dr rodney boucher

USD28tn COVID bill keeps the Gold bull case intact for ECR Minerals #ECR and the new Victoria Gold rush.

23rd November 2020 / Leave a comment

In October 2020 IMF economic counselor *Gita Gopinath described coronavirus as the worst crisis since the Great Depression, adding that the pandemic would leave deep and enduring scars from job losses, weaker investment and children being deprived of education.

In its flagship world economic outlook, the IMF said stronger than expected Q2 and Q3 performances would see global output fall by 4.4% in 2020 compared with the 5.2% drop forecast during the summer.

The groundbreaking news of a vaccine with high efficacy rates from both Pfizer and Moderna triggered strong rallies in global stock markets, and while this led to a downward correction in the gold price, most market analysts remained bullish on gold over the longer term.

US Investment Group Energy & Capital are of the view that gold remains in a bull market super cycle. Energy & Capital editor, Gold bug, and investment analyst Luke Burgess said “The historic gold run of 2011 actually began in 2001, when gold was trading around $300 per ounce.”

“The same exact gold super-cycle happened in 1971–1980, when gold ran from $50 per ounce to almost $700,” Burgess added. “The value of the U.S. dollar is being weakened every day and there is nothing that the Federal Reserve or politicians can do to stop it. This will continue to have a tremendous effect on gold prices and the gold market in general.”

Energy & Capital are ultra bullish in outlook, with a $6500oz target price for the yellow metal within 2 years. While other commentators are more circumspect, the view on the longer-term trend is clear.**

“It is worth recalling that the driver of investment flows into precious metals has ultimately been sourced from a powerful impulse lower in real rates,” TD Securities said in a note.

“The U.S. Federal Reserve’s continued attempt to spark higher inflation expectations should suppress real rates deeper into negative territory. This will continue to drive investment appetite for precious metals, as capital seeks to shelter itself from increasingly negative real rates.”

Junior Gold Miners Flourish

It has been an extraordinary year for junior gold miners. Despite the recent gold correction to $1860oz, global gold producers are under more pressure than ever to replace their depleting reserves. The major gold producing conglomerates face declines in production, shrinking reserves and a potential increase in production costs, which means it is cheaper (and faster) for these companies to buy developed or developing gold projects.

As a result, there has been a rush to develop and fast track quality assets, which for some junior miners has meant revisiting dormant mining projects. The latest tools, survey techniques and desktop assets available to mining engineers have proved invaluable in the search for precious metals within existing dormant assets and mines around the world.

As gold prospecting continues apace in far flung and remote areas, this year has seen the goldfields in Victoria, South Australia thrust into the limelight once again.

A major mining centre since the 19^th century gold rush, modern technology has today has paved the way for another gold rush in the region.

Indeed the Geological Survey of Victoria estimates that some 75 million ounces of high-grade gold is currently awaiting discovery, and with grants available to mining companies operating in the region, it is no exaggeration to say that companies are literally queuing up for licenses.

As an incumbent operator owning some of the most fertile territory in Victoria, London listed ECR Minerals (LSE: ECR) is already at the front of the queue, with its 100% owned Bailieston and Creswick Victoria gold projects, plus the recently acquired Tambo Gold project.

ECR also has financial interests in the Avoca, Moormbool and Timor projects following the sale of those licenses to Fosterville South Exploration Ltd (TSX.V:FSX), raising $500,000 plus $1 for every ounce of gold discovered. ECR also has interests in projects in the Philippines and Argentina.

Creswick

Creswick is situated within the Dimocks Main Shale, a geological feature considered to be highly prospective for gold, and which extends to the Ballarat gold mine centre and further south. ECR’s exploration licenses cover approximately 7km of this region, and along with several other mining companies with licenses in the region, has applied for a further license covering a further 140 sq km between Creswick and Ballarat.

A recent study by pre-eminent consulting geochemist Dr Dennis Arne, whose experience includes extensive consultancy at the Fosterville mine, (now the largest gold producer in Victoria), underlined the significant gold exploration potential at Creswick, and ‘nuggety gold mineralisation’. Joint venture / earn-in talks are continuing at Creswick.

Bailieston

Bailieston is also at the centre of the current gold exploration boom in Victoria, sited as it is a few km east of the world class Fosterville mine. Fosterville has delivered spectacular investment returns over recent years for owner Kirkland Lake Gold, not to mention some of it’s now millionaire shareholders.

The Bailieston license areas include a raft of prospects, including HR3, Black Cat, Cherry Tree, Red Moon and Yellow Moon, and with drilling permissions now received, the company reported last Friday that its newly acquired drilling rig will shortly be en route to the HR3 prospect from ECR’s new operational base at Bendigo. Work also continues apace at the Cherry Tree prospect, with soil geochemistry and geological mapping recently completed.

ECR’s Baillieston project also has a high profile neighbour in the form of mining giant Newmont, which has a license application in for ground immediately to the north of ECR’s Black Cat prospect.

Tambo Gold Project – Local Knowledge

One of the key advantages lies in the fact that ECR’s principal geologist Dr Rodney Boucher was born and raised in Bruthen, East Victoria, and therefore has an intimate knowledge of the region. In September 2020, this area knowledge was further employed by ECR when it lodged two new license applications for the new Tambo gold project in eastern Victoria. ECR CEO Craig Brown highlighted Dr Boucher’s knowledge in the stock exchange press release.

“Good quality exploration ground available for direct application is very difficult to find in Victoria, so we are very pleased to have identified and applied for the Tambo project, which covers a sizeable area of prospective geology near historic goldfields and has received little contemporary exploration.”

Brown added “Our principal geologist, Dr Rod Boucher, was born and raised nearby in Bruthen. He grew up gold prospecting with his father throughout the application areas and has an in-depth knowledge of the gold potential in the small streams and gullies. He is a descendant of gold miners from a locality once known as Boucher Town between Cassilis and Swifts Creek and completed his third-year undergraduate thesis on the geology of the Tambo Crossing area.”

Untapped Potential

There is a sense that despite the rush of license applications in the region, the current day Victoria gold rush is still very much in its infancy.

As other leading mining companies, including Newmont Corporation (NYSE: NEM), Power Metal Resources (LSE:POW), Red Rock Resources (LSE:RRR), Fosterville South and a host of other smaller mining groups queue for licenses, their respective CEO’s will no doubt be harbouring ambitions for a Kirkland Gold–esque share price explosion. Indeed, Kirkland’s share price has rocketed over 2,200% in the past few years thanks to its ownership of the Fosterville Gold Mine and a 315% jump in annual gold production between 2014 and 2018 .

Despite movement restrictions in the Victoria region due to Covid-19, the foresight of the ECR board and CEO in securing the key licenses has not been lost on investors.

Following a further £600,000 fundraise in July, and further £400,000 from warrant exercises, ECR took the decision to acquire it’s own diamond drilling rig to press on with exploration Bailieston and Creswick. Investor bulletin boards are agog with anticipation, but despite the share price having nearly trebled between June and September 2020, in November the stock still trades on a ridiculously modest £13m market cap.

If, as all the pundits seem to be saying, we are at the start of a new Victoria Gold rush, then expectations that shares in small, incumbent explorers like ECR will deliver spectacular Kirkland-style increases in value may not be so far fetched after all.

*Source The Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/business/2020/oct/13/imf-covid-cost-world-economic-outlook

**Source Reuters:

https://www.reuters.com/article/global-precious/precious-gold-holds-tight-range-as-vaccine-progress-offsets-rising-cases-idUSL4N2I43M1

ECR Minerals #ECR Victoria Goldfields Operational Update

20th November 2020 / Leave a comment

ECR Minerals plc (LON: ECR), the gold exploration and development company focussed on Australia, is pleased to provide the following update on its activities in Victoria, Australia, which are carried out through the Company’s wholly owned Australian subsidiary Mercator Gold Australia Pty Ltd (“MGA”).

HIGHLIGHTS

MGA has taken delivery of its new Cortech CSD1300G diamond drill rig and a new operational base is being established in Bendigo, Victoria.
All necessary permissions are in place for drilling at the HR3 prospect within the Bailieston project area, where drilling operations will commence as soon as the drill rig is ready.
Soil geochemistry and geological mapping completed at the Cherry Tree prospect in the Baillieston project area.

Craig Brown, Chief Executive Officer of ECR commented:

“With the arrival of the ECR owned drill rig in Victoria we are now in a position to accelerate our exploration work and significantly, drilling of key targets. Our initial target HR3 is already permitted for drilling and therefore we anticipate an expeditious start to operations.

Alongside the new drill rig we have also been undertaking a range of operational work including the soil geochemistry and mapping at Cherry Tree, the results of which have provided valuable information to guide our ongoing exploration.

I look forward to providing further information from Victoria in the near term as our operational activities continue.”

DRILL RIG AND NEW OPERATIONAL BASE

Further to the Company’s announcement dated 14 September 2020, the new drill rig has been delivered and is now being set up for work under the supervision of MGA’s highly experienced drilling manager Graeme Noble.

MGA is establishing a new operational facility in Bendigo, Victoria, where the rig will be based. The facility includes more than 1,000 square metres of shed, office and storage space. MGA intends to carry out cutting and sampling of diamond drill core on site as well as using the facility for maintenance and storage of the new drill rig and other equipment. The facility is within easy driving distance of both the Bailieston and Creswick projects.

DRILLING PLANS – BAILIESTON HISTORIC RESERVE #3 (HR3)

All necessary permissions are in place for drilling at the HR3 prospect, which comprises at least four closely-spaced lines of reef, including the Byron, Dan Genders, Scoulars and Maori Reefs, plus numerous cross-structures. This provides a number of drill-ready targets, and it is planned that drilling will commence at HR3 as soon as the new drill rig has been made ready for operations.

