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Junior Gold Explorers Continue to Shine Amid Global Market Volatility

The year 2020 has already delivered what HM Queen Elizabeth would refer to in her end of year speech as an Annus Horribilis. It is still only April 2020, and Covid-19 continues to wreak almost biblical levels of havoc and human tragedy across the globe. In our previous article on junior gold explorers, we stated that it seemed trite to discuss investment opportunities in the midst of the ongoing battle against CoronaVirus. But life does go on, and so does mining exploration, even with the movement restrictions currently in place.

Gold Set To Rebound Following Monetary Stimulus Measures

Although gold has retreated from the late March highs of $1700 oz, at $1646 the yellow metal still sits close to year highs, well above the 2019 highs of $1277 last August.

Kitco, a website dedicated to gold and metals believes a major rebound in gold is just around the corner as prices look ready to surge on massive global monetary policy stimulus and unprecedented fiscal policies. United Overseas Bank (UOB) head of markets strategy Heng Koon said their forecast is “for gold to rebound significantly in the quarters ahead to USD $1,650 in 2Q20, $1,700 in 3Q20, $1,750 in 4Q20 and $1,800 in 1Q21.”

Image courtesy of BP Trends

“Once the USD funding crunch potentially dissipates across 2Q20, massive global monetary policy easing coupled with unprecedented fiscal policy stimulus will light the fuel for further gold strength.”

Heng also added that global central banks “have not only floored rates near zero but many have also entered into large Quantitative Easing programs. These significant stimuli bode well for gold and will be the fuel for gold’s rally once the USD funding crunch abates across 2Q.”

This compelling backdrop continues to drive healthy levels of investor interest in junior gold explorers. Across the globe, the focus on gold is manifesting itself in investor speculation into small cap explorers with quality projects. Most small explorers however only have one or two key project in their asset arsenal, leaving little room for any disappointment. However, there are a handful of micro-cap gold exploration plays offering a broad spread of assets, and consequentially an attractive risk profile with significant upside potential.

Once such company is AIM listed ECR Minerals (AIM: ECR), which has 100% ownership of five gold exploration projects in Central Victoria, Australia, and four exploration licences in the north-eastern Yilgarn region of Western Australia.

ECR’s Bailieston at the Centre of the Current Gold Exploration Boom

ECR’s Victoria projects include Bailieston, Avoca, Timor, Creswick and Moormbool. Indeed Bailieston, which targets epizonal / epithermal gold mineralisation of the Melbourne Zone, is at the epicentre of the current gold exploration boom in Victoria, being located close to the highly successful Fosterville mine owned by Kirkland Lake Gold. Recently, Australian mining giant Newmont arrived in the district with an application for ground immediately to the north of the Black Cat prospect.

Study Data Endorses Creswick Potential

During Q4 2019, ECR reported ‘nuggety gold mineralisation’ in the Dimocks Main Shale prospect at Creswick, some of which proved to be exceptionally high grade. Creswick has long been viewed as a potential pivot project for ECR after the highest grade duplicate result of 80.97 g/t gold came from a 1 metre interval that originally assayed 44.63 g/t, confirming the original findings announced on 8 May 2019.

On March 27th, ECR announced the results of a study carried out by Dr Dennis Arne, a pre-eminent consulting geochemist in Victoria, whose experience includes extensive consultancy at the highly successful Fosterville gold mine in Central Victoria owned by Kirkland Lake Gold.

The well-regarded Dr Arne’s involvement was seen as a solid endorsement of Creswick’s potential, and indeed the results did not disappoint, as ECR CEO Craig Brown pointed out.

“We are very pleased with the results of this study, which show good indications of hydrothermal fluid flow related to gold mineralisation in a number of drill holes at Creswick. Importantly, the variation in the results, with some areas ‘lighting up’ and others not, is potentially useful for identifying gold-bearing shoots.”

Brown added that the results “underline the significant gold exploration potential that we believe exists at Creswick, where our tenement position covers approximately seven kilometres of the Dimocks Main Shale (DMS) trend, of which our 2019 drilling tested only approximately 300 metres.”

Windidda Progress

ECR’s Windidda Gold Project, based in the Yilgarn region of Western Australia originally consisted of a package of nine exploration licence applications covering a 1,600 square kilometre area with the potential to host komatiite hosted nickel-copper-PGE (platinum group element) mineralisation, as well as orogenic gold. Five exploration licences have been granted, and in its full year results statement at the end of March 2020, ECR said the remaining four licence applications had been withdrawn, in light of objections to the expedited grant procedure from native title parties and the findings of preliminary desktop work to assess the prospectivity of the licence areas.

Consolidation, R&D Cash Refund and Focus

A micro-cap gold explorer can only operate so many projects and licenses, and indeed with the burgeoning potential of Creswick now at front and centre, the board took the decision to sell its wholly owned Argentine subsidiary Ochre Mining SA, which holds the SLM gold project in La Rioja, Argentina.  The sale to Hanaq Argentina SA still sees ECR retain a Net Smelter Royalty of up to 2% to a maximum of US$2.7m in respect of future production from the SLM gold project, while removing ongoing costs associated with acquiring and running an exploration license.

There has been further good news on the funding front too, as the group also received a significant cash refund under the Australian government’s R&D Tax Incentive scheme. A$318,972 (approximately £171,000) was received in relation to the financial year ended 30 June 2018, and received a further refund of A$555,212 (approximately £295,515) in relation to the fifteen month period ended 30 September 2019.

The qualifying R&D activities relate to research into turbidite-hosted gold deposits within the Company’s exploration licences in Victoria. It goes without saying that these two refunds have also provided a significant boost to ECR’s cash position.

The biggest boost however came on Monday 6 April 2020, when, in the midst of the upheaval and disruption caused by COVID-19, ECR announced that it had raised a further GB£500,000 in a placing at 0.5p. That ECR was able raise funds in some of the most challenging stock market conditions in living memory more than anything else underscores the quality of the asset portfolio.

Still trading on a miserly GB£2.5m capitalisation, the market has ascribed little more than the value of the administrative work undertaken to secure the licenses, with no premium whatsoever for the results from Creswick or any of the other work undertaken to ascertain the prospectivity and value of ECR’s projects.

Selected Junior Gold Explorers Offer Great Value

Amid unprecedented efforts to limit the spread of CoronaVirus, the fiscal and monetary stimulus measures announced by the world’s major economies over the past month are global policy events without precedent in peacetime. Gavyn Davies of the FT pointed out that the increase in fiscal spending and loans in the US this year alone “will reach more than 10 percent of GDP, larger than the rise in the federal deficit through 2008 and 2009.”

