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ECR Minerals #ECR – MD Nick Tulloch discusses the Hurricane Project & Cancellation of Share Options
ECR Minerals MD Nick Tulloch discussed the cancellation of the Hurricane project option, how the opportunity was overpriced and way too big for the company. In contrast Kondaparinga is over twice the size, the costs are negligible and it could be a potential replacement for Hurricane.
Looking at the portfolio, Nick believes Lolworth has huge upside, plus there are a number of other opportunities. The team are looking for sensible assets to get a decent return.
As part of the housekeeping process, management share options have been cancelled, Nick explains that they simply don’t make sense at current levels. In summary, the new team now have their feet under the table. Nick says ECR is a small company with a v wide portfolio and a good team. Going forward all decisions will be underscored by value. Seeking the right opportunity at the right price.
ECR Minerals #ECR – Hurricane Project – Final Rock Chip Results & Regional Prospectivity Summary
ECR Minerals plc (LON: ECR), the exploration and development company focused on gold in Australia, is pleased to announce the final rock chip results and latest exploration developments at the Hurricane Project. The project area is located approximately 200km west of Cairns in North Queensland, Australia.
As announced on 2 October 2023, the Company has agreed a 4 week extension to its option agreement to potentially acquire the entire issued share capital of Placer Gold Pty Limited, the beneficial holder of three granted mining tenements (EPM 27518, EPM 25855 and EPM 19437) known as the Hurricane Project. This project is located in the Hurricane area of North Queensland, and the exact details of the option are set out in the announcement dated 23 October 2022. The extension was to allow the ECR team further time to analyse and review the project and the directors have set expectations that they will, as part of that process, be proposing revised terms and conditions to the option.
Accordingly, the Board is continuing to evaluate the Hurricane Project and in particular, the mineralised vein systems currently established at Hurricane are known as the Holmes, Tornado, Cyclone, Pedersons, Bouncer, Typhoon and the Hurricane North and South.
Separately, on 27 September 2023, ECR Minerals announced it had also applied for additional exploration ground (named Kondaparinga) immediately on the eastern boundary of the Hurricane Project. The application will be assessed by government officials before a licence will be granted. There can be no guarantee that this licence will be granted, but the Director have every expectation it will be.
HIGHLIGHTS
- Final results from the Hurricane Project received for 224 rock chip samples.
- Best results include grab samples up to 45.7 g/t Au (Hurricane North) and 43.2 % Antimony (Holmes South) or 83.38 g/t gold equivalent grade.
- A full review of the size and extent of mapped visible outcrops is presented below. Quartz stockwork zones up to 20m wide have been confirmed at the Holmes prospect.
ECR Technical Director Adam Jones commented: “The ECR field team are pleased with rock chip sampling results and data from the completed campaign at the Hurricane Project. We have established beyond doubt that the Holmes vein is the dominant vein system within the wider Hurricane area, with the best gold and antimony grades sampled at the shear zone there. Similar potential exists at Hurricane North and Typhoon prospects, where we have identified a potentially drill ready prospect to the south of Typhoon and logged some impressive grades at Hurricane North. Although the Cyclone, Tornado and Hurricane South prospects were less impressive grade wise, taken as a whole, we believe there is considerable potential in this area. Added to this, these results give us further confidence that the geology at the Kondaparinga prospect, where we have recently made a licence application, could well be contiguous with some of the Hurricane Project anomalies recorded here, a factor that could warrant further research.”
ECR Managing Director Nick Tulloch commented: “As I have said previously, the Hurricane Project has been a key part of ECR’s strategic planning over the past year. The overall results package is extremely encouraging, and our thanks go to Adam Jones and the field team for an exceptionally comprehensive piece of field work. It is clear that some of the grades and ‘drill ready’ zones indicate that ECR now has a potentially commercial proposition at Hurricane, but these conclusions have to be balanced against any cost of any option purchase agreed at the end of the extended time period, coupled with the capex required to progress the project to the next level. Along with Mike Whitlow, Adam Jones and the field team, we will now spend time assessing these results and how we can maximise the regional potential taking the wider Hodgkinson Province and our potential new Kondaparinga exploration license into account. I look forward to reporting back to you with our proposed course of action.”
An Overview of the location of the rock chip sample and vein systems can be found in the link below:
Figure One: https://www.ecrminerals.com/images/2023/Fig1_Overview_231004.png
SUMMARY
Below the Board are pleased to provide a summary of all results from the extensive rock chip sampling and mapping programme undertaken during August 2023. The work also formed part of the due diligence as part of the terms of the agreed option agreement which detailed the potential purchase of the Hurricane Project from current vendors Placer Gold Pty Ltd, as detailed above.