RESULTS OF GEOCHEMISTRY AND FIELD MAPPING AT CHERRY TREE

The Cherry Tree prospect lies on the Bailieston Trend within Historic Reserve #4 (HR4) and is located 1.5 kilometres south of HR3 (Fig. 1). The workings at Cherry Tree continue to the south to the Cherry Tree South workings. Cherry Tree and Cherry Tree South are separated by an alluvial gully. Some 30 large and numerous small shafts were sunk by the historic miners at Cherry Tree. The main zone of workings at Cherry Tree is surrounded by alluvial cover and there may be some scope for shallow extensions under the cover.

Cherry Tree geochemistry and field mapping results:

Fig. 1

Fig. 2

Detailed portable XRF (pXRF) geochemical sampling was conducted to better define the surface expression of the mineralisation and to seek extension to shoots. Some 920 readings were taken, on average 10 metres apart but sometimes as close as 2 metres to attempt to follow and define trends.

The Cherry Tree workings mostly lie on the westerly limb of a N-S elongate anticlinal dome (Fig. 2). The pXRF results show numerous zones of anomalism, mostly close to the historic workings. The anomalism increases towards the top of the dome and towards the northwest. The increasing anomalism towards the northwest is lost under cover indicating there may be some potential for remanent mineralisation at shallow depths. Overall, the programme has provided MGA with new insight into the controls on mineralisation at Cherry Tree, which is relevant to the selection of drill targets at Cherry Tree itself and potentially to other parts of the Bailieston Trend including HR3.

Review of Announcement by Qualified Person

This announcement has been reviewed by Dr Rodney Boucher of Linex Pty Ltd. Linex Pty Ltd provides geological services to Mercator Gold Australia Pty Ltd, including the services of Dr Boucher, who has a PhD in geology, is a Member and RPGeo of the Australian Institute of Geoscientists and is a Member of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy. Dr Boucher 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:

ECR Minerals plc		Tel: +44 (0)20 7929 1010
David Tang, Non-Executive Chairman
Craig Brown, Director & CEO
Email: info@ecrminerals.com
Website: www.ecrminerals.com

WH Ireland Ltd		Tel: +44 (0)161 832 2174
Nominated Adviser
Katy Mitchell/James Sinclair-Ford

SI Capital Ltd		Tel: +44 (0)1483 413500
Broker
Nick Emerson

ABOUT ECR MINERALS PLC

ECR is a mineral exploration and development company. ECR’s wholly owned Australian subsidiary Mercator Gold Australia Pty Ltd has 100% ownership of the Bailieston and Creswick gold projects in central Victoria, Australia.

Following the sale of the Avoca, Moormbool and Timor gold projects in Victoria, Australia to Fosterville South Exploration Ltd (TSX-V: FSX), ECR has the right to receive up to A$2 million in payments subject to future resource estimation or production at those projects.

ECR has earned a 25% 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, and holds a royalty on the SLM gold project in La Rioja Province, Argentina.

ECR Minerals #ECR – Tambo Gold Project, Eastern Victoria, Australia

24th September 2020 / Leave a comment

ECR Minerals plc (LON: ECR), the gold exploration and development company focussed on Australia, is pleased to announce that its wholly owned Australian subsidiary Mercator Gold Australia Pty Ltd (“MGA”) has applied for two new exploration licences in eastern Victoria, Australia. The licences, which are contiguous, will comprise the Tambo gold project.

HIGHLIGHTS

Two new exploration licence applications lodged in eastern Victoria: EL007484 (410 sq. km) and EL007486 (318 sq. km), to comprise the Tambo gold project;
Applications cover portions of the historic Swifts Creek/Omeo and Haunted Stream goldfields that have recorded historical gold production of 205,000 and 25,000 oz respectively, according to figures published by the Geological Survey of Victoria;
Project area prospective for orogenic reef gold and additionally for intrusion-related gold & base metal systems.

Craig Brown, Chief Executive Officer of ECR, commented:
“Good quality exploration ground available for direct application is very difficult to find in Victoria, so we are very pleased to have identified and applied for the Tambo project, which covers a sizeable area of prospective geology near historic goldfields and has received little contemporary exploration.

Our principal geologist, Dr Rod Boucher, was born and raised nearby in Bruthen. He grew up gold prospecting with his father throughout the application areas and has an in-depth knowledge of the gold potential in the small streams and gullies. He is a descendant of gold miners from a locality once known as Boucher Town between Cassilis and Swifts Creek and completed his third-year undergraduate thesis on the geology of the Tambo Crossing area.”

ABOUT THE TAMBO PROJECT AREA

A map of the Tambo project area showing the location of the applications (Fig. 1a) and their geological setting (Fig. 2a) can be viewed at:

https://www.ecrminerals.com/images/2020/09/21/tambo_ela_f1_location_goldfields.jpg

https://www.ecrminerals.com/images/2020/09/21/tambo_ela_f2_geology.jpg

Geologically, the majority of the project area has exposed prospective basement including granites (Fig. 2a). In the past, the area has been mostly explored by smaller companies and individuals and has not received thorough exploration with modern techniques.

The project area falls within the area of a large airborne gravity survey which the Victorian State Government plans to commence in late 2020. The data from this survey, when published, is expected to generate new insight into the geology of eastern Victoria, including the Tambo project area.

The application areas are mostly covered by private land (EL007484) and Crown land (EL007486) respectively. Good access to the application areas is possible via tracks off the Omeo Highway that runs the length of the project area.

EL007484
The application area includes a portion of the historic Swifts Creek/Omeo goldfield that includes gold production centres at Omeo, Cassilis and Brookville. The goldfield has recorded total historical production of 205,000oz (see source below), approximately half of which was primary gold. Primary mineralisation at Cassilis is orogenic reef gold and MGA intends to explore for this style of mineralisation along the Ensay and Cassilis shear zones that cross the application area.

EL007486
Much of the application area is depicted to be covered by the historic Haunted Stream goldfield that has recorded historical production of 25,000oz gold (see source below). The small production from the tenement area is mostly from remnant patches of gold-bearing alluvial terraces, some of which have continued to be mined in recent decades. The source of the alluvial gold may be from the Stirling area, although there is potential for reef sources either at surface or at shallow depths within the tenement area.

The application covers the Mount Elizabeth caldera and accompanying intrusives. This region is prospective for mineralisation above the deeper intrusion and associated with the ring faults (Fig. 2b). Similarly, roof pendants in the Tambo Crossing granodiorite/tonalite indicate it has not been deeply exhumed. In contrast, Victoria’s intrusive systems are typically eroded to deeper levels so the opportunities to explore for deposits near the tops of these systems do not usually exist. There is great variability in the timing and chemistry of the granites in the Mt. Elizabeth area resulting in highly prospective mineralising host rocks.

Figures for historical gold production referred to in this announcement are from the following source: Willman, C. E., Morand, V. J., Hendrickx, M. A., VandenBerg, A. H. M., Haydon. S. J. & Carney, C., 1999. Omeo 1:100,000 map area geological report. Geological Survey of Victoria. Report 118, p253.

Review of Announcement by Qualified Person
This announcement has been reviewed by Dr Rodney Boucher of Linex Pty Ltd. Linex Pty Ltd provides geological services to Mercator Gold Australia Pty Ltd, including the services of Dr Boucher, who has a PhD in geology, is a Member and RPGeo of the Australian Institute of Geoscientists and is a Member of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy. Dr Boucher 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:

ECR Minerals plc		Tel: +44 (0)20 7929 1010
David Tang, Non-Executive Chairman
Craig Brown, Director & CEO
Email: info@ecrminerals.com
Website: www.ecrminerals.com

WH Ireland Ltd		Tel: +44 (0)161 832 2174
Nominated Adviser
Katy Mitchell/James Sinclair-Ford

SI Capital Ltd		Tel: +44 (0)1483 413500
Broker
Nick Emerson

ABOUT ECR MINERALS PLC
ECR is a mineral exploration and development company. ECR’s wholly owned Australian subsidiary Mercator Gold Australia Pty Ltd has 100% ownership of the Bailieston and Creswick gold projects in central Victoria, Australia.

Following the sale of the Avoca, Moormbool and Timor gold projects in Victoria, Australia to Fosterville South Exploration Ltd (TSX-V: FSX), ECR has the right to receive up to A$2 million in payments subject to future resource estimation or production at those projects.

ECR has earned a 25% 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, and holds a royalty on the SLM gold project in La Rioja Province, Argentina.

ECR Minerals (ECR) – Update on Australian Gold Exploration

20th February 2020 / Leave a comment

ECR Minerals plc (LON: ECR), the gold exploration and development company focussed on Australia, is pleased to provide the following update on its activities, which are carried out through its wholly owned Australian subsidiary Mercator Gold Australia Pty Ltd (“MGA”).

HIGHLIGHTS:

Lithogeochemical study by preeminent consulting geochemist commissioned for Creswick gold project in Victoria;
Exploration options for Bailieston project in Victoria being reviewed with the MGA technical team – programme to be announced shortly;
Additional exploration licence granted at the Windidda project in Western Australia;
Business development – the Company continues to review its commercial options for MGA’s Victorian gold projects following expressions of interest from third parties.

Creswick Gold Project, Central Victoria

MGA has commissioned Dr Dennis Arne to carry out a lithogeochemical study of cuttings (chips) generated by reverse circulation (RC) drilling at the Creswick project in 2019. Dr Arne is a preeminent consulting geochemist in Victoria, whose experience includes extensive consultancy at the highly successful Fosterville gold mine in Central Victoria owned by Kirkland Lake Gold.