This wholly supports the UOB / Kitco view that the gold price is set for a major rebound in the months ahead. As such, this rebound is likely to be reflected in the valuations of junior gold mining explorers with strong project portfolios. Fully funded for the coming year, and with nine projects and licenses in key territories across Australia, ECR Minerals should be integral to any junior gold explorer portfolio as the world grapples with the challenges and uncertainties of the Covid-19 pandemic.

References:

Kitco – Here’s how gold prices will get to $1800 in the next three quarters – https://www.kitco.com/news/2020-04-01/Here-s-how-gold-prices-are-going-to-1-800-in-the-next-three-quarters-UOB.html

FT – Gavyn Davies: Can the world afford fiscal and monetary stimulus on this scale? –  https://www.ft.com/content/0f289d20-6e97-11ea-89df-41bea055720b

PBOC Easing Boosts Gold Price & Investment Case for Junior Gold Explorers

Investors seeking to capitalise on a bullish gold market in 2020, and in particular the next raft of discoveries, will no doubt be aware of the impact that the easing in monetary policy by the Peoples Bank of China (PBOC) has had across markets in China, still reeling from the CoronaVirus.

With the yellow metal long viewed as the definitive safe haven investment, markets have also seen a surge in interest at the more speculative end of the gold spectrum, most specifically across junior gold explorers. AIM listed ECR Minerals (AIM: ECR) is one such company currently in focus.

Creswick Potentially Transformational for ECR

Prior to the recent surge in the gold price, ECR had already seen a transformational 2019 in regard to developments across it’s six flagship projects.The final quarter saw developments across the explorer’s key Creswick project in Victoria, Australia, with ‘nuggety gold mineralisation’ confirmed in the Dimocks Main Shale (DMS) prospect at Creswick, some of which proved to be exceptionally high grade.

Creswick is viewed as a potentially transformational project for the company, particularly given that the highest grade duplicate result of 80.97 g/t gold came from a 1 metre interval that originally assayed 44.63 g/t, confirming the original findings announced on 8 May 2019.

On February 20th, ECR announced it had appointed Dr Dennis Arne to carry out a lithogeochemical study of cuttings (chips) generated by reverse circulation (RC) drilling at Creswick 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. Bringing someone of this calibre in to review the drilling samples is a solid endorsement of Creswick’s potential, and has set tongues wagging amongst the investing cognoscenti across social media channels. In typical understated fashion, ECR said the results of the study “are anticipated to be valuable for the purposes of future exploration at the Creswick.”

Elsewhere in Central Victoria

Activity continues across ECR’s other projects in Central Victoria, with a number of potential exploration programmes for the Bailieston project, (including further drilling at the Blue Moon prospect), are under consideration, along with soil and stream sediment sampling in the Cherry Tree South and Ponting’s areas.

ECR Interests Realigned

With six key projects across Australia, a country estimated to have the largest gold reserves globally, ECR’s CEO Craig Brown and the board have taken the decision to realign the group’s many interests to focus on Victoria Gold Projects, (Creswick, Bailieston, Avoca, Timor & Moormbool) and the Western Australia Windidda Project.

In this regard, on February 5th the group announced the sale of the SLM Gold Project in Argentina to Hanaq Argentina SA, a Chinese-owned company engaged in lithium, base and precious metals exploration.

The move sees ECR retain an NSR (Net Smelter) royalty of up to 2% to a maximum of US$2.7 million in respect of future production from the SLM gold project. Craig Brown stated that he was.. pleased to retain exposure to potential upside from the SLM gold project in the form of a royalty on future production..we believe that Hanaq has the operational capabilities and access to Chinese investment capital necessary to put the SLM project into production. And more importantly, it aligns the group’s operational activities exclusively across the six key Australian projects.

Windidda Progress

While activities across the Victoria projects are well documented, (not least because of the the Bailieston project is adjacent to a prospect territory acquired in 2018 by global mining giant Newmont), ECR has been pushing ahead its Windidda Gold Project based in the Yilgarn region of Western Australia. This consists of a package of nine exploration licence applications covering a 1,600 square kilometre area with the potential to host orogenic gold deposits. At the end of January ECR published an update on Windidda, stating that four exploration licences had been granted in the north-eastern Yilgarn, and announced a further license award on February 20th.

Aside from Gold, the region is also highly prospective for nickel-copper-PGE (platinum group element) mineralisation, so consequently ECR has commissioned a consultant to complete additional geophysical modelling and a review of historical activity reports for areas to the south of Windidda to better understand the potential prospectivity of the project.

Undervalued

The sale of the SLM Gold project has certainly saved ECR from the ongoing costs associated with acquiring and running an exploration license. There was further good news on the funding front too, as the group also received a cash refund for research and development (R&D) expenditure of AU$555,212 (approx GB£295,515), added to which for the year to 30 September 2019, the group carried forward corporate income tax losses of AU$ 66,341,587 (approximately GB£35.3 million) which are expected to be available for offset against future taxable gains.

Despite this, the current market capitalisation of GB£3.6 million reflects little more than the value of the administrative work undertaken to secure the licenses, with no premium whatsoever for the results from Creswick or any of the other work undertaken to ascertain the prospectivity and value of ECR’s projects.

Safe haven

While it seems trite to discuss investment opportunities in the midst of the shock, havoc and terrible human cost wrought on China and the world by CoronaVirus, the event has already significantly impacted on many of the larger resource and energy groups who provide raw materials to satisfy China’s enormous burgeoning economy.

As already highlighted, the impact on the China stock market (and global markets) has to some degree been mitigated by quantitative easing measures by the PBOC, but the consequential weakness in resource and energy stocks has inevitably driven investors to seek returns elsewhere, i.e. gold. So on February 20th, Beijing cut the one-year loan prime rate to 4.05% from 4.15%, prompting China’s banks to further lower the benchmark borrowing costs for new corporate and household loans.

On the subject of rate cuts and easing, Neils Christensen, a journalist at leading bullion website Kitco stated on February 17th that analysts “remain optimistic that (gold) prices can push higher as easing from the People’s Bank of China could ignite a further drop in global interest rates.”

This view is backed by other pundits too. Ole Hansen, head of commodity strategy at Saxo Bank, said that economists are still trying to estimate the full impact the spreading virus will have on the global economy. He added that this uncertainty will continue to support gold prices. “We have seen monumental demand destruction this past month and that won’t be resolved anytime soon,” he said. “Central banks will be forced to ease again, but the question is just how much impact further easing will have.”