The field team used a Differential Global Positioning System (DGPS) to map out the boundaries of all visible outcrops and to determine the approximate potential strike and width of each quartz lode. In some instances, the exposed outcrops were rock chip sampled across the width of the lode and composite widths and grades were calculated from there. The majority of samples collected are considered ‘grab samples’ where the outcrop has been chipped within geological boundaries including shear zones, hanging walls and footwall quartz stockworks, and these samples have then been used to provide the Board with an indication of the potential Gold and Antimony grades within each prospect. The Gold equivalent value for Antimony has been calculated by reference to the formula (Sb% x 1.9), this is an internally generated formula based on widely accepted principles. It should be noted that grab sampling has been used to infer the possible grades and does not represent an in situ resource. We have cross referenced the following prospects to five separate linked figures.
HOLMES AND HOLMES SOUTH
Figure Two: Overview of sampling and mapping at the Holmes and Holmes South prospects:
https://www.ecrminerals.com/images/2023/Fig2_Holmes_231004.png
The Holmes vein is the dominant vein system at the Hurricane Project. Not only is gold present within the vein, Antimony (present as Stibnite) is also visible and has been seen numerous times in outcrop. We have sub-divided the prospect into four main outcrops (A, B, C, D).
The best Gold and Antimony grades lie adjacent to the Holmes Shear Zone. Where exposed, the shear is up to 1m wide. Approximately 20m in strike is exposed in Outcrop C and 99m in strike exposed in Outcrop D. The shear has a Hanging-wall zone up to 20m wide that contains quartz stockworks. Our grab sampling recorded a potential average grade of 3.65 g/t Au Eq across the 20m wide zone and along the 20m exposed strike in Outcrop C. Two composite samples have been calculated from rock chipping across the NW and SE ends of Outcrop D at 4.55m @ 4.87 g/t Au and 4.55m @ 2.81 g/t Au.
Outcrop A and B are large exposure of sandstone on top of the hill containing quartz stockworks. Outcrops are up to 15m wide and 47m long. Average grab samples over the exposure returned 1.16 g/t Au.
CYCLONE AND TORNADO
Figures Three (a,b): Overview of sampling taken from the Cyclone and Tornado prospects
https://www.ecrminerals.com/images/2023/Fig3_Tornado-Cyclone_231004.png
The Cyclone vein resides between the Holmes and Tornado lodes. The exposed vein is narrow, 94m long and up to 3.6m wide with best length and width found at a central ‘bulge’. Our grab sampling throughout returned an average 1.75 g/t Au, although the majority of Cyclone samples were not considered to be of a commercial grade.
The Tornado vein was the first lode sampled due to easy site access via an existing 4WD track. The current outcrop is split by the East, Mid and West exposures (see Figure 3b above), with the best values located in the East Outcrop. Two composite chip samples taken across the width of this outcrop recorded grades of 4.2m @ 2.39 g/t Au and 2.2m @ 1.91 g/t Au, and a footwall quartz exposure was recorded by the field team to the south. The LIDAR data indicates a possible extension to the Tornado vein lying to the west of the mapped area. We have not verified this at the current time.
HURRICANE NORTH AND TYPHOON
Figure Four: Overview of sampling taken from Hurricane North and Typhoon prospects
https://www.ecrminerals.com/images/2023/Fig4_HN-Typhoon_231004.png
The Hurricane North and Typhoon lodes are located at the bottom of a mountain range on the eastern side of the tenement. These lodes show evidence of past mining activity although we have concluded that probable challenges in accessing the region 100 years ago resulted in most of the historical workings being limited, shallow and under-developed. The field team prioritised sampling from in-situ exposed veins within the workings, and where this was not possible, grab samples were taken from ore dumps to help provide balanced estimates for the grades that were being mined. The Hurricane North and Typhoon lodes contain only Gold.
Best results were obtained from the southern part of the Typhoon lode. The in-situ vein is up to 42m long and 0.4m wide (at best), and is exposed within shallow trenches. Where sampled we obtained grades up to 29.0 g/t Au and recorded chip sample grab grade averages of 8.39 g/t Au over the exposed length of vein. Whilst the strike extent is short and the vein narrow, the Board believes the sampling to date already indicates this would be an ideal drill target. There are old access tracks to this area which the Board are satisfied could be used to transport drilling equipment to the site. We have also identified a potential 25m long zone in the Typhoon North area with grab samples up to 8.21 g/t Au.
The Hurricane North workings have been extensively mined on the eastern portion with the vein hosted within a wide black shale. Although limited sampling material was available, the samples collected yielded a best result of 14.75 g/t Au. In addition, the field team were able to sample exposed veins and ore dumps at the Central and North Western workings. Results up to 45.70 g/t Au from ore piles and 0.4m @ 5.84 g/t Au were recorded from exposed veins.