Dr Arne will be working with fresh (unoxidised) RC chips from Creswick to determine whether the observed quartz veining is associated with the presence of ferroan carbonate. Ferroan carbonate is intimately associated with all Central Victorian gold deposits that have not been contact metamorphosed.

The amount of ferroan carbonate generally increases as mineralised structures are approached. It can therefore be used for vectoring within alteration systems associated with gold mineralisation, particularly when integrated with geochemical data, and can be used to distinguish between mineralised and non-mineralised quartz veins. The results of the study are anticipated to be valuable for the purposes of future exploration at the Creswick project. Further updates will be provided in due course.

Windidda Gold Project, Western Australia

Further to the Company’s announcement dated 27 January 2020, MGA has been granted an additional exploration licence comprising part of the Windidda project in the north-eastern Yilgarn region of Western Australia. MGA has withdrawn three exploration licence applications over areas now considered to be less prospective, and one further application remains in process.

Bailieston Gold Project, Central Victoria

The westernmost part of the Bailieston licence is approximately 30km east of Kirkland Lake Gold’s Fosterville gold mine, and abuts an exploration licence applied for by Newmont Exploration Pty Ltd to the north.

ECR is considering a number of potential exploration programmes for the Bailieston project, including further drilling at the Blue Moon prospect, where 2019 reverse circulation (RC) drilling by MGA returned an intercept of 2 metres at 17.87 g/t gold within a zone of 15 metres at 3.81 g/t gold from 51 metres in BBM007 (see announcement dated 14 March 2019 for full details of this drilling programme and its results), and soil and stream sediment sampling in the Cherry Tree South and Ponting’s areas.

Craig Brown, Chief Executive Officer, commented: “With the gold price having recently exceeded USD 1,600, the equivalent of almost AUD 2,400 in Australian dollar terms, there is currently a very high level of interest in gold exploration and mining in Australia, including in Victoria and Western Australia.

As well as seeking to add value through our own exploration activities, ECR is considering potential transactions which may create value for the Company and its shareholders. Although there can be no guarantee that any transaction will be progressed, the board are encouraged by the number of opportunities that are available. Further updates will be provided as appropriate”

Review of Announcement by Qualified Person

This announcement has been reviewed by Dr Rodney Boucher of Linex Pty Ltd. Linex Pty Ltd provides geological services to Mercator Gold Australia Pty Ltd, including the services of Dr Boucher, who has a PhD in geology, is a Member and RPGeo of the Australian Institute of Geoscientists and is a Member of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy. Dr Boucher 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:

ECR Minerals plc		Tel: +44 (0)20 7929 1010
David Tang, Non-Executive Chairman
Craig Brown, Director & CEO
Email: info@ecrminerals.com
Website: www.ecrminerals.com

WH Ireland Ltd		Tel: +44 (0)161 832 2174
Nominated Adviser
Katy Mitchell/James Sinclair-Ford

SI Capital Ltd		Tel: +44 (0)1483 413500
Broker
Nick Emerson

ABOUT ECR MINERALS PLC

ECR is a mineral exploration and development company. ECR’s wholly owned Australian subsidiary Mercator Gold Australia Pty Ltd has 100% ownership of the Avoca, Bailieston, Creswick, Moormbool and Timor gold exploration projects in central Victoria, Australia and the Windidda 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 Minerals #ECR – Unaudited Half-Yearly Results for the Six Months Ended 31 March 2019

28th June 2019 / Leave a comment

ECR Minerals plc, the precious metals exploration and development company, is pleased to announce unaudited half-yearly financial results for the six months to 31 March 2019 for the Company as consolidated with its subsidiaries (the “Group”), along with a review of significant developments during the period and subsequently.

HIGHLIGHTS:

Victorian Goldfields Gold Project Portfolio

Significant expansion in operational activity in the period culminating in the January 2019 commencement of a gold focus drill programme across two projects at Bailieston (Black Cat prospect and Blue Moon prospect) and Creswick;

Post period end in April 2019 successful reconnaissance drilling confirmed at Black Cat prospect announced, in licence ground adjacent to a large licence application package lodged by Newmont Mining

In May 2019 new gold discovery announced at the Blue Moon prospect, confirmed by reverse circulation (RC) drilling results

In June 2019, extreme nuggetty gold geology confirmed at Creswick leading to the launch of a gold nugget test programme at the project

‘Whole-of-bag’ testing underway on RC drill samples from the Creswick, which the Company believes may host a very substantial gold deposit subject to further drilling and evaluation

Western Australian Portfolio

In January 2019 the Company announced the formation of the Windidda project, including nine licence applications covering 1,600 square kilometres covering a buried Archean Greenstones

Archean greenstones host many of Western Australian and the world’s most prolific gold deposits

Financial Results

Group comprehensive expense of £305,180 for the six months ended 31 March 2019 (£321,433 for the six months ended 31 March 2018)

Net assets of £4,052,109 at 31 March 2019 (£3,413,792 at 31 March 2018)

Financing undertaken in December 2018 to raise £700,000 and providing sufficient cash resources for planned business activities until at least Q2 2020

In May 2019 the Company announced a tax update confirming an Australian research & development cash refund of A$318,972 (approximately £175,188) and an anticipated further claim to be made of approximately A$370,000 (approximately £198,000);

The Company also confirmed in May 2019 that its 100% owned operating subsidiary Mercator Gold Australia Pty Ltd had carried forward corporate income tax losses of A$66,203,862 (approximately £35.5million) in respect of historical losses which are available for carry forward

CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER’S REPORT

The six months to 31 March 2019 and the period since have been marked by a series of exciting developments for ECR, all of them related to the Group’s primary strategic activity, which is exploration for multi-million ounce gold deposits in Australia through ECR’s wholly owned Australian subsidiary Mercator Gold Australia Pty Ltd (“MGA”).

The focus of on-the-ground activities was and continues to be MGA’s projects in the state of Victoria, but also important are the applications lodged in December 2018 for the exploration licences which will comprise the Windidda gold project in Western Australia. Windidda represents a strategic move by ECR into the Yilgarn Craton which, like Victoria, is one of the world’s major gold provinces.

EXPLORATION ACTIVITIES IN THE VICTORIAN GOLDFIELDS

The first half of calendar year 2019 saw significant drilling activity at MGA’s Creswick gold project in Victoria, and at the Black Cat and Blue Moon gold prospects within the Bailieston project area. A great deal of preparation for the drilling, consisting of planning and preliminary exploration including rock chip and soil sampling and geological mapping, took place in the second half of calendar year 2018.

This preparatory work also informed the application by MGA for a number of additional exploration licences to expand its ground position in the Creswick, Bailieston and Moormbool areas. We were also encouraged by the fact that in late 2018, a subsidiary of Newmont Mining applied for an exploration licence abutting MGA’s Bailieston licence to the north.

New Gold Discovery at Blue Moon Prospect

Turning to the drilling itself, the results of reverse circulation (RC) drilling at Blue Moon have confirmed the prospect as a new gold discovery.

Highlights included intersections of 2 metres at 17.87 g/t gold within a zone of 15 metres at 3.81 g/t gold from 51 metres in BBM007, and 3 metres at 3.88 g/t gold within a zone of 11 metres at 2.42 g/t gold from 169 metres in BBM006. Twelve holes were drilled for a total of 1,718 metres.

The drilling results indicate that the host sandstone is thicker and the gold grades significantly higher on the westerly section, and further exploration will therefore seek to follow the system to the west, subject to agreeing access with landowners.

Successful Reconnaissance Drilling at Black Cat Prospect

Rotary air blast (RAB) drilling at the Black Cat prospect, which is located immediately south of the ground applied for by Newmont, constituted a successful reconnaissance programme at a prospect which had never been drilled before.

The programme targeted numerous quartz reefs with 18 shallow holes for 485 metres of drilling in total. Significant intersections included 7 metres at 1.76 g/t gold from 35 metres in BCD11 and 3 metres at 4.26 g/t gold from 16 metres in BCD18.

As well as the encouraging grades, the drilling provided important geological information which may help vector further exploration at Black Cat and in the wider Bailieston gold project area.

Nuggety Gold Confirmed at Creswick and Whole-of-Bag Tests Underway

At Creswick, MGA completed a total of 1,687 metres of reverse circulation (RC) drilling in 17 holes, targeting multiple quartz vein orientations within the Dimocks Main Shale (“DMS”).

Drilling identified more extensive quartz than anticipated, in a zone exceeding 60 metres in width (more than twice the 25 metres expected), with quartz identified in more than one third of the 1,687 metres drilled. Gold mineralisation was identified in the majority of holes, with grades in nine holes ranging from 0.6 g/t gold to 44.63 g/t gold (1.44 oz/t).

MGA’s geologists have hypothesised an extreme nuggety distribution of gold based on observations and results, including capturing a small 0.27 g nugget in gravity tests conducted on a single sample bag. This means that gold is not evenly distributed in bags of RC drilling samples.

The Company previously assayed 2 kg sub-samples from a 30 kg bag, which is industry practice but too small a sample for an extreme nuggety distribution. There was a significant likelihood that coarse gold could be excluded from the sample.

This meant that assays of the 2 kg sub-samples could be understated for gold, and this was demonstrated in one whole-of-bag test where the assay from a 2 kg sub-sample reported gold of 1.88 g/t whereas the 30 kg whole-of-bag sample test showed the bag actually contained a substantially higher 11.8 g/t. Alternatively, a single assayed nugget will overstate the average from a 2 kg sub-sample.