As China and the world struggles to get to grips with limiting the spread of CoronaVirus, the strength in the gold price looks likely to be sustained throughout the year. This strength is likely to be reflected in across junior gold mining explorers with strong project portfolios. With the raft of project developments and drilling updates scheduled for early 2020, ECR is likely to benefit from this continued focus.

by Alan Green

As investors await ECR’s Creswick assay results, Windidda survey confirms potential for Gold.

Anticipation builds on Creswick Assay results 

ECR’s investors are eagerly awaiting the remaining assay results to be revealed from the whole-of-bag testing process at the Company’s Creswick Gold project. 

If the partial assay results released on the 27th August 2019 are anything to go by, then investors definitely have something to be hopeful about. The 17 samples tested demonstrate a substantial increase in average gold grades. 

The remaining 113 samples, which are expected to be released in the near future will provide an important insight into Creswick’s potential million ounce resource. So be sure to keep your eyes peeled for any announcements over the coming weeks. 

Windidda Gold Project – Farm-In offer and Positive GeoPhysics survey 

It’s not just Creswick grabbing attention though. ECR revealed at the end of September that they had been approached by a listed mineral exploration company to farm into their Windidda Gold Project in Western Australia. 

Whilst ECR have decided not to proceed with the farm-in, another company looking to come on board is certainly an encouraging indication of the project potential. 

ECR may also be expecting some better offers to come to the table. Given how sought after licenses are in the Yilgarn Craton, not to mention difficult to come by, such a development wouldn’t necessarily come as a surprise given that the area is home to around 30% of the world’s known gold reserves. 

The decision to retain 100% ownership is also an indication of ECR’s own strong belief in its value and confidence in its ability to go it alone. 

“We were fortunate to get the licences at the Yilgarn Craton, given the area’s excellent reputation” CEO Craig Brown told Mining Maven 

“The permissions we have applied for currently are covered by a layer of other rocks, but, most importantly, underneath have significant exposure to that same critical greenstone belt that our peers are utilising successfully. The idea is that we want to drill down through the upper layers into the greenstone, where the large majority of the gold deposits in the Yilgarn Craton are contained. There has been some geophysics completed in the past that boast very positive indications for our work,” he added. 

On the back of this, ECR commisioned Western GeoPhysics to process and interpret existing airborne magnetic and ground gravity data. The survey results announced mid October 2019 noted that the depths to magnetic sources were shallowest on a highly magnetic trend striking NNW-SSE in the western half of the Windidda project area. Added to this, previous gold intersections drilled by North Ltd (NL) in 1998-2000 coincide with the highly magnetic units in the NL Bermuda project area, which lies outside the Windidda project area to the south. 

This magnetic and mineralised ‘Bermuda’ trend projects into Windidda exploration licence application E38-3369, and the modelling results indicate shallow feasible drill targets there. 

“The results of the study by Western Geophysics are most encouraging and demonstrate real potential for the discovery of gold mineralisation”, said Brown. 

“The under-cover greenstone exploration model has been successfully tested to date by Greatland Gold at its Ernest Giles project located approximately 125km east of ECR’s Windidda gold project.” 

Gold price rally could continue into the long-term 

The push by ECR throughout the year to develop and expand its gold exploration activities could not have been timed better. 2019 has been a fantastic year for the precious metal. The gold spot price has rallied by over 25% during the past year, currently hovering around $1,505 per ounce and predicted to continue delivering long-term growth. 

Several geopolitical and economic issues across the world have contributed to this incline and are likely to shape prices further. 

From a volatile oil market, escalating concerns regarding the US-China trade war, ongoing Brexit uncertainty, talk of a global recession, negative bond yields and falling interest rates – all these are resulting in investors turning towards gold. 

Speaking on Palisade Radio, Resource Maven’s Gwen Preston, discusses how global currencies are in a race to the bottom as countries compete for trade, and central banks continue to cut interest rates. She points to the uncertainty facing investors today, and how, as a result they are seeking a safe haven’ which is likely to be gold. 

According to Gwen, “Gold can perform and is performing already against the strong US Dollar. When gold performs against a strong US dollar, it is the mark of a real gold bull market. So I think that is something to grant a lot of confidence to gold moves so far.’ 

Bloomberg’s October commodity update also expect gold’s rally to long continue, predicting that it will beat other commodities and reach record highs. 

“Gold will remain at the top of the precious metals leaderboard, and its performance [will] accelerate into year-end. A definitive reversal in weakening global economic conditions should be needed to reverse this trend, yet further woes in 4Q appear the greater risk,” writes Bloomberg Intelligence senior commodity strategist Mike McGlone. 

Looking beyond this, Frank Holmes CEO at US Global Investors predicts that extremely dovish monetary policies around the world and economic conditions could propel gold prices much higher, possibly even reaching $10,000 oz over the long-term. 

ECR a potential steal 

Such long-term predictions will certainly please the ECR board. Should the remaining assays from their Creswick site prove positive, the company might well undergo a substantial upward re-rating. 

Unlike many of its peers though, ECR mitigates risk across a broad and diverse spread of projects. Hopes and aspirations are high for the Windidda Gold Project, as well as their three additional sites in Victoria, all of which are under active exploration. 

ECR CEO Craig Brown certainly believes the company is well undervalued. “If ECR was listed on the ASX our market cap would be 3-4 times higher” said Brown after a recent ShareTalk evening. Sat at just 0.77p I’d have to agree with him. Either way, ECR’s story is one to keep an eye on. 

Harry Dacres-Dixon

References:

ECR Minerals #ECR – Positive Geophysics Update at Windidda Gold Project Australia

ECR Minerals plc (LON:ECR), the precious metals exploration and development company, is pleased to provide an update with regard to the Company’s Windidda gold project located in the Yilgarn region of Western Australia.

The Windidda gold project includes nine licence applications covering approximately 1,600 square kilometres of the Yilgarn region. The application areas were identified as a potential greenstone hosted orogenic gold exploration opportunity with significant potential to contain Archaean greenstones buried beneath cover. The application process for the licences is ongoing at present.

The focus of this announcement, the processing and interpretation of airborne and ground geophysics, is an important element in the determination of high profile drill targets, enabling the rapid assessment of the potential for gold mineralisation.

HIGHLIGHTS

  • Processing, analysis and interpretation of gravity and open file airborne geophysics survey data covering the Windidda gold project area in Western Australia has been completed by Western Geophysics Pty Ltd on behalf of ECR’s wholly owned Australian subsidiary Mercator Gold Australia Pty Ltd (“MGA”).
  • The aim of the work was to process and interpret available airborne magnetic and ground gravity data to determine the depth of Archaean units below overlying Proterozoic Earaheedy Basin sediments.
  • The modelling results show the depths to magnetic sources are shallowest on the highly magnetic trend striking NNW-SSE in the western half of the Windidda project area.
  • Shallow, altered and mineralised gold intersections drilled by North Ltd in 1998-2000 coincide with the highly magnetic units in their Bermuda project area, which lies outside the Windidda project area to the south.
  • The magnetic and mineralised trend (Bermuda trend) projects into Windidda exploration licence application E38-3369 and the modelling results indicate shallow feasible drill targets there.

