and produced 11465 ounces at a grade of 20.93 g/t Au;
- Quartz vein material assayed 26.3 g/t from Anglo-Saxon Reef main shaft waste dump & the four samples averaged 8.12 g/t Au. No production records are available and the mine appears to have been worked to relatively shallow depths;
- Eighty-four (84) rock samples were collected from 19 prospects, with over half (47) of the samples being mineralised or anomalous at >0.1 g/t Au;
- These 47 anomalous samples of quartz vein or waste rock material are from 14 separate prospects which averaged 1.8 g/t Au indicating that not only are the quartz samples mineralised but that there is a high-level background gold content of the host rocks associated with many of the prospects;
- The maximum gold grade for these waste rock samples received is 6.49 g/t from the North British Reef, where the material assayed was a host rock slate without any quartz content, which is remarkable;
- A number of the prospects have consistently anomalous gold grades indicating that the ore does not appear to be particularly nuggetty and that reliable grades can be expected. Further sampling is therefore required to establish the extent of the mineralisation of these particular prospects prior to drilling;
- A number of prospects remain to be sampled within both the LMFZ and SMFZ pending access negotiations to private property;
- Wide zones of anomalous gold mineralisation associated with old quartz reef workings that operated on a number of parallel reefs, quartz blows, ladder veins and stockworks within a corridor of up to 80m wide occur at the Brilliant/Northumbria Reefs at the northern end of the Shaw-McFarlane Fault Zone (SMFZ). This zone is about 500m in length and may extend further and therefore offers an immediate drill target with potential for open cut gold mining. Historically part of the zone was open cut with horse and cart technology (Figure 1).
A link to Figure 1 Northumbria Reef open cut:
https://www.ecrminerals.com/images/2019/07/30/northumbria-reef-open-cut.jpg
A link to Figure 2 Brilliant Reef large quartz outcrop approximately 400m south of Northumbria workings:
https://www.ecrminerals.com/images/2019/07/30/brilliant-reef-large-quartz.jpg
Background to the Timor Gold Project:
Timor Gold project is located in Victoria Australia and held under exploration licence EL006278.
Historical records demonstrate that the Maryborough goldfield within the licence area has produced over 640,000 ounces of gold from hard-rock and alluvial sources, with 220,000 ounces mined from hard-rock operations at an average grade of 14g/t gold. (See references below).
Two major fault zones have been identified on the Project, namely the Shaw-McFarlane Fault Zone (“SMFZ”) and the Leviathan-Mariners Fault Zone (“LMFZ”), which are responsible for the majority of the hard-rock gold production.
The SMFZ has been shown to have consistently produced high grade gold mines along its length with Shaw’s Reef, McFarlane’s Reef and Havelock Monte Christo having recorded production at average grades ranging from 22g/t gold to 217 g/t gold with certain operations having been impacted by metallurgical challenges. (See references below.)
Opportunities exist within the SMFZ to identify and process gold mineralisation at potentially very high grade by applying modern processing techniques to resolve processing challenges that limited production many years ago.
The LMFZ hosts a large number of variably sized reefs that occur within the fault zone. These reefs are associated with diorite dykes and generally offer larger gold targets, albeit at lower grade compared to the SMFZ and historical mining records demonstrate that mining activities were often to relatively shallow depths.
Most of the LMFZ is under shallow alluvial cover which produced a considerable amount of gold in the early days of the Maryborough gold rush of the 1850s.
Both the SMFZ and the LMFZ have potential for modern open cut and underground mining techniques, because of the scale of the deposits present.
As a result of the successful program of reconnaissance rock dump sampling from the old workings announced today, the Company is reviewing the data collected to determine the next step for this the Timor Project.
Further information to follow as each step of the exploration programme is implemented and the results interpreted.
COMPETENT PERSON STATEMENT
This announcement has been reviewed by Neil Motton BAppSc (Hons), MAusIMM (CP), FSEG, a geological consultant to the Company’s wholly owned subsidiary Mercator Gold Australia Pty Ltd with more than 30 years of professional experience. Mr Motton is a qualified person as that term is defined by the AIM Note for Mining, Oil and Gas Companies.
MARKET ABUSE REGULATIONS (EU) No. 596/2014
The information contained within this announcement is deemed by the Company to constitute inside information as stipulated under the Market Abuse Regulations (EU) No. 596/2014 (MAR). Upon the publication of this announcement via Regulatory Information Service (RIS), this inside information is now considered to be in the public domain.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:
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ECR Minerals plc |
Tel: +44 (0)20 7929 1010 |
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David Tang, Non-Executive Chairman |
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Craig Brown, Director & CEO |
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Email: |
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Website: www.ecrminerals.com |
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WH Ireland Ltd |
Tel: +44 (0)161 832 2174 |
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Nominated Adviser |
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Katy Mitchell/James Sinclair-Ford |
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SI Capital Ltd |
Tel: +44 (0)1483 413500 |
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Broker |
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Nick Emerson |
ABOUT ECR MINERALS PLC
ECR is a mineral exploration and development company. ECR’s wholly owned Australian subsidiary Mercator Gold Australia Pty Limited has 100% ownership of the Avoca, Bailieston, Creswick, Moormbool and Timor gold exploration licences in central Victoria, Australia and the Windidda Gold Project in the Yilgarn Region, Western Australia.
ECR has earned a 25% interest in the Danglay epithermal gold project, an advanced exploration project located in a prolific gold and copper mining district in the north of the Philippines. An NI43-101 technical report was completed in respect of the Danglay project in December 2015 and is available for download from ECR’s website.
ECR’s wholly owned Argentine subsidiary Ochre Mining has 100% ownership of the SLM gold project in La Rioja, Argentina. Exploration at SLM has focused on identifying small tonnage mesothermal gold deposits which may be suitable for relatively near-term production.
References:
HOWITT, A.M., 1913. The Maryborough goldfield. Geological Survey of Victoria Memoir 11. Department of Mines, Victoria, 76 pp.
Whitelaw, H.S., 1899, Antimony Ores in Victoria. Geological Survey of Victoria Special Report.
ANON., Undated. Leviathan Gold Mines, Maryborough. Map showing Mining Lease areas, locations of shafts, reefs, alluvial leads composite level plans for mines, etc. Plan No 1757/B/1.
ANON, 1888, Lands held under Leases for Gold Mining, Shaw’s & Mariner’s Reef, Maryborough. Register for Mining Registrar for March 1888.