In order to address these issues, a comprehensive process of whole-of-bag testing has commenced to determine the full extent of the gold within the RC drill samples. This is a sizeable exercise. Of the 1,687 metres drilled, 640 bags of close to 30 kg each contain quartz and these bags plus the surrounding bags will be tested in a process which is fully discussed in the Company’s announcement dated 11 June 2019.

Internal modelling suggests the DMS has significant prospective tonnage to potentially host an important gold deposit at Creswick, and therefore a better indication as to the true grade of the mineralisation which will be provided by the results of the whole-of-bag testing will be of great significance for the Company.

WINDIDDA GOLD PROJECT, WESTERN AUSTRALIA

The Windidda project comprises nine exploration licence applications for a 1,600 square kilometre land package which has been identified as a buried Archean greenstone trend with the potential to host orogenic gold deposits.

The granting of the licences is awaited, and consultants instructed by MGA have already begun geophysical data processing and modelling to determine structural trends within, and the depth to, the interpreted buried Archean greenstones.

The opportunity to apply for the Windidda project was introduced to ECR by Sam Garrett, who joined the Company as a non-executive director in February 2019. Sam is an Australian geologist with 30 years of exploration management, project assessment and operational experience working for large multi-national and junior mining and exploration companies in ten countries including Australia, Argentina and the Philippines.

ARGENTINA AND PHILIPPINES PROJECTS

ECR continues to have 100% ownership of the SLM gold project in La Rioja, Argentina, and is entitled to a 25% interest in the Danglay gold project in the northern Philippines. The status of both projects remains as disclosed in the Company’s latest annual report and accounts published in March 2019.

FINANCIAL RESULTS

For the six months ended 31 March 2019 the unaudited financial statements of the Company as consolidated with its subsidiaries (the “Group”) record a total comprehensive expense of £305,180, the largest component of which is other administrative expenses of £432,387, which relate primarily to the development of the Group’s projects, but which cannot be capitalised under applicable accounting standards. The Group reported a total comprehensive expense of £321,433 for the six months ended 31 March 2018.

The Group’s net assets were £4,052,109 at 31 March 2019 compared with £3,413,792 at 31 March 2018, including £622,457 of cash and cash equivalents at 31 March 2019. The Group’s cash position benefited from a £700,000 equity financing completed by the Company in December 2018.

Post the period end, MGA, ECR’s 100% owned Australian subsidiary, received a research and development refund of A$318,971.73 (approximately £175,188) from the Australian government. This refund relates to qualifying expenditure incurred by MGA in the year ended 30 June 2018, and in due course MGA intends to submit a further claim for the year ended 30 June 2019.

Craig Brown
Chief Executive Officer

ABOUT ECR

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.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:

ECR Minerals plc	Tel: +44 (0)20 7929 1010
David Tang, Non-Executive Chairman
Craig Brown, Director & CEO

Email: info@ecrminerals.com
Website: www.ecrminerals.com

WH Ireland Ltd	Tel: +44 (0)161 832 2174
Nominated Adviser
Katy Mitchell/James Sinclair-Ford

SI Capital	Tel: +44 (0)1483 413500
Broker
Nick Emerson

FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS

This announcement may include forward looking statements. Such statements may be subject to a number of known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results or events to differ materially from current expectations. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate and therefore actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward looking statements. Any forward looking statements contained herein speak only as of the date hereof (unless stated otherwise) and, except as may be required by applicable laws or regulations (including the AIM Rules for Companies), the Company disclaims any obligation to update or modify such forward looking statements as a result of new information, future events or for any other reason.

Consolidated Income Statement
For the six months ended 31 March 2019
	Six months ended 31 March 2019	Six months ended 31 March 2018	Year ended 30 September 2018

*Continuing operations*	£	£	£

Other income	175,188	–	–

Other administrative expenses	(432,387)	(240,719)	(544,521)
Currency exchange differences	(5,758)	(2,507)	(6,912)
Total administrative expenses	(438,145)	(243,226)	(551,433)
Operating loss	(262,957)	(243,226)	(551,433)
Fair value movements – available for sale financial asset	4,260	(5,429)	(971)
Aborted transaction option fee	(25,000)	–	–
	(283,697)	(248,655)	(552,404)
Finance income	1,135	710	1,386
Finance costs			1,000
Finance income and costs	1,135	710	2,386
Loss for the period before taxation	(282,562)	(247,945)	(550,018)
Income tax	–	–	–
Loss for the period	(282,562)	(247,945)	(500,018)

Loss attributable to:
Owners of the parent	(282,562)	(247,945)	(500,018)


Loss per share – basic and diluted	(0.07)p	(0.10)p	(0.21)p

Consolidated Statement of Comprehensive Income
For the six months ended 31 March 2019

	Six months ended 31 March 2019	Six months ended 31 March 2018	Year ended 30 September 2018

	£	£	£
Loss for the period	(282,562)	(247,945)	(500,018)

Items that may be reclassified subsequently to profit or loss

Gain/(losses) on exchange translation	(22,618)	(73,488)	(171,442)
Other comprehensive income/(expense) for the period	(22,618)	(73,488)	(171,442)

Total comprehensive expense for the period	(305,180)	(321,433)	(721,460)

Attributable to:
Owners of the parent	(305,180)	(321,433)	(721,460)

Consolidated Statement of Financial Position
At 31 March 2019
	As at 31 March 2019	As at 31 March 2018	As at 30 September 2018
Assets	£	£	£
Non–current assets
Property, plant and equipment	2,001	5,751	3,033
Exploration assets	3,305,640	2,675,346	2,859,474
Total non-current assets	3,307,641	2,681,097	2,862,507

Current assets
Trade and other receivables	245,494	46,138	79,413
Available for sale financial assets	25,558	16,841	21,299
Taxation		20,283	–
Cash and cash equivalents	622,457	701,499	781,142
	893,510	784,761	881,854
Total assets	4,201,150	3,465,858	3,744,361

Current liabilities
Trade and other payables	149,041	52,067	92,816
Total liabilities	149,041	52,067	92,816
Net assets	4,052,109	3,413,792	3,651,545


Equity attributable to owners of the parent
Share capital	11,284,794	11,282,812	11,283,756
Share premium	45,164,876	43,823,335	44,460,171
Exchange reserve	(412,119)	(291,547)	(389,501)
Other reserves	1,381,998	1,381,998	1,381,998
Retained losses	(53,367,441)	(52,782,806)	(53,084,879)
Total equity	4,052,109	3,413,792	3,651,545

Consolidated statement of changes in equity

For the six months ended 31March 2019

	Share capital	Share premium	Exchange reserves	Other reserves	Retained reserves	Total Equity
	£	£	£	£	£	£
At 1 October 2017	11,282,812	43,823,335	(218,059)	1,381,998	(52,534,860)	3,735,226
Loss for the period	–	–	–	–	(247,945)	(247,945)
Loss on exchange translation	–	–	(73,488)	–	–	(73,488)
Attributable share of changes in equity of associated company	–	–	–	–
Total comprehensive income /(expense)	–	–	(73,488)	–	(247,945)	(321,433)
Share based payments	–	–	–	–	–	–
Shares issued in payment of creditors	–	–	–	–	–	–
At 31 March 2018	11,282,812	43,823,335	(291,547)	1,381,998	(52,782,805)	3,413,793
Loss for the period	–	–	–	–	(302,073)	(302,073)
Loss on exchange translation	–	–	(97,954)	–	–	(97,954)
Total comprehensive income /(expense)	–	–	(97,954)	–	(302,073)	(400,027)
Shares issued	929	649,071	–	–	–	650,000
Shares issue costs	–	(27,220)	–	–	–	(27,220)
Shares issued in payment of creditors	15	14,985	–	–	–	15,000
At 30 September 2018	11,283,756	44,460,171	(389,501)	1,381,998	(53,084,878)	3,651,545
Loss for the period	–	–	–	–	(282,562)	(282,562)
Loss on exchange translation	–	–	(22,618)	–	–	(22,618)
Total comprehensive income /(expense)	–	–	(22,618)	–	(282,562)	(305,180)
Shares issued	1,039	742,745	–	–	–	743,784
Share issue costs	–	(38,040)	–	–	–	(38,040)
Total transactions with owners, recognised directly in equity	1,039	704,705	(22,618)	–	(282,562)	400,564
At 31 March 2019	11,284,795	45,164,876	(412,119)	1,381,998	(53,367,440)	4,052,109

Consolidated Cash Flow Statement
For the six months ended 31 March 2019

	Six months ended 31 March 2019	Six months ended 31 March 2018	Year ended 30 September 2018
	£	£	£

Net cash flow used in operations	(571,969)	(301,408)	(563,850)
Investing activities
Increase in exploration assets	(446,165)	(6,600)	(302,794)
Interest received	1,135	–	1,386
Other income	175,188	–	–
Net cash used in investing activities	(269,842)	(6,600)	(301,408)
Financing activities
Proceeds from issue of shares	705,744	–	622,780

Net cash from financing activities	705,744	–	622,780

Net change in cash and cash equivalents	(136,067)	(308,008)	(242,478)
Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of the period	781,142	1,082,994	1,082,994
Effect of change in exchange rates	(22,618)	(73,487)	(59,374)
Cash and cash equivalents at end of the period	622,457	701,499	781,142

Notes to the Condensed Half-Yearly Financial Statements

For the six months ended 31 March 2019

1. Basis of preparation

The condensed consolidated half-yearly financial statements incorporate the financial statements of the Company and its subsidiaries (the “Group”) made up to 31 March 2019. The results of the subsidiaries are consolidated from the date of acquisition, being the date on which the Company obtains control, and continues to be consolidated until the date such control ceases.