HURRICANE SOUTH
Figure Five: Overview of sampling taken from the Hurricane South prospect.
https://www.ecrminerals.com/images/2023/Fig5_HS_231004.png
Extensive historical workings were mapped and recorded at the southern part of the Hurricane South prospect. Remnant quartz veins in exposures returned a result of 0.5m @ 4.05 g/t Au, and as the lode narrows to the north, the field team recorded a grab sample of 41.5 g/t Au. Small outlying workings to the west of the prospect returned grab samples of 16.10 g/t Au and 6.65 g/t Au from the mine dump. The vein could not be traced along strike.
NEXT STEPS AND REGIONAL PROSPECTIVITY
In light of the collective results, the Board is now considering the levels of capex required to progress the Hurricane Project to the next level. Such costs would include access track construction and drilling, which will be weighed against the economic potential of the project.
The Board has already considered the prospectivity of the adjacent Hodgkinson Gold region that lies immediately to the east of the Hurricane Project by recently applying for the Kondaparinga licence over the most prospective available exploration ground. The Geology team has identified numerous anomalous gold results from the publicly available historical stream sampling data within the applied licence.
Further updates on these matters will be provided in due course.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:
ECR Minerals plc | Tel: +44 (0) 20 7929 1010 | |||
David Tang, Non-Executive Chairman
Nick Tulloch, Managing Director Andrew Scott, Director |
||||
Email: | ||||
Website: www.ecrminerals.com | ||||
WH Ireland Ltd | Tel: +44 (0) 207 220 1666 | |||
Nominated Adviser
Katy Mitchell / Andrew de Andrade |
||||
SI Capital Ltd | Tel: +44 (0) 1483 413500 | |||
Broker | ||||
Nick Emerson | ||||
Novum Securities Limited | Tel: +44 (0) 20 7399 9425 | |||
Broker
Jon Belliss |
||||
Brand Communications | Tel: +44 (0) 7976 431608 | |||
Public & Investor Relations | ||||
Alan Green | ||||
ABOUT ECR MINERALS PLC
ECR Minerals is a mineral exploration and development company. ECR’s wholly owned Australian subsidiary Mercator Gold Australia Pty Ltd (“MGA”) has 100% ownership of the Bailieston and Creswick gold projects in central Victoria, Australia, has six licence applications outstanding which includes one licence application lodged in eastern Victoria (Tambo gold project).
ECR also owns 100% of an Australian subsidiary LUX Exploration Pty Ltd (“LUX”) which has three approved exploration permits covering 946 km2 over a relatively unexplored area in Lolworth Range, Queensland, Australia. The Company also has an option to acquire 100% of Placer Gold, which wholly owns the Hurricane Project, a later stage gold and antimony project located west of Cairns in the Hodgkinson Province, NE Queensland.
Following the sale of the Avoca, Moormbool and Timor gold projects in Victoria, Australia to Fosterville South Exploration Ltd (TSX-V: FSX) and the subsequent spin-out of the Avoca and Timor projects to Leviathan Gold Ltd (TSX-V: LVX), Mercator Gold Australia Pty Limited has the right to receive up to A$2 million in payments subject to future resource estimation or production from projects sold to Fosterville South Exploration Limited.
ECR holds a 90% interest in the Danglay gold project; an advanced exploration project located in a prolific gold and copper mining district in the north of the Philippines, which has a 43-101 compliant resource. ECR also holds a royalty on the SLM gold project in La Rioja Province, Argentina and can potentially receive up to US$2.7 million in aggregate across all licences
ECR Minerals #ECR – Extension of option to acquire the Hurricane Project and encouraging first round Rock Chip Results
ECR Minerals plc (LON: ECR), the exploration and development company focused on gold in Australia, is pleased to announce an extension to its option to acquire Placer Gold Pty Limited, the owner of the Hurricane Project, as well as the latest exploration developments at the project. The Hurricane Project is located approximately 200km west of Cairns in North Queensland, Australia.
HIGHLIGHTS
- 4-week extension of deadline to exercise the option to 26 October 2023 allows ECR further time to analyse and review the project.
- Discussions to date with the vendors have also set an expectation that ECR will propose revised terms and conditions to the option.
- 125 Rock chip results have been received for the first batch of laboratory samples that cover the Tornado, Cyclone and part of the Holmes vein systems.
- Best results include a gold equivalent of 31.3 g/t Au and 30.13 g/t Au (Holmes). 28 of the results have gold values greater than 2 g/t Au. All samples from outcrop.
- The strategic critical mineral, Stibnite (Antimony Sulphide) has been visible in samples taken from the Holmes veins.