Craig Brown, Chief Executive Officer, commented: “The results of the study by Western Geophysics are most encouraging and demonstrate real potential for the discovery of gold mineralisation hosted in under-cover Archaean greenstones in the world-class gold mining environment of Western Australia.

The under-cover greenstone exploration model has been successfully tested to date by Greatland Gold at its Ernest Giles project located approximately 125km east of ECR’s Windidda gold project.

We look forward to moving the Windidda gold project forward and reporting back to the market with further developments.”

 

FURTHER INFORMATION

MGA has nine exploration licence applications located approximately 150km north of Laverton in Western Australia, which comprise the Windidda project. An update on the status of the applications was provided in the Company’s announcement dated 27 September 2019, which may be viewed at the following link:

https://polaris.brighterir.com/public/ecr_minerals_plc/news/rns/story/rm5zl8w

The locations of the exploration licence applications, the regional geology and the gold and base metal (nickel) occurrences in the Gerry Well greenstone belt to the south are shown on Figure 1, which may be viewed at the following link:

https://www.ecrminerals.com/images/2019/10/14/windidda-project-geophreport-wgpx-figure-1.jpg

The Windidda project area is underlain by Proterozoic age sediments of the Earaheedy Basin. The basin rocks unconformably overlie Archaean rocks of the northern margin of the Yilgarn craton.

The geophysical modelling results show the depths to magnetic sources are shallowest on the highly magnetic trend striking NNW-SSE in the western half of the project area. Shallow, altered and mineralised gold intersections from drilling by North Ltd (“North”) in 1998-2000 coincide with the highly magnetic units in their Bermuda project area (labelled “Windidda South” on Figure 1), located outside the Windidda project area to the south. The magnetic and mineralised trend (Bermuda trend) projects into Windidda exploration licence application E38-3369 and the modelling results indicate feasible drill targets there.

The modelling shows increasing depth to the north for central and eastern zones of NNE-SSW striking, strongly magnetic units. Magnetic units at <200 metres BGL (below ground level) are indicated on Lines 2000 and 2001, shown on Figure 18, which may be viewed at the following:

https://www.ecrminerals.com/images/2019/10/14/windidda-project-geophreport-wgpx-figure-18.jpg

In order to advance future exploration, additional geophysics surveys are recommended to lower risk prior to any drilling. These being detailed gravity and high-resolution airborne EM surveys.

Previous work completed by North, located approximately seven kilometres to the south of the southern boundary of Windidda exploration licence application E38-3369, determined the Proterozoic is approximately less than or equal to 100 metres thick with some more shallow areas of Archaean banded iron formation (BIF) and ultramafic formations in subcrop.

A significant amount of work was done there by North (Bermuda project) from 1998 to 2000 including, mapping, drilling, some gravity lines and induced polarisation surveys. Unfortunately, none of the ground geophysics data are lodged in digital format with the West Australian Department of Mines. North concluded: “Significant gold anomalism has been intersected within E38/589. Associated with anomalous gold values are strong alteration zones, major through-going structures and anomalous multi-element geochemistry. All these factors show that E38/589 exhibits significant potential for hosting gold mineralisation and, requires further drilling to test anomalous zones.” The mineralisation is labelled as Windidda South on Figure 1.

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 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 – Unaudited Half-Yearly Results for the Six Months Ended 31 March 2019

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.

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

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 targets expansion in West Australian gold mines – UK Investor Magazine

ECR MineralsThe precious metals exploration company is looking to its Central Victorian Goldfields and the Yilgarn Craton projects in Western Australia as key to its business strategy moving ahead.

Back in January, the AIM-listed firm said it had applied for new applications in the Yilgarn region, which is named the Windidda gold project.

The area covers a total of 523 graticular blocks, which amounts to roughly 1,600 km2 of the Yilgarn Craton.

The area was highlighted as potentially hosting potential greenstone-hosted gold trends.

Last month, ECR Minerals reported significant high-grade gold assays from the reverse circulation (RC) drilling programme recently completed at the Blue Moon prospect in Australia.

Shares shot up as much as 6% on the day of the announcement, as investors welcomed the promising results.

Most recently, the company reported its final results last week, with losses widening slightly for the year.

Specifically, ECR Minerals reported a £550,018 loss for the year to September end, slightly higher than the £511,124 loss reported a year before.

Commenting on the results, Non-Executive Chairman David Tang stated:

“Over the past year, ECR has continued to advance and augment its portfolio of gold exploration projects in Australia, which is one of the world’s principal gold producers and one of the foremost destinations for global mining investment,”

“The board remains confident in ECR’s strategic objective of discovering a multi-million ounce gold deposit, and we look forward to reporting further progress towards this goal,”

Link here to view the article on UK Investor Magazine website

ECR Minerals #ECR – Annual Financial Report & Notice of AGM

ECR Minerals plc is pleased to announce its audited financial statements for the year ended 30 September 2018. The information presented below has been extracted from the Company’s Annual Report and Accounts 2018.

Copies of the Annual Report and Accounts 2018 together with a notice of annual general meeting will be posted to shareholders today and will be available shortly on the Company’s website www.ecrminerals.comand from the Company’s registered office at Unit 117, Chester House, 81-83 Fulham High Street, Fulham Green, London SW6 3JA. The text of the notice of annual general meeting is provided below.

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 413 500
Broker
Nick Emerson

FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS

This announcement may include forward looking statements. Such statements may be subject to numerous 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 because of new information, future events or for any other reason.

The Directors of ECR Minerals plc (the “Directors” or the “Board”) present their report and audited financial statements for the year ended 30 September 2018 for ECR Minerals plc (“ECR”, the “Company” or the “Parent Company”) and on a consolidated basis (the “Group”)

Chairman’s Statement

Over the past year, ECR has continued to advance and augment its portfolio of gold exploration projects in Australia, which is one of the world’s principal gold producers and one of the foremost destinations for global mining investment.