These condensed half-yearly consolidated financial statements do not include all of the information required for full annual financial statements, and should be read in conjunction with the consolidated financial statements of the Group for the year ended 30 September 2018. They have been prepared in accordance with the accounting policies adopted in the last annual financial statements for the year to 30 September 2018. The report of the auditors on those accounts was unqualified and did not contain a statement under section 498(2) or (3) of the Companies Act 2006, but did include a reference to matters which the auditors drew attention to by way of emphasis without qualifying their report.

The accounting policies have been applied consistently throughout the Group for the purpose of preparation of these consolidated half-yearly financial statements. New standards, amendments and interpretations effective for accounting periods commencing after 1 January 2018 have been adopted but do not have a material impact on the condensed consolidated financial statements. The Group has not early adopted any other standard, interpretation or amendment that has been issued but is not yet effective.

The financial information in this statement does not constitute full statutory accounts within the meaning of Section 434 of the Companies Act 2006. The financial information for the six months ended 31 March 2019 and 31 March 2018 is unaudited. The comparative figures for the period ended 30 September 2018 were derived from the Group’s audited financial statements for that period as filed with the Registrar of Companies. They do not constitute the financial statements for that period.

2. Going concern

The Directors are satisfied that the Group has sufficient resources to continue its operations and to meet its commitments for the immediate future. The Group therefore continues to adopt the going concern basis in preparing its condensed half-yearly financial statements.

3. Cash and cash equivalents

Cash includes petty cash and cash held in bank current accounts. Cash equivalents include short-term investments that are readily convertible to known amounts of cash and which are subject to insignificant risk of changes in value.

4. Earnings per share

	Six months ended 31 March 2019	Six months ended 31 March 2018	Year ended 30 September 2018
Weighted number of shares in issue during the period	400,451,205	247,605,240	263,542,617

	£	£	£
Loss from continuing operations attributable to owners of the parent	(282,562)	(247,946)	(550,018)

The disclosure of the diluted loss per share is the same as the basic loss per share as the conversion of share options decreases the basic loss per share thus being anti-dilutive.

Notes to the Condensed Half-Yearly Financial Statements

For the six months ended 31 March 2019

5. Income tax

No charge to tax arises on the results and no deferred tax provision arises or deferred tax asset is identified.

6. Shares and options transactions during the period

The share capital of the Company consists of three classes of shares: ordinary shares of 0.001p each which have equal rights to receive dividends or capital repayments and each of which represents one vote at shareholder meetings; and two classes of deferred shares, one of 9.9p each and the other of 0.099p each, which have limited rights as laid out in the Company’s articles: in particular deferred shares carry no right to dividends or to attend or vote at shareholder meetings and deferred share capital is only repayable after the nominal value of the ordinary share capital has been repaid.

a) Changes in issued share capital and share premium:

	Number of	Ordinary	Deferred	Deferred ‘B’	Deferred	Total	Share
	Shares	shares	9.9p shares	0.099p shares	0.199p shares	shares	premium	Total
		£	£	£	£	£	£	£
At 1 October 2018	341,962,383	3,420	7,194,816	3,828,359	257,161	11,283,756	44,460,171	55,743,927
Issue of shares less costs	100,000,000	1,000	–	–	–	1,000	665,960	666,960
Shares issued in payment of creditors	3,878,400	39	–	–	–	39	38,745	38,784
Balance at 31 March 2019	445,840,783	4,458	7,194,816	3,828,359	257,161	11,284,794	45,164,876	56,449,670

All the shares issued are fully paid up and none of the Company’s shares are held by any of its subsidiaries.

7. Consolidated Cash Flow Statement

	Six months ended 31 March 2019	Six months ended 31 March 2018	Year ended 30 September 2018
	£	£	£
Operating activities
Loss for the period, before tax	(282,561)	(247,946)	(550,019)
Adjustments: Depreciation expense, property, plant and equipment	1,032	2,943	5,661
(Gain)/Loss on available for sale financial assets	–	–	970
Interest income	(1,135)	–	(1,386)
Other income	(175,188)
(Gain)/Loss on revaluation of investments	(4,259)	5,428	–
Shares issued in lieu of expense payments	–	–	15,000
(Increase) /decrease in accounts receivable	(166,081)	(1,097)	(24,525)
Increase/(Decrease) in accounts payable	56,225	(50,300)	(9,551)
(Increase)/decrease in taxation	–	(10,436)	–

Net cash flow used in operations	(571,969)	(301,408)	(563,850)

Notes to the Condensed Half-Yearly Financial Statements

For the six months ended 31 March 2019

8. Post period end events

On 15 April 2019 the Company announced that the Company has commenced processing and interpretation of airborne and ground geophysics in respect of the Company’s 100% owned Windidda gold project (the “Project”) in Western Australia.

On 26 April 2019 the Company announced the findings of the reconnaissance rotary air blast (RAB) drilling programme recently completed at the Black Cat gold prospect, which is located within the Bailieston gold project area (EL5433) in the state of Victoria, Australia. Significant intersections at 7 metres at 1.76 g/t gold from 35 metres in BCD11, 3 metres at 4.26 g/t gold from 16 metres in BCD18, and 1 metre at 6.3 g/t gold from 18 metres in BCD03.

On 1 May 2019 the Company announced further results from the reverse circulation (RC) drilling programme completed in February and March 2019 at the Blue Moon gold prospect in the state of Victoria, Australia. Across the full RC drilling programme, significant intersections included: 2 metres at 17.87 g/t gold within a zone of 15 metres at 3.81 g/t gold from 51 metres in BBM007; 3 metres at 3.88 g/t gold within a zone of 11 metres at 2.42 g/t gold from 169 metres in BBM006; 1 metre at 2.15 g/t gold at the top of a zone of 16 metres at 0.28 g/t gold from 85 metres in BBM004; 2 metres at 1.40 g/t gold within a zone of 14 metres at 0.54 g/t gold in BBM005 from 132 metres; 1 metre at 1.94 g/t gold from 138 metres and 5 metres at 0.46 g/t gold from 152 metres in BBM010; and 5 metres at 1.09 g/t gold from 97 metres in BBM013.

On 8 May 2019 the Company announced an update in respect of the Company’s exploration programme at the Creswick gold project (the “Project”) in Victoria, Australia. Of the 17 holes drilled the Company identified gold mineralisation in all holes, with grades in 9 holes ranging from 0.6 g/t gold to 44.63 g/t gold (1.44 oz per tonne).

On 14 May 2019 the Company announced that Mercator Gold Australia Pty Limited (“MGA”) ECR’s 100% owned Australian subsidiary has received a cash Research and Development refund of A$318,971.73 which relates to qualifying expenditure incurred by MGA in the year ended 30 June 2018. The refund was received under the R&D Tax Incentive from the Department of Industry, Innovation and Science of the Australian Government.

On 17 May 2019 the Company announced the launch of the new corporate website which can be viewed at: www.ecrminerals.com.

On 11 June 2019 the Company announced an update in respect of the Company’s gold nugget test programme at the Company’s Creswick Project in Victoria, Australia.

On 24 June 2019 the Company announced the appointment of Keith Whitehouse, of Australian Exploration Field Services Pty Limited, as a consultant resource geologist to the Company.

On 26 June 2019 the Company announced the commencement of gold exploration activities at the Timor Gold Project (the “Project”) in Victoria, Australia.

ECR Minerals #ECR – Progress Update – Gold Nugget Test Programme Creswick Gold Project – Australia

11th June 2019 / Leave a comment

ECR Minerals plc (LON:ECR), the precious metals exploration and development company, is pleased to provide an update in respect of the Company’s follow on gold nugget test programme at the Company’s Creswick Project in Victoria, Australia. The test programme has been designed by ECR, in conjunction with its advisers.

Readers are also advised to review the Company’s previous announcement dated 8 May 2019 which outlined the presence of a nuggetty gold system at Creswick, and this may be viewed through the following link:

https://polaris.brighterir.com/public/ecr_minerals_plc/news/rns/story/wk5e8vw

Highlights:

ECR’s technical team, in conjunction with advice from tendering laboratories, have devised a structured approach to systematically test zones in and around the 640 sample bags (each close to 30 kg) containing quartz collected from the recent reverse circulation drilling campaign at the Creswick Gold Project;
An initial trial selection process will utilise a metal detector to prioritise bags with a metallic signal. This is anticipated to expedite the sample selection from the large number of bags to send for full testing;
Metal detecting is now underway and a number of bags have tested positive for metal content and have been removed from site for “whole-of-bag” testing. A testing process is being finalised with a preferred laboratory;
Full laboratory analysis will require multiple steps including sieving, detecting, gold particle analysis, gravity concentration and assaying to determine the size distribution and grade of the coarse and fine gold within the sample;
ECR will communicate the results of the testing process within an initial update expected in the near term and further interim updates as the whole of bag testing process continues.

Craig Brown, Chief Executive Officer commented: “I am extremely pleased with the professionalism of the Company’s technical team in devising the structured approach to bag testing that has been developed. Creswick is a unique project and the assessment of in-situ gold mineralisation requires bespoke project management and technical application.

I am delighted that our first metal detecting of bags has already highlighted metal content, which we expect is reflective of nugget gold mineralisation as samples from depth are unlikely to contain other detectable metals.

Our internal modelling suggests the Dimocks Main Shale is large enough to potentially host a multi-million ounce gold deposit at Creswick and therefore ECR are allocating resources to this project in a prioritised manner whilst continuing to develop our other Australian gold projects in parallel.”