ECR Managing Director Nick Tulloch commented: “The Hurricane Project has been a key part of ECR’s strategic planning over the past year. The Hodgkinson Province in which is it located hosts several goldfields which together have produced more than 45 tonnes of gold from alluvial workings and mines. With that pedigree, the costs of purchase and development also represent a significant commitment for us and, with Mike Whitlow and I still only a few weeks into our new roles, we requested and were granted further time by the vendors both to fully assess the project area and also to ensure the commercial terms reflect the value of the opportunity. The previous rock chip sampling data from the Bannister group provides some encouraging reference points and the antimony readings and chip samples obtained last month from our limited time in the field are most certainly of interest to the Board and the geology team. We look forward to the rest of the sample results.”
An Overview of the location of the rock chip sample and vein systems can be found below:
Figure One: https://www.ecrminerals.com/images/2023/Fig1_Hurricane_231002
EXTENSION OF OPTION TO ACQUIRE Placer Gold Pty Limited
On 27 October 2022, ECR announced that it had been granted an option to acquire the entire issued share capital of Placer Gold Pty Limited (“Placer Gold”) (the “Option”), the beneficial holder of three granted mining tenements (EPM 27518, EPM 25855 and EPM 19437) located in NE Queensland, together known as the Hurricane project (“Hurricane Project” or “Hurricane”).
As drafted, if the Option is exercised, the purchase price is made up of cash and share payments, in part based on certain milestones being reached as well as a future royalty. Full details are set out in the announcement of 27 October 2022. The deadline for ECR to exercise the Option was 30 September 2023 but, through negotiations with the vendors, the Company has secured a four week extension to 26 October 2023.
During this time it is the Board’s intention to thoroughly analyse the merits of the Hurricane Project against the costs of purchase and development to assess the value to the Company and its shareholders. As explained below, work is already underway in this respect. Discussions to date with the vendors have also set an expectation that ECR will propose revised terms and conditions to the Option.
EXPLORATION DEVELOPMENTS
Further to the Company’s announcement on 21 September 2023, the ECR technical team has been conducting an infield technical survey of the Hurricane project tenements to establish the prospectivity of gold and antimony mineralisation. The mineralised vein systems currently established at Hurricane are known as the Holmes, Tornado, Cyclone, Pedersons, Bouncer, Typhoon and the Hurricane North and South.
During the month of August 2023, outcrop mapping and rock chip sampling was completed as part of the due diligence process. The objective was to confirm previous results from historic rock chip sampling and to map the extent of outcrop. To date, ECR has received the following information and data for the Tornado, Cyclone and part of the Holmes veins. The position of the veins in relation to each other are shown in Figure One above.
HOLMES VEIN
The Holmes vein is the dominant vein system at the Project. Not only is gold present within the vein, Antimony (present as Stibnite) is visible and has been seen numerous times in outcrop. The Holmes vein consists of at least two main quartz stockwork zones up to 10m wide and is bounded on the western edge by a shear zone up to 1m in width and can be traced along strike for at least 300m. The best Antimony values are obtained close to this shear. To date, ECR has only received the results for a limited number of surface outcrops sampled, with these situated adjacent to and along strike of the shear zone. Best results include 8.19 g/t Au and 7.67 g/t Au and Antimony values up to 29% (290000 ppm Sb).
A gold equivalent value has been calculated by converting the present price of Antimony to the equivalent value in g/t Au. The estimated equivalent value being 3 g/t Au for every 1% Sb (Antimony), and this calculation is similar to the current formulae used by other Australian producers of Gold and Antimony. This would convert the best Antimony results to 31.3 g/t Au and 30.13 g/t Au Eq.
The importance of Antimony is well documented. As one of the listed critical metals, there are limited current sources of Antimony in the western world.
TORNADO VEIN
Previous rock chip sampling by the Bannister Group Pty Ltd. included results up to 17.6 g/t Au. The eastern end of the outcrop also previously returned the best results up to 6.88 g/t Au. ECR geologists re-sampled these zones and have verified the eastern end of the Tornado vein to contain the best values with best results to include 6.95 g/t Au and 5.05 g/t Au
CYCLONE VEIN
The Cyclone vein can be traced in outcrop along the surface for a distance of approximately 500m in strike. The southern end of the outcrop is at its widest point of around 4 metres in width while the northern end thins out to less than 1 metre in width. Sampling work has recovered the best results from a section of the northern outcrop where rock chips taken across the width have returned 0.3m @ 4.65 g/t Au and 0.3m @ 3.93 g/t Au. ECR is awaiting further results from the southern and widest part of the vein.