During the financial year ended 30 September 2018 and since the year-end the Company’s wholly owned Australian subsidiary Mercator Gold Australia Pty Ltd (“MGA”) has carried out extensive exploration work in the state of Victoria, with drilling completed at two prospects in the Avoca gold project area during calendar year 2018, followed by drilling at the Creswick gold project in February 2019, and at the Blue Moon and Black Cat prospects in the Bailieston gold project area later the same month. The results of these programmes are discussed in the Chief Executive Officer’s report, to the extent which they are available. I am pleased to note that drilling results announced to date have included some significant intercepts at Blue Moon, the most exciting being 2 metres at 17.87 g/t gold from 57 metres downhole in BBM007, within a zone of 15 metres at 3.81 g/t gold from 51 metres.

In late 2018, the Group moved into another world-class Australian gold province, the Yilgarn Craton in Western Australia. MGA has made nine exploration licence applications over a 1,600 square kilometre land package which has been identified as a potential greenstone-hosted orogenic gold exploration opportunity with significant potential to contain Archaean greenstones buried beneath Permian cover sequences of the Canning Basin.

Importantly, ECR is moving forward from a position of financial strength, having raised £1.35 million (before costs) during calendar year 2018, and with the potential for more than £2 million of further funding to come into the Company through the exercise of warrants issued to investors as part of those fundraisings.

I would like to welcome Sam Garrett to the Board as a non- executive director. Mr Garrett, who is a resident of Australia, holds a Bachelor of Science degree with First Class Honours in Geology and a Master of Economic Geology degree, both from the University of Tasmania. He also holds a Master of Applied Finance degree from Macquarie University in Australia. Mr Garrett has over 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. I am sure that Sam has a valuable contribution to make as a director of ECR.

Christian Dennis resigned as a non-executive director of the Company in July 2018, to focus on his other business interests. The Board would like to thank Christian for his service as a director of ECR and wish him well for the future.

Pleasingly, the gold price has made a healthy start to 2019 by returning to levels in excess of USD 1,300 per troy ounce, and we are hopeful that macroeconomic conditions will see the price rise further in the near future. Regardless, the Board remains confident in ECR’s strategic objective of discovering a multi-million ounce gold deposit, and we look forward to reporting further progress towards this goal.

Chairman

28 March 2019

Chief Executive Officer’s Report

The Group’s concentration on gold exploration in the state of Victoria, Australia, continued apace during the year, as did the exploration boom across the Victorian gold province as a whole. The latter has been driven in large part by the success story which has unfolded at the Fosterville gold mine, which produced more than 350,000 ounces of gold in 2018 and is firmly established as Victoria’s largest gold producer.

At the same time, we have expanded our footprint to Western Australia by applying for a package of nine exploration licences in the Yilgarn Craton, which comprise the Windidda gold project, and maintained our presence in Argentina at the SLM gold project in La Rioja Province.

We are also continuously evaluating potential new opportunities and will engage with those, such as the Windidda project, that we determine may have the potential to enable the achievement of ECR’s primary strategic objective, which is to generate value for shareholders through the discovery of a multi-million ounce gold deposit.

By convention, much of this Chief Executive Officer’s Report relates to activities which have taken place after 30 September 2018. Diamond drilling at the Bung Bong, Monte Christo and Blue Moon prospects was completed prior to the year-end, as was rock-chip sampling in the Byron and Cherry Tree areas. Reverse circulation (RC) drilling at Blue Moon and the Creswick project and rotary air blast (RAB) drilling at the Black Cat prospect has taken place in the current financial year.

GOLD EXPLORATION IN VICTORIA, AUSTRALIA

In Victoria, ECR’s wholly owned Australian subsidiary Mercator Gold Australia Pty Ltd (“MGA”) has 100% ownership of six exploration licences: Avoca (EL5387), Bailieston (EL5433), Creswick (EL006184), Moormbool (EL006280 and EL006913) and Timor (EL006278).

MGA has pending applications for four further exploration licences, two south and south west of the existing licence at Creswick; and two others in the vicinity of the Bailieston and Moormbool project areas, to secure available ground south and south east of a licence applied for by Newmont Exploration Pty Ltd.

In early February 2019, MGA commenced a reverse circulation (RC) drilling programme at Creswick, which was followed by a second RC programme at the Blue Moon prospect in the Bailieston gold project area. In parallel, a rotary air blast (RAB) programme was carried out at the Black Cat prospect, which is also within the Bailieston gold project area.

The Company announced assay results in respect of three holes drilled at Blue Moon on 14 March 2019, with results from a further nine holes expected to be announced soon. Assay results from drilling at Black Cat and Creswick are also expected to be announced in the near future. From the announced Blue Moon results, significant intersections included 2 metres at 17.87 g/t gold from 57 metres down hole in BBM007, within a zone of 15 metres at 3.81 g/t gold from 51 metres.

Bailieston Gold Project – EL5433

The Bailieston project is at the epicentre of the current gold exploration boom in Victoria, being located close to the highly successful Fosterville mine owned by Kirkland Lake Gold. This point is underlined by the arrival of Newmont Exploration in the district with an application for ground immediately to the north of the Black Cat prospect.

Blue Moon Prospect

The focus of activities in the Bailieston project area for the past year has been the Blue Moon prospect. This was identified as a high priority prospect in early 2018 when Dr Rodney Boucher, an experienced Victorian gold geologist, commenced a review of all available data on MGA’s exploration licences (at that time numbering four licences), complemented by geological mapping and geochemical surveys in selected areas. The purpose of this work was to help define targets for a diamond drilling programme extending across a number of MGA’s prospects.

The geochemical surveys utilised a portable XRF to delineate proxy minerals associated with gold. An arsenic- anomalous zone up to 40 metres wide and more than 200 metres long was identified at Blue Moon, and previous work showed anomalism over a further 150 metres to the west. Previous rock chip samples included results of 12.1, 10.1 and 7.0 g/t gold, and previous soil surveys identified gold to 5.0 g/t.

The diamond drilling at Blue Moon was intended to test the arsenic and antimony anomalies identified by the soil geochemical survey completed by MGA in early 2018. Positive results from the drilling were announced in July 2018.

Diamond drill holes BBM001 and BBM002 were designed to establish the dip of the host sandstones and assess the potential for gold mineralisation. Intercepts of 5.45 metres at 0.12 g/t gold from 33.95 metres and 10.0 metres at 0.16 g/t Au from 43.8 metres were obtained in BBM001 and BBM002, respectively. Upon drilling faulted, stockworked sandstone in the first two holes, BBM003 was drilled down dip to test the nature of the cross-cutting faults and veins and to obtain a large number of samples for analysis. An intercept of 39.5 metres at 0.3 g/t gold from 24.2 metres, including 2.7 metres at 1.12 g/t gold from 60 metres, was obtained in BBM003. Intersections given in this paragraph are apparent width.

