Tag Archives: costerfield mine

ECR Minerals plc (LON: ECR), the exploration and development company focused on gold in Australia, is pleased to announce further developments at their Victoria exploration licences EL5433 (Bailieston) and EL007484 (Tambo).

ECR Minerals plc has 100% ownership of EL5433 and EL007484 within the state of Victoria, Australia. EL5433 (Bailieston) exploration licence is located 50km east of the Mandalay Resources Costerfield Mine (producing Gold and Antimony). EL007484 (Tambo) is located within the eastern part of the state of Victoria. Both tenements are being operated under ECR Minerals plc Australian subsidiary Company Mercator Gold Australia (‘MGA’).

HIGHLIGHTS

• Results for 27 rock chips taken from gold prospects within the Tambo licence EL007484 received. Best results include 0.2m @ 22.2 g/t Au and 0.5m @ 5.72 g/t Au.
• Bailieston exploration licence EL5433 has successfully been renewed for a further 5 years.

CEO Andrew Haythorpe commented: “The pace of developments in Queensland this year ensures that our Lolworth and Hurricane projects remain ECR’s primary focus, but it is gratifying to note that initial rock chip sampling at our hitherto unexplored Tambo project in Victoria has already delivered some noteworthy gold grades. Our Board is firmly of the view that the minimum expenditure requirements to retain the key licenses at Bailieston and Tambo are warranted, and our teams will continue piecemeal work at these licenses throughout the year when it is logistically expedient to do so.”    

TAMBO LICENCE ROCKCHIP RESULTS

Initial ground work was recently undertaken at Victoria licence EL007484 (Tambo) as part of ECR’s 2023 exploration schedule. A total of 27 rock chips were taken from exposed quartz veins in and around the historical gold workings known as the Duke of Cornwall and Swift Creek Reef. Best results include 0.2m @ 22.2 g/t Au and 0.5m @ 5.72 g/t Au and a complete set of results is tabulated in Appendix One below. The gold results correlate with elevated metals of Arsenopyrite and Bismuth. These two minerals are likely pathfinder elements which will help vector towards gold mineralisation in future exploration activities.

RENEWAL OF EL5433 (BAILIESTON)

ECR have also successfully renewed exploration tenement EL5433 (also known as Bailieston) for a renewed 5-year term (expiring March 27^th 2028. The Bailieston licence contains the recently explored prospects known as HR3, Cherry Tree and Blue Moon. Although the discoveries made to date have been modest, the best prospects within the tenement still lie in the vicinity of HR3 where the last drillholes returned gold intercepts such as 4m @ 9.01 g/t Au (hole BH3DD043), 0.2m @ 9.22 g/t Au (hole BH3DD042) (see announcement dated October 14 2022 here for full details of these drill results). It is worth noting also that the strike extent at this location is still open to the north and at depth. The Bailieston tenement is situated halfway between the Costerfield Mine and tenements belonging to ASX listed Nagambie Resources, and the district is fast gaining a reputation for Antimony mineralisation. The Costerfield Mine, owned by Mandalay Resources is also producing Gold and Antimony. License EL5433 has a yearly minimum expenditure requirement of AUD $38000, and is adjacent to ECR exploration licenses EL006911 and EL 006912 granted in December 2022. ECR’s total exploration land package at Bailieston is 179 square kilometres.

NEXT STEPS

The Board is of the opinion that Tambo tenement EL007484 and Bailieston tenement EL5433 hold considerable nascent value and warrant the minimum required expenditure per year. As mentioned previously, the HR3 Goldfield on EL5433 still has exploration potential and follow-up work along strike from the previously good drill intercepts, and as such the Board plans to extend the possible strike of gold mineralisation to the north of HR3 with soil geochemistry work followed by drilling.

The Board is pleased with the initial rock chip sampling results at the Duke of Cornwall prospect at the Tambo licence EL007484, and is of the opinion that further investigation is warranted. Our initial findings establishing a strong correlation between Gold, Arsenic and Bismuth will also aid in future exploration. EL007484 is licenced to 25 November 2026 and is eligible for a grant of a further 5-year term provided the minimum expenditure and work commitments are reached. The Board is of the opinion that all ECR’s Victorian assets warrant further work in the future, but this will only take place once market conditions prove more supportive for junior explorers

ECR’s exploration focus this year has shifted towards the two North Queensland projects at Lolworth and Hurricane. Due to the potential size and range of mineralisation already identified (Gold, Antimony, Niobium, Tantalum and Rare Earths) in North Queensland, the assets in this region will remain our primary focus at this point in time.

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.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:

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). MGA is currently drilling at the Bailieston Blue Moon Project (EL5433) and undertaking geochemical exploration on the Creswick (EL6148) project and has an experienced exploration team with significant local knowledge in the Victoria Goldfields and wider region.

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 Queensland, Australia.

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.

APPENDIX ONE

TABLE ONE: All Rock Chip results from recent exploration on EL007484, Tambo, Victoria, Australia. (Au = Gold, Bi = Bismuth). Highlights in BOLD;