NEXT STEPS
The Board will continue to evaluate the prospectivity of the project and report these findings as more information is received. The Hurricane results are consistent with the positive visual references noted by the team on the ground and both the field team and the Board believe that this part of Queensland is highly prospective. Further updates will be provided in due course as required.
REVIEW OF ANNOUNCEMENT BY QUALIFIED PERSON
This announcement has been reviewed by Adam Jones, Technical Director of Exploration at ECR Minerals plc. Adam Jones is a professional geologist and is a Member of the Australian Institute of Geoscientists (MAIG). He is a qualified person as that term is defined by the AIM Note for Mining, Oil and Gas Companies.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:
ECR Minerals plc | Tel: +44 (0) 20 7929 1010 | |||
David Tang, Non-Executive Chairman
Nick Tulloch, Managing Director Andrew Scott, Director |
||||
Email: | ||||
Website: www.ecrminerals.com | ||||
WH Ireland Ltd | Tel: +44 (0) 207 220 1666 | |||
Nominated Adviser
Katy Mitchell / Andrew de Andrade |
||||
SI Capital Ltd | Tel: +44 (0) 1483 413500 | |||
Broker | ||||
Nick Emerson | ||||
Novum Securities Limited | Tel: +44 (0) 20 7399 9425 | |||
Broker
Jon Belliss |
||||
Brand Communications | Tel: +44 (0) 7976 431608 | |||
Public & Investor Relations | ||||
Alan Green | ||||
ABOUT ECR MINERALS PLC
ECR Minerals is a mineral exploration and development company. ECR’s wholly owned Australian subsidiary Mercator Gold Australia Pty Ltd (“MGA”) has 100% ownership of the Bailieston and Creswick gold projects in central Victoria, Australia, has six licence applications outstanding which includes one licence application lodged in eastern Victoria (Tambo gold project).
ECR also owns 100% of an Australian subsidiary LUX Exploration Pty Ltd (“LUX”) which has three approved exploration permits covering 946 km2 over a relatively unexplored area in Lolworth Range, Queensland, Australia. The Company also has an option to acquire 100% of Placer Gold, which wholly owns the Hurricane Project, a later stage gold and antimony project located west of Cairns in the Hodgkinson Province, NE Queensland.
Following the sale of the Avoca, Moormbool and Timor gold projects in Victoria, Australia to Fosterville South Exploration Ltd (TSX-V: FSX) and the subsequent spin-out of the Avoca and Timor projects to Leviathan Gold Ltd (TSX-V: LVX), Mercator Gold Australia Pty Limited has the right to receive up to A$2 million in payments subject to future resource estimation or production from projects sold to Fosterville South Exploration Limited.
ECR holds a 90% interest in the Danglay gold project; an advanced exploration project located in a prolific gold and copper mining district in the north of the Philippines, which has a 43-101 compliant resource. ECR also holds a royalty on the SLM gold project in La Rioja Province, Argentina and can potentially receive up to US$2.7 million in aggregate across all licences.
ECR Minerals #ECR – Asset Overview and Evaluation
ECR Minerals plc (LON: ECR), the exploration and development company focused on gold in Australia, is pleased to announce that the new directors are already conducting a comprehensive review of all exploration activities currently being undertaken. In addition a detailed evaluation of the existing asset base is underway, including the Company’s property, plant and other readily realisable assets.
A summary of the Company’s exploration assets, royalty assets, property and plant follows:
North Queensland assets:
- Lolworth Project – An extensive fieldwork campaign of soil sampling and rock chips has already been successfully completed. However, ECR’s geological team continues to concentrate on areas of high potential to help delineate a series of future high-priority zones and drill targets.
- Hurricane Project – Following a campaign of fieldwork undertaken during August and early
September 2023, the Company is awaiting the highly anticipated sampling programme results to prove the near-term development potential of Hurricane. - Blue Mountain Project – Following the announcement of the conditional acquisition of the project in April 2023, initial studies have yet to commence. Based on reports from previous explorers, the Board believes that the project has potential for a gold discovery.
Victoria assets:
- Creswick Project – The new directors are reviewing all of the Company’s assets at Creswick where ECR plans to seek a secondary (technical) opinion of its opportunities in Victoria. This will run alongside plans to investigate the discovery of two potential 100m gold ‘shoots’ at the Quartz Hill prospect and potential for further shoots along the Dimocks Main Shale strike and south towards Ballarat, further exploration work at the Davey Road prospect, Bush Inn Road prospect and at the Kuboid Hill and Mills Reef prospects.
- Bailieston – The Company believes that the Bailieston licenses still hold considerable nascent value. Further work at the HR3 prospect at Bailieston tenement EL5433 is planned, including a soil geochemistry programme and follow-up drilling to the north of HR3.