The gold mineralisation intersected is hosted in an approximately 5.5 metre wide medium-grained sandstone within a thick bioturbated shale. Diorite sills have intruded along the margins of the sandstone. The sandstone is metamorphosed to quartzite and the brittle host showed stockwork vein development in each of the three holes. Small iron-oxide pseudomorphs thought to be of arsenopyrite and pyrite were disseminated throughout the quartzite. Deep weathering of the sandstone meant that no samples of fresh rock could be obtained from the diamond drill holes to verify the minerals.

The high repeatability of the assay results from MGA’s diamond drilling at Blue Moon supports the hypothesis that the prospect is a disseminated gold occurrence comparable to some of the mineralisation exploited at the Fosterville mine approximately 50km away.

Given the deep weathering and the potential for gold depletion in the oxidised sulphides, it was considered possible that higher grades would be encountered at depth in the fresh (un-weathered) rock. Obtaining samples from fresh rock was a key objective of the drilling completed at Blue Moon in February 2019.

The twelve reverse circulation (RC) holes (BBM004-15) completed at Blue Moon by MGA aimed to intercept the sandstone on 50 metre spacing across three sections and to gain samples from beneath the oxide zone.

Assay results have been announced for holes BBM007, BBM006 and BBM004, and have shown both high grade intervals and significant widths of anomalous gold grades. As well as 2 metres at 17.87 g/t gold from 57 metres down hole in BBM007, within a zone of 15 metres at 3.81 g/t gold from 51 metres, an intersection of 3 metres at 3.88 g/t gold from 170 metres down hole within a zone of 11 metres at 2.42 g/t gold from 169 metres in hole BBM006 has been announced. Intersections given in this paragraph are apparent width.

These results indicate that a high grade zone exists within the target sandstone host. Further drill results and interpretation will be required to understand any concentration of mineralisation within shoots.

The base of the oxide zone was at 64 metres in BBM007 within the host sandstone. Visible gold was seen in three samples (3 metres at 13.4 g/t gold from 57-60 metres) and it is possible these are elevated gold values as a result of supergene enrichment close to the base of the oxide zone. BBM004 & 6 intercepted the host sandstone beneath the oxide zone. Logging recorded estimates of up to 4% pyrite and 2% arsenopyrite with minor quartz. No visible gold was seen in these samples.

In addition to Blue Moon, two further prospects with similar characteristics at surface, namely anomalous arsenic and broad areas of quartz float, have been identified within an approximately 3km radius. MGA will be further assessing these prospects, referred to as Red Moon and Yellow Moon, in the months to come.

Black Cat Prospect

Black Cat is among the high priority targets identified by the geophysical interpretation and targeting study completed for MGA by Terra Resources in late 2017 and has not been previously drilled. The prospect is immediately south of ground recently applied for by Newmont Exploration and contains 220 metres of historical workings along three known lines of quartz reef. Strong gold-in-soil anomalism in some areas indicates unworked reefs may remain to be discovered, and rock chip sampling of quartz-poor material indicates potential for disseminated gold. Rock chip samples at Black Cat have returned encouraging grades up to 11.3 g/t gold.

Rotary air blast (RAB) drilling is a low cost method well suited to the first pass testing required at Black Cat, and a 450 metre RAB programme commenced in February 2019.

Other Prospects at Bailieston

Away from Black Cat and the ‘Moon’ prospects, exploration work at Bailieston included 151 surface rock chip samples to help assess targets in the Byron and Cherry Tree areas, which contain numerous northwest trending quartz reefs, including the Byron, Scoulars and Maori reefs that were drilled by MGA in 2017. Of these samples, 51 returned gold grades in excess of 0.5 g/t, with the highest being 67.4 g/t. Of the high grade samples, 26 were re-assayed in accordance with common QA/QC practice, and the repeat assays demonstrated good consistency with the first round of assays.

Creswick Gold Project – EL006184

The Creswick project targets gold mineralisation hosted within the Dimocks Main Shale (DMS), which extends over a 15km trend from the mining centre of Ballarat to the south, approximately 7km of which is covered by EL006184 and MGA’s two exploration licence applications. In the project area, the DMS is an approximately 25 metre wide shale containing bedding and cleavage-parallel auriferous quartz veins. Only two holes have previously been drilled to test the DMS within EL006184, both in the 1990s. The results of this drilling included an intercept of 2 metres at 12.28 g/t gold. The best previous drill intercept into the DMS elsewhere is 2 metres at 176 g/t gold.

Avoca Gold Project – EL5387

MGA drill-tested two gold prospects in the Avoca project area in April and May 2018, also following Dr Boucher’s data review, mapping and geochemical surveying. Five holes were completed at the Bung Bong prospect using a diamond core rig. Thereafter, the rig moved to the Monte Christo prospect, where two holes were drilled. Assay results were announced in early June 2018.

All five holes at Bung Bong and the two holes at Monte Christo fulfilled their intended purpose, which was to test the structural architecture of the target areas. The holes were the first ever drilled at both Bung Bong and Monte Christo, and gold mineralisation was intersected at both prospects, although no high-grade shoots were encountered.

WESTERN AUSTRALIA

Windidda Gold Project

In December 2018, MGA submitted nine contiguous exploration licence applications covering a 1,600 square kilometre package of ground prospective for gold mineralisation in the Yilgarn region of Western Australia, east of the town of Wiluna. The application package is to be known as the Windidda gold project.

Archaean greenstones host many of Western Australia and the world’s most prolific gold deposits, and the Windidda applications cover a significant proportion of an identified gravity-magnetic trend with known gold prospects along trend in outcropping greenstone to the south (outside the application areas).

The under-cover greenstone gold exploration model has been successfully tested by Greatland Gold (LON:GGP) at its Ernest Giles project located approximately 125km east of the Windidda project.

Previous exploration within the Windidda project area has targeted base metal and manganese deposits within the cover sequences. Gravity and magnetic anomalies interpreted to be hosted in greenstone units beneath the cover have not been targeted. These targets are expected to be amenable to aircore drilling to enable rapid assessment of potential for gold mineralisation, after the exploration licences are granted.

Iceberg Gold Project

The Company secured an option over the Iceberg project in Western Australia in August 2018, but after completing its due diligence, elected not to proceed with the acquisition.

FINANCIAL RESULTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 SEPTEMBER 2018

For the year to 30 September 2018 the Group recorded a total comprehensive expense of £721,460, compared with £562,649 for the year to 30 September 2018.

The largest contributor to the total comprehensive expense was the line item “other administrative expenses”, which represents the costs of operating the Group and carrying out exploration at its projects, where these costs are ineligible for capitalisation under applicable accounting standards.