Background:

Within its previous exploration work and as announced by the Company on 8 May 2019 ECR hypothesised an extreme nuggetty distribution of gold based on observations and results, including capturing a small 0.27 g nugget in gravity tests conducted on a single sample bag. This means that gold is not evenly distributed in bags of drilling samples.

The Company previously assayed 2 kg samples from a 30 kg bag which is industry practice but too small a sample for extreme nuggetty distribution. There was a significant likelihood that coarse gold could be excluded from the sample.

This meant that assays samples could be understated for gold and this was demonstrated in one bag test where the assay from a 2 kg sample reported gold of 1.88g/t whereas the 30kg whole of bag sample test showed the bag actually contained a substantially higher 11.8g/t. Alternatively, a single assayed nugget will overstate the average from a 2 kg sample.

Based on the size of the previously recovered 0.27 g nugget, an ideal sample size could be approximately 5,000 kg. A 30 kg bag is 0.6% of this size and not large enough to be considered a representative sample, but a fifteen-fold improvement on 2 kg samples. There remains a high chance the full bag tests will not capture the nuggets. However, the greater number of full bag tests will increase the likelihood of including nuggets.

“Whole-of-bag” testing methodology

Following discussions with its technical team ECR concluded it should move into a process of “whole-of-bag” testing to determine the full extent of the gold within the reverse circulation samples. This is a sizeable exercise. Of the 1687 m drilled, 640 bags of close to 30 kg each contain quartz and these bags plus the surrounding bags will be tested.

In order to achieve the above objectives the Company’s technical team, in association with external consultants including laboratories capable of undertaking the whole of bag sample work, have considered numerous approaches to the testing process. This involved visits by ECR to the laboratories and consideration of various testing pathways and associated record keeping and process validation.

Analysis will test the primary hypothesis that gold is coarse but a program is being designed to additionally check for fine gold within the bags to assess the size distribution of the particles.

After due consideration of all factors and a range of practical tests, the Company is finalising a testing procedure at a suitable laboratory which is likely to follow the steps below:

1. Initial metal detector scanning of bags to prioritise bags to send to the lab for full testing. The Company considers that nuggets large enough to significantly impact the nugget effect will be able to be located with a metal detector. This will save the company the cost of testing all bags. A series of bags with no signal will be collected for analysis of the finer gold fraction, especially if the main set of bags show a significant fine gold component;

2. Secure transfer of bags testing positive for metal content to the laboratory for whole of bag testing;

3. Under laboratory conditions sensitive metal detector scanning of the coarse sieved (>0.85 mm) fraction of the bags is undertaken and the source of the signal removed, examined, logged, photographed and weighed. The entire coarse sample will then be assayed to calculate the total coarse gold from the bag;

4. The fine sieved fraction (<0.85 mm) will be gravity concentrated and this concentrate plus all of tails assayed for gravity recoverable and total gold. Following this step, all of the contents of the original bag would have been assayed;

5. The total gold content for each size fraction of each whole tested bag is calculated.

Initial findings from first batch of bags tested

After establishing the above testing protocol, the Company’s technical team have commenced initial metal detection of the bags as outlined by step one above

During the first phase of metal detection work a number of bags have generated a positive signal from the metal detector. These bags have been secured for transport to the laboratory for whole of bag testing under laboratory conditions.

Further metal detection tests are continuing and additional bags testing positive for metal will be securely transferred to the laboratory for whole of bag examination.

Whilst it is not certain that the tested bags contain gold, or as to what grade of mineralisation exists, and whether this is elevated grade against previous bag assay samples, the Company’s technical team consider the number of bags responding to date is very positive and the Company looks forward to receiving the “whole-of-bag” gold data from the early bags selected for laboratory analysis.

COMPETENT PERSON STATEMENT

The information in this announcement that relates to Exploration Results is based on information compiled by Dr Rodney Boucher of Linex Pty Ltd. Linex Pty Ltd provides geological services to Mercator Gold Australia Pty Ltd, including the services of Dr Boucher, who has a PhD in geology, is a Member and RPGeo of the Australian Institute of Geoscientists and is a Member of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy. Dr Boucher has sufficient experience that is relevant to the style of mineralisation and type of deposit under consideration and to the activity being undertaken to qualify as a Competent Person as defined in the 2012 Edition of the ‘Australasian Code for Reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves’. Dr Boucher consents to the inclusion in the announcement of the material based on his information in the form and context in which it appears.

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:

ECR Minerals plc		Tel: +44 (0)20 7929 1010
David Tang, Non-Executive Chairman
Craig Brown, Director & CEO
Email: info@ecrminerals.com
Website: www.ecrminerals.com

WH Ireland Ltd		Tel: +44 (0)161 832 2174
Nominated Adviser
Katy Mitchell/James Sinclair-Ford

SI Capital Ltd		Tel: +44 (0)1483 413500
Broker
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.

No let up in progress for ECR Minerals, as Q2 2019 delivers relentless growth

5th June 2019 / Leave a comment

No let up in progress for ECR Minerals, as Q2 2019 delivers relentless growth

By Harry Dacres-Dixon

Drilling to success in Victoria.
Gravity concentration tests the way forward?
Australian gold mining – Production Cliff?
Australian gold – the future.

It’s been a busy two months for precious metals exploration and development company ECR Minerals (AIM:ECR).

The London AIM listed junior mining and exploration company is primarily focused on key projects in the Central Victorian Goldfields and the Yilgarn Craton in Western Australia. Both areas have a rich history of gold production, with Yilgarn in particular host to some 30% of the world’s known gold reserves.

The past month has seen a string of drilling announcements on the back of developments across a number of the group’s highly prospective Central Victoria projects.

Victoria drilling shows promise

At the end of April 2019, ECR reported significant findings from their reconnaissance low-cost rotary air blast (RAB) drilling programme at their Bailieston Black Cat gold prospect.

Located immediately to the south of the territory where Aussie mining giant Newmont Mining has also applied for a license, ECR completed 485 meters of drilling across 18 shallow holes at Black Cat.

Although the site had no previous history of drilling, the results showed promising intersections and grades. These included 7 metres at 1.76 g/t gold from 35 metres in BCD11, 3 metres at 4.26 g/t gold from 16 metres in BCD18, and 1 metre at 6.3 g/t gold from 18 metres in BCD03.

As well as samples, the results also provided important additional geological information. ECR CEO Craig Brown said he was “delighted with the positive outcomes from the programme”…adding that the drilling results “may help vector further exploration in the project area”

The pace of developments continued into May. On the 1st of the month, ECR provided shareholders with an update from its Bailieston gold project. A complete set of results was provided for the Blue Moon (EL5433) prospect following reverse circulation drilling at the site in February.

The news followed their previously released high-grade assay results from the same site, where ECR notably achieved an intersection of 17.87 g/t gold over two meters.

Data from the latest report significantly expanded the potential at the Blue Moon prospect. These included:

2 metres at 1.40 g/t gold within a zone of 14 metres at 0.54 g/t gold in BBM005 from 132 metres;
1 metre at 1.94 g/t gold from 138 metres and 5 metres at 0.46 g/t gold from 152 metres in BBM010.

Of the Blue Moon results, Brown made the following statement: “With the knowledge gained from the RC programme we believe that the gold mineralisation intensifies further west and now have a clear action plan to follow the system. We are excited by the findings and will continue our work at Blue Moon and other prospects in the Bailieston project area, with our strategic objective remaining a multi-million ounce gold discovery.”

Just seven days later, ECR announced to the markets that it’s multiple-prospect drilling programme had identified quartz in over one-third of the 1,687 metres drilled across 17 holes at their Creswick project.

This announcement had a marked effect on the stock, propelling ECR’s share price up from year lows of 0.65p on May 7th to a year high of 0.97p by the end of the following day.

Gravity Concentration tests show initial Creswick results understated gold content.

Across the nine assessed holes at Creswick, the mineralisation revealed ranged from 0.6 g/t gold to 44.63 g/t gold (1.44 oz per tonne). These results however were effectively knocked out of the park by a follow-up sample gravity concentration bag test, which showed that the initial assay test had understated the gold content by 84.2%. ECR said that the ‘nuggetty nature’ of the gold mineralisation increases the chance of it being missed in the drilled metre and when samples from the drill holes are sent for assay. As a result, all drilling samples are now undergoing the gravity concentration bag test.

Craig Brown was delighted with the news:“The work we are undertaking at Creswick is highly exciting given the transformational potential this large footprint gold system offers.

He added…”directors believe that the outcome has the potential to be Company transformational and is therefore deserving of our close attention.”

“ECR are now eagerly awaiting the findings from the whole of bag gravity concentration work and will report back to the market as significant developments occur.”

R&D Refund helps to keep prices growing

To round off a highly successful run of results, May 14th saw a further shot in the arm for the investment case as ECR received a Research and Development refund of A$318,971 (approx £171,000) for it’s wholly owned Australian subsidiary Mercator Gold. Added to this, ECR are expecting an additional refund around August 2019 for an anticipated A$370,000.

To round off May, the company launched a new website to fully articulate projects, data and results to the global investing community. With the company now firmly in the investor spotlight, ECR stock broke out of a long standing trading range to close at a 3 year high of 1.3p on 3rd June 2019.

Australia Gold Market Production Cliff?

For the global mining investment community, Australia is ranked second in the world thanks to its pro-mining attitude and world-class infrastructure.

Producing 107.3m ounces, it’s annual output for last year came second only to China, and was valued at a staggering $19.2 billion at Australia’s current gold price of $1,820 an ounce.

However, despite expectations of a new record high of 109.6 million ounces this year, concerns have been raised over a possible ‘production cliff’ in the coming years.