- Tambo Project – Following an initial field visit to the Tambo project, the rock chip sample results from the Duke of Cornwall prospect will be assessed prior to taking any next steps.
Philippines asset
- Danglay gold project – ECR owns 90% of an advanced exploration project located in a prolific gold and copper mining district in the north of the Philippines, which has a 43-101 compliant resource. The Company is currently considering how best to extract value from this asset.
Royalty assets
- Fosterville South Exploration Ltd (TSX-V: FSX) (“Fosterville South”) – Following the sale of the Avoca, Moormbool and Timor gold projects in Victoria, Australia to Fosterville South Exploration Ltd (TSX-V: FSX) and the subsequent spin-out of the Avoca and Timor projects to Leviathan Gold Ltd (TSX-V: LVX), ECR has the right to receive up to A$2m in payments subject to future resource estimation or production from the projects sold to Fosterville South (see announcement dated 20 April 2020).
- SLM gold project, La Rioja Province, Argentina – ECR holds a royalty and can potentially receive up to US$2.7 million in aggregate across all licences.
Property
- ECR owns a property at 35 Brewing Lane, Springmount, Australia. The property consists of 16 acres and is located within the Company’s existing 100% owned Creswick license area. The Board are considering a sale of the property, which is currently being used as a base for Creswick operations.
Plant
- ECR owns several items of valuable mechanical equipment. All options including future deployment, plant rental or disposal are being considered by the Company.
ECR Managing Director Nick Tulloch commented: “It is very evident that ECR owns a valuable
and diverse portfolio of assets which we believe in time have the potential to offer considerable upside. This factor was certainly a catalyst in driving the recently announced board changes and the share subscription that is of course subject to approval at our forthcoming General Meeting. We hope to have a comprehensive technical view of both our historical projects as well as the conclusion of our latest work programme on Queensland in the coming weeks.”
ECR Chief Operations Officer Mike Whitlow added: “The Board are engaged in an intensive review of all of ECR’s assets and operations. Our primary objective is to ensure the Company is on a secure financial footing for all future activities, and we will be making a series of decisions that will be announced to our shareholders in the coming weeks. I would like to take this opportunity to thank our shareholders for their patience and steadfastness in these matters, and I look forward to reporting back to you on these next steps as they occur.”
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:
ECR Minerals plc | Tel: +44 (0) 20 7929 1010 | |||
David Tang, Non-Executive Chairman
Nick Tulloch, Managing Director Andrew Scott, Director |
||||
Email: | ||||
Website: www.ecrminerals.com | ||||
WH Ireland Ltd | Tel: +44 (0) 207 220 1666 | |||
Nominated Adviser
Katy Mitchell / Andrew de Andrade |
||||
SI Capital Ltd | Tel: +44 (0) 1483 413500 | |||
Broker | ||||
Nick Emerson | ||||
Novum Securities Limited | Tel: +44 (0) 20 7399 9425 | |||
Broker
Jon Belliss |
||||
Brand Communications | Tel: +44 (0) 7976 431608 | |||
Public & Investor Relations | ||||
Alan Green | ||||
ABOUT ECR MINERALS PLC
ECR Minerals is a mineral exploration and development company. ECR’s wholly owned Australian subsidiary Mercator Gold Australia Pty Ltd (“MGA”) has 100% ownership of the Bailieston and Creswick gold projects in central Victoria, Australia, has six licence applications outstanding which includes one licence application lodged in eastern Victoria (Tambo gold project).
ECR also owns 100% of an Australian subsidiary LUX Exploration Pty Ltd (“LUX”) which has three approved exploration permits covering 946 km2 over a relatively unexplored area in Lolworth Range, Queensland, Australia. The Company also has an option to acquire 100% of Placer Gold, which wholly owns the Hurricane Project, a later stage gold and antimony project located west of Cairns in the Hodgkinson Province, NE Queensland.
Following the sale of the Avoca, Moormbool and Timor gold projects in Victoria, Australia to Fosterville South Exploration Ltd (TSX-V: FSX) and the subsequent spin-out of the Avoca and Timor projects to Leviathan Gold Ltd (TSX-V: LVX), Mercator Gold Australia Pty Limited has the right to receive up to A$2 million in payments subject to future resource estimation or production from projects sold to Fosterville South Exploration Limited.
ECR holds a 90% interest in the Danglay gold project; an advanced exploration project located in a prolific gold and copper mining district in the north of the Philippines, which has a 43-101 compliant resource. ECR also holds a royalty on the SLM gold project in La Rioja Province, Argentina and can potentially receive up to US$2.7 million in aggregate across all licences.