The Group’s net assets at 30 September 2018 were £3,651,545, in comparison with £3,735,225 at 30 September 2017. The decrease is due to increased exploration assets as a result of the capitalisation of exploration expenditure during the year being offset by a reduction in cash and cash equivalents.

Craig Brown

Chief Executive Officer

Independent Auditor’s Report

For the year ended 30 September 2018

Independent Auditor’s Report to the Members of ECR Minerals Plc

Opinion

We have audited the financial statements of ECR Minerals Plc (the ‘parent company’) and its subsidiaries (the ‘group’) for the year ended 30 September 2018 which comprise the Consolidated Income Statement, the Consolidated Statement of Comprehensive Income, the Consolidated and Parent Company Statement of Financial Position, the Consolidated and Parent Company Statements of Changes in Equity, the Consolidated and Parent Company Statements of Cash Flows and notes to the financial statements, including a summary of significant accounting policies. The financial reporting framework that has been applied in their preparation is applicable law and International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRSs) as adopted by the European Union and as regards the parent company financial statements, as applied in accordance with the provisions of the Companies Act 2006.

In our opinion:

  • the financial statements give a true and fair view of the state of the group’s and of the parent company’s affairs as at 30 September 2018 and of the group’s and parent company’s loss for the year then ended;
  • the group financial statements have been properly prepared in accordance with IFRSs as adopted by the European Union;
  • the parent company financial statements have been properly prepared in accordance with IFRSs as adopted by the European Union and as applied in accordance with the provisions of the Companies Act 2006; and
  • the financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006.

Basis for opinion

We conducted our audit in accordance with International Standards on Auditing (UK) (ISAs (UK)) and applicable law. Our responsibilities under those standards are further described in the Auditor’s responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements section of our report. We are independent of the group and parent company in accordance with the ethical requirements that are relevant to our audit of the financial statements in the UK, including the FRC’s Ethical Standard as applied to listed entities, and we have fulfilled our other ethical responsibilities in accordance with these requirements. We believe that the audit evidence we have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion.

Conclusions relating to going concern

We have nothing to report in respect of the following matters in relation to which the ISAs (UK) require us to report to you where:

  • the directors’ use of the going concern basis of accounting in the preparation of the financial statements is not appropriate; or
  • the directors have not disclosed in the financial statements any identified material uncertainties that may cast significant doubt about the group’s or the parent company’s ability to continue to adopt the going concern basis of accounting for a period of at least twelve months from the date when the financial statements are authorised for issue.

Our application of materiality

The scope of our audit was influenced by our application of materiality. The quantitative and qualitative thresholds for materiality determine the scope of our audit and the nature, timing and extent of our audit procedures. Group materiality was £60,000 based upon gross assets and the loss before tax. The Parent Company materiality was £55,000 based upon gross assets and the result for the year. For each component in the scope of our group audit, we allocated a materiality that is either equal to or less than our overall group materiality.

An overview of the scope of our audit

As part of designing our audit, we determined materiality and assessed the risk of material misstatement in the financial statements. In particular, we looked at areas involving significant accounting estimates and judgement by the Directors and considered future events that are inherently uncertain. As in all of our audits, we also addressed the risk of management override of internal controls, including among other matters consideration of whether there was evidence of bias that represented a risk of material misstatement due to fraud. The Australian and Argentinian subsidiary undertakings represent the principal business units within the Group, upon which we performed audit procedures directly on significant accounts based on size or risk profile to the Group. A full scope audit was undertaken on the financial statements of the Parent Company.

Key audit matters

Key audit matters are those matters that, in our professional judgment, were of most significance in our audit of the financial statements of the current period and include the most significant assessed risks of material misstatement (whether or not due to fraud) we identified, including those which had the greatest effect on: the overall audit strategy, the allocation of resources in the audit; and directing the efforts of the engagement team. This matter was addressed in the context of our audit of the financial statements as a whole, and in forming our opinion thereon, and we do not provide a separate opinion on this matter.

Key Audit Matter How the scope of our audit responded to the key audit matter
Recoverability of intangible assets – exploration and development costs (refer note 10)

The carrying value of intangible assets as at 30 September 2018 is £2,859,474 which comprises exploration and development projects in Australia, Argentina and the Philippines. The carrying value of these intangible assets are tested annually for impairment. There is a risk that the carrying value of these early stage projects is impaired and that the exploration and development expenditure

capitalised during the year is not in accordance with IFRS 6.

The carrying value of all early stage exploration and development projects were assessed and tested in accordance with the following criteria:

  • The Group holds good title to the licence areas;
  • The Group has planned and budgeted for further expenditure for mineral resources in the licence areas; and
  • Exploration and development work undertaken to date has indicated the existence of commercially viable quantities of mineral resource.

We undertook substantive testing on capitalised expenditure during the year to ensure it satisfied the criteria under IFRS 6.

We discussed with management the scope of their future budgeted and planned expenditure on each licence area.

As disclosed in note 10 to the financial statements, the Group has not formally acquired title to its 25% interest in Cordillera Tiger Gold Resources, Inc (“Cordillera”) which is the holder of the exploration permit for the Danglay gold project in the Philippines. The conditions for the

earn-in have been satisfied but the relevant shareholding has yet to be issued, despite the Board of Cordillera authorising the issue. In addition, the exploration permit for the Danglay gold project held by Cordillera expired on 30 September 2015. Cordillera is currently waiting

for the Philippine authority to formally grant its renewal application. This indicates the existence of a material uncertainty over the recoverability of the carrying value of the Danglay gold project, which amounted to £1,176,729 as at 30 September 2018.

Other information

The other information comprises the information included in the annual report, other than the financial statements and our auditor’s report thereon. The directors are responsible for the other information. Our opinion on the group and parent company financial statements does not cover the other information and, except to the extent otherwise explicitly stated in our report, we do not express any form of assurance conclusion thereon. In connection with our audit of the financial statements, our responsibility is to read the other information and, in doing so, consider whether the other information is materially inconsistent with the financial statements or our knowledge obtained in the audit or otherwise appears to be materially misstated. If we identify such material inconsistencies or apparent material misstatements, we are required to determine whether there is a material misstatement in the financial statements or a material misstatement of the other information.

If, based on the work we have performed, we conclude that there is a material misstatement of this other information, we are required to report that fact.

We have nothing to report in this regard.

Opinions on other matters prescribed by the Companies Act 2006

In our opinion, based on the work undertaken in the course of the audit:

  • the information given in the strategic report and the directors’ report for the financial year for which the financial statements are prepared is consistent with the financial statements; and
  • the strategic report and the directors’ report have been prepared in accordance with applicable legal requirements.