Canadian research analyst Chris Galbraith, of S&P Global Market Intelligence, has predicted that Australia’s gold production will be in decline by 2022 as mines grow older.

These claims have been dismissed by Richard Hayes, CEO of Perth Mint, the company responsible for refining the majority of Australian gold.

“Every year I go to conferences where I see people putting up graphs which show a production cliff, where all of a sudden in the next year or two or three, there’s a massive drop off,”

“In the quarter of a century since I’ve been here I certainly haven’t seen any evidence of any of those predictions ever coming true” Mr Hayes said.

“I would be very, very surprised if there’s this production cliff we’re all going to fall off in five years’ time.”

Australian Gold – the future?

Whilst we can’t be sure what the long-term future holds for Australia’s gold mining industry, one thing that looks increasingly likely. Small, ambitious gold exploration companies such as ECR Minerals will play a big part.

New exploration and analysis techniques mean that hitherto unexplored or previously abandoned territories can be explored and revisited. ECR’s recent drilling activities and data analysis has confirmed once and for all to the global investing community that this small cap miner not only has a portfolio capable of delivering big results, but that it is very keen to get the ball rolling too.

With strong management, a clear focus and highly prospective sites in two world-class regions of Australia, if ECR can keep delivering good news and solid results – who knows, maybe… just maybe it’ll be their multi-million-ounce gold discovery that will propel Australia’s gold mining industry to new highs. And for the legions of gold investors around the globe, watching the impact of such a development on their portfolio will be the next best thing to being there on the ground with a pickaxe and panning kit!

References:

ABC News (2019):Australia’s $19b gold industry on edge of ‘production cliff’ as mines run out of gold, analyst warns

Ferret (2019):Australia welcomes top March quarter of gold production in over two decades predicts a positive future for Australian Gold Market amid concerns productions could decline from 2022.

Gold prices dropped slightly this week as the dollar reclaims it’s haven appeal, hitting two year high.

A new record high of 109.6 million ouncesis expected to be reached this year
Australian dollar gold price trading near historic highs of about $1,820 an ounce
Australia’s biggest new gold mine prepares to pour its first gold bar in June – The $621 million Gruyere project in WA’s Great Victoria Desert

Canadian research analyst Chris Galbraith, of S&P Global Market Intelligence,

Australia second largest producer after China, with 10.7m ounces worth $19.2 billion
Production set to fall by 40% to 6.3 million ounces over next five years
He predicts global gold production will be in decline from 2022

Perth Mint CEO Richard Hayes

“”Australia is the second largest producer of gold and has the world’s largest known gold reserves, so I would be very, very surprised if there’s this production cliff we’re all going to fall off in five years’ time.”

ECR Minerals #ECR – Significant Update – Creswick Gold Project Australia

8th May 2019 / Leave a comment

ECR Minerals plc (LSE:ECR), the precious metals exploration and development company, is pleased to provide an update in respect of the Company’s exploration programme at the Creswick gold project (the “Project”) in Victoria, Australia.

Highlights:

The Company has completed 1,687 metres of reverse circulation drilling in 17 holes at the Creswick gold project targeting multiple quartz vein orientations within the Dimocks Main Shale (“DMS”);
Drilling identified more extensive quartz than anticipated, in a zone exceeding 60m in width (more than twice the 25m width expected) with quartz identified in over one third of the 1,687 metres drilled;
The majority of drill results have now been received and are being reviewed by the Company’s technical team. Of the 17 holes drilled the Company has identified gold mineralisation in all holes so far with grades in 9 holes ranging from 0.6 g/t gold to 44.63 g/t gold (1.44 oz per tonne);
Technical review of the drill programme and assay results has confirmed elements of the complex geology at Creswick and confirmed that the gold mineralisation is ‘nuggetty’ in nature;
Nuggetty gold distribution can lead to understated assays, as the larger the nuggets the less the chance they will be captured in the drilled metre. Compounding the problem is only a small portion of each reverse circulation sample bag is actually tested. Conversely results can be overstated if the nugget happens to be captured in the small sample;
ECR has therefore commenced a process of gravity concentration tests from whole of bag samples from the reverse circulation drilling and will release results as the more representative whole of sample bag analyses are conducted;
From a trial sample bag tested from hole CSR011 a nugget has been found in the previously untested portion of the sample and overall the sample has demonstrated gold of 11.8 g/t from whole-of-bag gravity concentration, some 528% greater than the 1.88 g/t assay result;
Until further extensive whole-of-bag tests have been completed the results of the assays from the drilling program may be unreliable as indicators of true grade at this stage;
The work undertaken indicates that we believe there is potential for a very substantial gold deposit within the DMS as highlighted previously by the Company’s technical team and ECR is now accelerating the highly important gravity concentration tests as outlined;
A fuller explanation of the nugget effect and its implications is provided below and further updates will be announced to market as soon as practicable.

Craig Brown, Chief Executive Officer commented: “The work we are undertaking at Creswick is highly exciting given the transformational potential this large footprint gold system offers.

The question we have to answer is how much gold does the DMS hold that would be amenable to a bulk tonnage gold mining operation. We are closing in on the answer and the directors believe that the outcome has the potential to be Company transformational and is therefore deserving of our close attention.

We eagerly await the findings from the whole of bag gravity concentration work and will report back to the market as significant developments occur.”

Background:

Within the Company’s announcement dated 25 September 2018 it was confirmed that exploration mapping undertaken by the Company at the Project had identified a large gold system in the Dimocks Main Shale (“DMS”) gold targets. The announcement can be viewed through the following link:

https://polaris.brighterir.com/public/ecr_minerals/news/rns/story/xomoomr

The DMS sits between two large gold producing areas in Victoria, Australia where it is estimated that, historically, 15 million ounces of gold has been produced. It was the proposition of the Company’s technical team that they had identified the hard rock source for a significant portion of the aforementioned 15 million ounces of gold,. although further work was required to validate this proposition.

A visual representation of the DMS and the Company’s mapping, which demonstrates the potential link from the alluvial source with the DMS, is provided through following links to the ECR Minerals website:

https://www.ecrminerals.com/images/Creswick_Map1.jpg

https://www.ecrminerals.com/images/Creswick_Map2.jpg

Reverse Circulation Programme:

On 28 January 2019 the Company announced the commencement of a reverse circulation drilling programme targeting multiple quartz vein orientations identified within the DMS.

The majority of drill results have now been received and are being reviewed by the Company’s technical team. Of the 17 holes drilled the Company has identified gold mineralisation in 9 holes so far with grades ranging from 0.6 g/t to 44.63 g/t (1.44 ounces per tonne).

Further information in respect of the drill programme and the complete assay results will be provided in due course when all results have been received and analysed by the Company’s technical team; and alongside other important exploration and investigative work as outlined below.

Gold Nugget Effect – Creswick Project

The gold mineralisation at the Project is reef gold, with alluvial free gold which has eroded from the reef into the surrounding gullies. This means that in our earlier work we identified that a proportion of the in-situ gold has a nuggetty distribution across the DMS.

The drill testing programme was designed to examine this proposition, and the indications thus far demonstrate that the proposition of an extreme nuggetty distribution rather than major, minor or none. This is not unusual in these gold systems and Bendigo and Wattle Gully (Castlemaine) have an extreme nugget effect, whereas other deposits in Victoria and elsewhere are less (Dominy et al. 2004).

The State of Victoria in Australia is renowned for large gold nuggets and in the list of nuggets published by the Geological Survey of Victoria (Dunn, 1912) it is reported there was a 112 oz nugget found in a mine understood to be adjacent to one of the Company’s drill locations at the Project (hole CSR014). In addition, it is reported several nuggets over 100 oz were found in the vicinity of the Company’s drill targets and nuggets up to 625 oz further south in alluvial gullies downstream from the DMS.

The reverse circulation drilling programme has identified gold mineralisation, and the higher grade identified by the whole-of-bag test, indicates the potential for significant grades. With nuggetty gold however, the traditional assay testing can materially understate or overstate the gold in the samples.

The reason for this potential understatement is that nuggetty gold may be missed when samples from the reverse circulation drill holes are sent for assay. This arises from having the gold concentrated in a few large particles reducing the chances of a gold particle being captured in a small sample.

In respect of the Creswick programme typically 1 metre of reverse circulation drilling collected a 30kg sample. From each 30kg sample bag typically 2kg was sent to the assay laboratory, pulverised and subjected to the Leachwell method of analysis.

This means that from each 1 metre sample bag 93% of the contents were not initially tested and any nuggets within that untested portion of the sample would not be represented in the assay data.

The Company could have tested whole-of-bag samples from the beginning of the process, but that would have been a costly exercise prior to drilling completion, analysis of samples and initial assay testing.

With the benefit of the initial field work and sample analysis, together with guidance from the incoming assay results, the Company’s technical team has concluded that testing of the whole contents of each sample bag is required to fully assess the gold content.

After consideration of various methods the Company determined that the entire 30 kg sample in each bag should be subject to a gravity concentration test.

A trial bag has been tested and a 6.4mm 0.27g nugget was found in material from a 22.9kg sample bag. This which equates to 11.8 g/t from hole CSR011. The actual assay result for the 2kg sample from CSR011 was only 1.88 g/t. This reliably demonstrates that for the first bag fully tested by gravity concentration the initial assay test had understated the gold content by 84.2%.

As a result, the Company is now processing further whole-of-bag samples through the gravity concentration testing process.

Whilst there can be no certainty that additional bags tested will contain higher quantities of gold, it is unlikely that the testing will not find a degree of repetition of this type of result recognising what is now known about the DMS geology.

Should however the Company find in the testing process that considerable gold is identified, in nugget form, this may indicate a substantial in-situ gold deposit which may be amenable to a bulk tonnage mining operation.