ECR Minerals #ECR Queensland Progress – Andrew Scott talks to Andrew Haythorpe and Adam Jones
ECR Minerals #ECR Queensland Progress – Andrew Scott talks to Andrew Haythorpe and Adam Jones. Having finished an intensive week at the Hurricane project, Adam is back at the Lolworth project seeking drill targets. Gold remains the key focus and with stream sediment data scheduled for release, the team are aiming to establish 4 main prospects for drill targets. Reflecting on the work at Hurricane, with 249 samples collected, the first two batches are processing right now. The focus is antimony, and once the samples return the team will evaluate vein size, best drill sites and the best access points. Andrew also touches on the Blue Mountain project, which is similar to Lolworth with visible gold shedding in the drainage systems, but no work has been done there yet. Andrew then puts his analyst hat on and discusses the massive disconnect between valuations and markets. Historically, equities trade at prices greater than spot gold, and despite high inflation and interest rates, with stocks as low as they are, Andrew believes we are seeing a repetition cycle similar to the lows for resource stocks in the late 1980s and 1990’s, there is an opportunity to get underpriced gold stocks into your portfolio with a 2-5 year view.
ECR Minerals #ECR – Director Adam Jones discusses the geology at the Holmes Prospect, at the Hurricane project
ECR Minerals #ECR – Director Adam Jones discusses the geology at the Holmes Prospect, at the Hurricane project. Adam discusses a laminated vein at the Holmes prospect, which is part of larger structure and contains chunks of #stibnite (Sb) – #antimony sulphide & #gold (Au). Previous chips returned 13% Sb, equivalent to 39g/t Au.
ECR Minerals #ECR – Back at Hurricane
The ECR field team are back on the ground at the Hurricane project examining the structures identified through LIDAR data. (See announcement on July 12th here )
Further rock chip sampling is being undertaken, aiming to confirm the previously reported high grades of #gold & #antimony. The results will then be assessed ahead of a drilling campaign and a final decision on exercising the option at Hurricane.
ECR Minerals #ECR – Adam Jones discusses the latest developments at Lolworth, Hurricane and Creswick
In the latest interview, Technical Director Adam Jones discusses the Lolworth niobium / tantalum announcement, the samples from the soil grid covering the main drainage channel and why the pXRF gun has proved so effective in identifying minerals like niobium. Adam explains how team originally went to Lolworth for gold, but they quickly realised the area’s potential for niobium, tantalum and rare earths and that the geology is very suited to hosting critical minerals. With 140+ rock chips collected, ECR expects a 2-3 week turnaround, but that the sheer size and scale of the area will require further rock chip collections and further refining of the best anomalous target areas.
Adam then moves to the Hurricane project, and his plans to return in August to determine access points and undertake further field work to collect rock chips. Finally Adam talks through yesterday’s Creswick announcement, and the company’s commitments to keep the ground work ticking along and further define ore shoots.
The interview finishes with Adam highlighting the expected news flow for the coming months, and explaining why the Queensland projects are lower risk and represent a bigger bang for the buck.
ECR Minerals #ECR – Hurricane Force
Andrew Scott talks to ECR Minerals Technical Director Adam Jones about the recently completed LIDAR survey at the Hurricane Project. Adam explains the LIDAR technology and its accuracy, and describes the results and elevations identified alongside the existing outcrops on a NW strike trend. Adam discusses the primary prospects Tornado, Cyclone and Holmes – Tornado is at least 200m long, averaging 3m wide and up to 20m wide in parts, with the best historical rock chips registering 17 g/t Au. ECR are waiting for indigenous approval to send a bulldozer out to fix the access track. Adam adds to CEO Andrew Haythorpe’s previous appraisal that Hurricane is a later stage project, and he believes the simplified geology will enable the company to get in, drill out and establish a mineral resource estimate in fairly short order.
Adam also touches on the Lolworth soil samples results. WIth 200 stream seds and approx 130 rock chips taken, the labs have been instructed to test for gold results first, then niobium, tantalum and rare earths. A steady flow of news is expected over the next 3 months.
ECR Minerals #ECR – Potential Exploration Targets Defined from Recently Completed LIDAR Survey at the Hurricane Project, North Queensland
ECR Minerals plc (LON: ECR), the exploration and development company focused on gold in Australia is pleased to announce it has received data from the recently completed LIDAR survey at exploration tenements (EPM 27518, EPM 25855 and EPM 19437) located in NE Queensland, together known as the Hurricane Project (“Hurricane Project”). Interpretation of the LIDAR data shows potential outcrops along strike at the existing Gold and Antimony mineralised quartz breccias known as the Tornado, Cyclone and Holmes prospects.
HIGHLIGHTS
- Aerial LIDAR survey completed over exploration tenements EPM 27518, EPM 25855 and EPM 19437, together known as the Hurricane Project.
- Interpretation of LIDAR shows resistant ridgeline structures along strike at the existing Gold and Antimony mineralised quartz breccias known as the Tornado, Cyclone and Holmes prospects. The Board believes that the structures could also host other mineralised breccias that have yet to be explored.
- A follow up site visit to evaluate the identified structures with rock chip sampling will take place in August.
ECR CEO Andrew Haythorpe commented: The ECR board are acutely aware of the impact that challenging markets are currently having on our shareholders, and I am therefore pleased to be able to report solid progress at our Hurricane project, with some hi resolution detail generated by the recent LIDAR survey. This is a project that I personally have detailed knowledge of and am vested in through work undertaken prior to my joining ECR as CEO. Our plan is to get boots back on the ground next month in order that we can firm up what the historical data, early fieldwork and the LIDAR findings have led us to believe – which is that Hurricane is a later stage gold and antimony property with exceptional near-term development potential.”
“I look forward to reporting on progress in the coming weeks and months.”
The extent of the LIDAR survey with the regional structural trends and known prospects can be found here:
Figure One: https://www.ecrminerals.com/images/2023/Fig1_230711.png
Interpreted outcrops along strike of known mineralisation at Hurricane can be found here:
Figure Two: https://www.ecrminerals.com/images/2023/Fig2_INSERT_230711.png
LIDAR SURVEY
The LIDAR (Light detection and ranging) survey is a well proven aerial survey method that sends out thousands of laser points to map the undulations of the ground surface in incredible detail. The initial Hurricane project LIDAR survey took place over an area of 50 square kilometres during the May to June in order to evaluate the terrain and plan for drill access to the Tornado, Cyclone and Holmes prospects (see Figure One above).
INTERPRETATION OF LIDAR DATA
The processing of the LIDAR data has revealed a number of such topography highs along strike at the Tornado, Cyclone and Holmes prospects (see Figure Two above), and in particular we are pleased to note that the weathering of the rock surrounding these known mineralised quartz breccias and stockwork veins has produced detailed, high resolution topography pictures. Although the Company cannot confirm that the outcrops identified from LIDAR host any mineralisation at this juncture, historically LIDAR interpretations generally represent a cost and time effective way to identify targets with potential for extensions to mineralisation, and these results add to our confidence in the project potential.
NEXT STEPS
The geology team have now scheduled a ‘boots on the ground’ field visit to investigate these targets during August. The targets will be mapped and rock chip samples will be taken to evaluate any mineralisation at the delineated targets, and also to provide additional targets for follow-up drilling.
REVIEW OF ANNOUNCEMENT BY QUALIFIED PERSON
This announcement has been reviewed by Adam Jones, Technical Director of Exploration at ECR Minerals plc. Adam Jones is a professional geologist and is a Member of the Australian Institute of Geoscientists (MAIG). He is a qualified person as that term is defined by the AIM Note for Mining, Oil and Gas Companies.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:
ECR Minerals plc | Tel: +44 (0) 20 7929 1010 | |||
David Tang, Non-Executive Chairman
Andrew Haythorpe, CEO |
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ABOUT ECR MINERALS PLC
ECR Minerals is a mineral exploration and development company. ECR’s wholly owned Australian subsidiary Mercator Gold Australia Pty Ltd (“MGA”) has 100% ownership of the Bailieston and Creswick gold projects in central Victoria, Australia, has six licence applications outstanding which includes one licence application lodged in eastern Victoria. (Tambo gold project). MGA is currently drilling at the Bailieston Blue Moon Project (EL5433) and undertaking geochemical exploration on the Creswick (EL6148) project and has an experienced exploration team with significant local knowledge in the Victoria Goldfields and wider region.
ECR also owns 100% of an Australian subsidiary LUX Exploration Pty Ltd (“LUX”) which has three approved exploration permits covering 946 km2 over a relatively unexplored area in Queensland, Australia.
Following the sale of the Avoca, Moormbool and Timor gold projects in Victoria, Australia to Fosterville South Exploration Ltd (TSX-V: FSX) and the subsequent spin-out of the Avoca and Timor projects to Leviathan Gold Ltd (TSX-V: LVX), Mercator Gold Australia Pty Limited has the right to receive up to A$2 million in payments subject to future resource estimation or production from projects sold to Fosterville South Exploration Limited.
ECR holds a 90% interest in the Danglay gold project; an advanced exploration project located in a prolific gold and copper mining district in the north of the Philippines, which has a 43-101 compliant resource. ECR also holds a royalty on the SLM gold project in La Rioja Province, Argentina and can potentially receive up to US$2.7 million in aggregate across all licences.