Further testing is ongoing at present and the Company will be releasing regular updates with regard to this very important work.

REFERENCES

Dominy, S. C., Cuffley, B. W., McCarthy, P. L., Thomas, O. K. & Hill, R. L., 2004. The challenges of evaluating and exploiting gold-quartz reefs in the Central Victorian Goldfield, Australia. The AusIMM New Leaders’ Conference, Ballarat. pp121-141

Dunn, E. J. 1912. List of nuggets found in Victoria. Geological Survey of Victoria. Memoir 12.

Table 1. Tabulated intersections (> 0.5 g/t gold).

HoleID	Interval (m)	From (m)	To (m)	Grade (g/t gold)
CSR006	1	15	16	44.63
CSR012	1	52	53	2.49
CSR011	1	12	13	1.88
CSR002	1	12	13	1.43
CSR009	1	4	5	1.27
CSR010	1	10	11	1.21
CSR002	1	36	37	1.09
CSR015	1	38	39	1.03
CSR005	1	12	13	0.95
CSR003	1	26	27	0.90
CSR002	1	69	70	0.76
CSR002	1	9	10	0.64
CSR011	1	6	7	0.63
CSR012	1	17	18	0.61

Table 2. Hole details.

Hole ID	Easting (m)	Northing (m)	Elevation (m)	Zone	Hole depth (m)	Delination	Azimuth
CSR001	759325	5854691	533	54	78	-50	278.5
CSR002	759328	5854697	533	54	84	-70	278.5
CSR003	759355	5854688	534	54	97	-85	278.5
CSR004	759329	5854691	533	54	114	-60	280.0
CSR005	759305	5854648	535	54	120	-50	278.5
CSR006	759316	5854651	535	54	133	-60	278.5
CSR007	759341	5854651	535	54	73	-60	278.5
CSR008	759338	5854651	535	54	91	-85	278.5
CSR009	759301	5854580	539	54	60	-50	278.5
CSR010	759301	5854581	539	54	90	-80	278.5
CSR011	759326	5854710	531	54	60	-50	278.5
CSR012	759328	5854710	531	54	91	-85	278.5
CSR013	759327	5854710	535	54	204	-60	281.0
CSR014	759420	5854696	539	54	176	-60	98.5
CSR015	759354	5854824	538	54	78	-50	278.5
CSR016	759356	5854823	538	54	60	-80	278.5
CSR017	759326	5854868	540	54	78	-60	98.5

COMPETENT PERSON STATEMENT

The information in this announcement that relates to Exploration Results is based on information compiled by Dr Rodney Boucher of Linex Pty Ltd. Linex Pty Ltd provides geological services to Mercator Gold Australia Pty Ltd, including the services of Dr Boucher, who has a PhD in geology, is a Member and RPGeo of the Australian Institute of Geoscientists and is a Member of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy. Dr Boucher has sufficient experience that is relevant to the style of mineralisation and type of deposit under consideration and to the activity being undertaken to qualify as a Competent Person as defined in the 2012 Edition of the ‘Australasian Code for Reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves’. Dr Boucher consents to the inclusion in the announcement of the material based on his information in the form and context in which it appears.

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:

ECR Minerals plc		Tel: +44 (0)20 7929 1010
David Tang, Non-Executive Chairman
Craig Brown, Director & CEO
Email: info@ecrminerals.com
Website: www.ecrminerals.com

WH Ireland Ltd		Tel: +44 (0)161 832 2174
Nominated Adviser
Katy Mitchell/James Sinclair-Ford

SI Capital Ltd		Tel: +44 (0)1483 413500
Broker
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.

ECR Minerals #ECR – Gold Drilling Update – Creswick & Blue Moon Australia

28th February 2019 / Leave a comment

ECR Minerals plc (LON:ECR), the precious metals exploration and development company, is pleased to announce positive progress in the Company’s extensive gold drilling programmes being undertaken at the Creswick and Bailieston Blue Moon projects in the State of Victoria, Australia.

Readers are advised to consult the Company’s previous announcement outlining the proposed drilling programmes as follows:

https://polaris.brighterir.com/public/ecr_minerals/news/rns/story/x2q8qzx

Highlights:

The Company has now completed 1,687 metres of reverse circulation drilling in 17 target holes at the Creswick gold project targeting multiple quartz vein orientations within the Dimocks Main Shale (“DMS”);
The drilling at Creswick successfully intersected multiple quartz reefs as anticipated, and the Company is now awaiting assay results to determine the extent of gold mineralised shoots in samples;
In addition, 774 metres of reverse circulation drilling in 6 target holes has been completed at the Blue Moon gold prospect within the Bailieston project area to follow up the significant near surface gold intercept and evidence of a near surface mineralised gold system announced in July 2018;
Drilling is continuing at the Blue Moon gold prospect targeting extensions of areas where sulphides have been intersected and gold mineralisation has been identified including visible gold in panned reverse circulation samples;
The Board of the Company is reviewing with its technical team the field findings to date, with a view to further drilling in areas of noted interest;
A substantial number of samples have now been submitted to the laboratory for testing and the Company is awaiting results;
A recent significant increase in the volume of samples being processed at the local laboratories, due to the increasing interest in State of Victoria gold exploration, has slowed the processing time from the original one week turnaround to a slower process extending between 2 and 4 weeks depending on the sample process. As many of our samples have already been in the laboratory for some time, we expect the flow of assay results in the coming weeks;
Further updates to the market will be provided at the earliest opportunity as results are received and findings analysed by our technical team.

Craig Brown, Chief Executive Officer commented: “I am extremely pleased to announce the progress achieved by our technical team at Creswick and Bailieston Blue Moon projects in Australia with a combined 2,461 metres of drilling completed in less than a month.

We have successfully encountered a number of host structures that were anticipated and targeted in our drill programmes, and we have panned gold within some of the drill samples.

The Company’s approach has been to define drill targets based on historical exploration, field mapping and soil gochemistry with an iterative review programme to extend drilling where target geological structures and gold mineralisation therein is encountered.

We await assay data to add to our field observations and will provide further updates to the market when assay information has been received and reviewed by the team.”

COMPETENT PERSON STATEMENT

The information in this announcement that relates to Exploration Results is based on information compiled by Dr Rodney Boucher of Linex Pty Ltd. Linex Pty Ltd provides geological services to Mercator Gold Australia Pty Ltd, including the services of Dr Boucher, who has a PhD in geology, is a Member and RPGeo of the Australian Institute of Geoscientists and is a Member of the Australian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy. Dr Boucher has sufficient experience that is relevant to the style of mineralisation and type of deposit under consideration and to the activity being undertaken to qualify as a Competent Person as defined in the 2012 Edition of the ‘Australasian Code for Reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves’. Dr Boucher consents to the inclusion in the announcement of the material based on his information in the form and context in which it appears.

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:

ECR Minerals plc		Tel: +44 (0)20 7929 1010
David Tang, Non-Executive Chairman
Craig Brown, Director & CEO
Email: info@ecrminerals.com
Website: www.ecrminerals.com

WH Ireland Ltd		Tel: +44 (0)161 832 2174
Nominated Adviser
Katy Mitchell/James Sinclair-Ford

SI Capital Ltd		Tel: +44 (0)1483 413500
Broker
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.

ECR Minerals #ECR – Drilling Update – Creswick Gold Project Australia

8th February 2019 / Leave a comment

ECR Minerals plc (LON:ECR), the precious metals exploration and development company, is pleased to announce that the Company’s drill programme at the Creswick gold project in the state of Victoria, Australia, has commenced and the first four holes have been successfully completed.

Further information in respect of this drill programme is available in the Company’s announcement of 29 January 2019.

In addition, ECR have produced a project specific presentation for the Creswick gold project, which may be viewed on the Company’s website through the following link:

PDF version:

https://www.ecrminerals.com/investors-media/presentations/download?path=ECR%2BCreswick%2BQ1%2B2019%2BDrilling%2B%2BProgramme%2B08-02-19.pdf

PowerPoint version:

https://www.ecrminerals.com/investors-media/presentations/download?path=ECR%2BCreswick%2BQ1%2B2019%2BDrilling%2B%2BProgramme%2B08-02-19.ppsx

It is also the Company’s intention to provide site photographic images for the Creswick gold project drill location and drilling process on the Company’s website.

The images may be viewed through the following link:

https://www.ecrminerals.com/creswick-gallery

COMPETENT PERSON STATEMENT

The information in this announcement that relates to Exploration Results is based on information compiled by Dr Rodney Boucher of Linex Pty Ltd. Linex Pty Ltd provides geological services to Mercator Gold Australia Pty Ltd, including the services of Dr Boucher, who has a PhD in geology, is a Member and RPGeo of the Australian Institute of Geoscientists and is a Member of the Australian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy. Dr Boucher has sufficient experience that is relevant to the style of mineralisation and type of deposit under consideration and to the activity being undertaken to qualify as a Competent Person as defined in the 2012 Edition of the ‘Australasian Code for Reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves’. Dr Boucher consents to the inclusion in the announcement of the material based on his information in the form and context in which it appears.

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:

ECR Minerals plc		Tel: +44 (0)20 7929 1010
David Tang, Non-Executive Chairman
Craig Brown, Director & CEO
Email: info@ecrminerals.com
Website: www.ecrminerals.com

WH Ireland Ltd		Tel: +44 (0)161 832 2174
Nominated Adviser
Katy Mitchell/James Sinclair-Ford

SI Capital Ltd		Tel: +44 (0)1483 413500
Broker
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.

Tag Archives: dr rodney boucher

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