Matters on which we are required to report by exception

In the light of the knowledge and understanding of the group and the parent company and their environment obtained in the course of the audit, we have not identified material misstatements in the strategic report or the directors’ report.

We have nothing to report in respect of the following matters in relation to which the Companies Act 2006 requires us to report to you if, in our opinion:

  • adequate accounting records have not been kept by the parent company, or returns adequate for our audit have not been received from branches not visited by us; or
  • the parent company financial statements are not in agreement with the accounting records and returns; or
  • certain disclosures of directors’ remuneration specified by law are not made; or
  • we have not received all the information and explanations we require for our audit.

Responsibilities of directors

As explained more fully in the directors’ responsibilities statement, the directors are responsible for the preparation of the group and parent company financial statements and for being satisfied that they give a true and fair view, and for such internal control as the directors determine is necessary to enable the preparation of financial statements that are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error.

In preparing the group and parent company financial statements, the directors are responsible for assessing the group’s and the parent company’s ability to continue as a going concern, disclosing, as applicable, matters related to going concern and using the going concern basis of accounting unless the directors either intend to liquidate the group or the parent company or to cease operations, or have no realistic alternative but to do so.

Auditor’s responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements

Our objectives are to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements as a whole are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error, and to issue an auditor’s report that includes our opinion. Reasonable assurance is a high level of assurance, but is not a guarantee that an audit conducted in accordance with ISAs (UK) will always detect a material misstatement when it exists. Misstatements can arise from fraud or error and are considered material if, individually or in the aggregate, they could reasonably be expected to influence the economic decisions of users taken on the basis of these financial statements.

A further description of our responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements is located on the Financial Reporting Council’s website at: http://www.frc.org.uk/auditorsresponsibilities. This description forms part of our auditor’s report.

Use of our report

This report is made solely to the company’s members, as a body, in accordance with Chapter 3 of Part 16 of the Companies Act 2006. Our audit work has been undertaken so that we might state to the company’s members those matters we are required to state to them in an auditor’s report and for no other purpose. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we do not accept or assume responsibility to anyone, other than the company and the company’s members as a body, for our audit work, for this report, or for the opinions we have formed.

David Thompson (Senior statutory auditor)

For and on behalf of PKF Littlejohn LLP

Statutory auditor

28 March 2019 Consolidated Income Statement

For the year ended 30 September 2018

Year ended Year ended
30 September 2018 30 September 2017
Note £ £
Continuing operations

Other administrative expenses

(544,521)

(509,545)

Currency exchange differences (6,912) (3,186)
Total administrative expenses (551,433) (512,731)

Operating loss

3

(551,433)

(512,731)

Loss on disposal of investment (1)
Fair value movements – available for sale financial asset 9 (971) 1,255
(552,404) (511,477)

Financial income

7

1,386

353

Financial expense 1,000
Finance income and costs 2,386 353

Loss for the year before taxation

Income tax

5

(550,018)

(511,124)

Loss for the year from continuing operations (550,018) (511,124)
Loss for the year – all attributable to owners of the parent (550,018) (511,124)

Earnings per share – basic and diluted

On continuing operations

4

(0.21)p

(0.31)p

The Company has elected to take the exemption under section 408 of the Companies Act 2006 from presenting the parent company profit and loss account. The loss for the parent company for the year was £373,149 (2017: £208,774 loss).

Consolidated Statement of Comprehensive Income

For the year ended 30 September 2018

Year ended Year ended
30 September 2018 30 September 2017
£ £
Loss for the year (550,018) (511,124)
Items that may be reclassified subsequently to profit or loss

Loss on exchange translation

(171,442)

(51,524)

Other comprehensive expense for the year (171,442) (51,524)
Total comprehensive expense for the year (721,460) (562,648)

Attributable to:- Owners of the parent

(721,460)

(562,648)

The notes on pages 26 to 41 are an integral part of these financial statements.

Consolidated & Company Statement of Financial Position

At 30 September 2018

Group

Company

30 September

30 September

30 September

30 September

Note

2018

£

2017

£

2018

£

2017

£

Assets
Non-current assets
Property, plant and equipment 8 3,033 8,694 1,764 7,020
Investments in subsidiaries 9 852,728 852,170
Intangible assets 10 2,859,474 2,668,747 2,256,309 2,180,312
Other receivables 11 538,494 240,970
2,862,507 2,677,441 3,649,295 3,280,472

Current assets

Trade and other receivables 11 79,413 54,888 471,670 281,901
Available for sale financial assets 9 21,299 22,269 21,299 22,269
Cash and cash equivalents 12 781,142 1,082,994 749,025 1,046,787
881,854 1,160,151 1,241,994 1,350,957
Total assets 3,744,361 3,837,592 4,891,289 4,631,429

Current liabilities

Trade and other payables 14 92,816 102,367 75,662 80,432
92,816 102,367 75,662 80,432
Total liabilities 92,816 102,367 75,662 80,432
Net assets 3,651,545 3,735,225 4,815,627 4,550,997
Equity attributable to owners of the parent
Share capital 13 11,283,756 11,282,812 11,283,756 11,282,812
Share premium 13 44,460,171 43,823,335 44,460,171 43,823,335
Exchange reserve (389,501) (218,059)
Other reserves 1,381,998 1,381,998 1,381,998 1,381,998
Retained losses (53,084,879) (52,534,860) (52,310,298) (51,937,148)
Total equity 3,651,545 3,735,225 4,815,627 4,550,997

The financial statements were approved and authorised for issue by the Directors on 28 March 2019 and were signed on its behalf by:

Weili (David) Tang Craig Brown
Non–Executive Chairman Director & Chief Executive Officer

Consolidated Statement of Changes in Equity

For the year ended 30 September 2018

Share capital Share premium Exchange reserve Other reserves Retained reserves
(Note 13) (Note 13) Total
£ £ £ £ £ £
Balance at 30 September 2016 11,281,628 42,441,553 (166,535) 1,147,717 (52,023,736) 2,680,627
Loss for the year (511,124) (511,124)
Loss on exchange translation

(51,524) (51,524)

Total comprehensive expense

(51,524) (511,124) (562,648)

Shares issued

1,109

1,552,455 1,553,564

Share issue costs

(84,878) (84,878)

Share based payments

(166,739) 234,281 67,542

Shares issued in payment of creditors

75

80,944

81,019

Total transactions with owners,

recognised directly in equity

1,184

1,381,782

234,281

1,617,247

Balance at 30 September 2017

11,282,812

43,823,335 (218,059)

1,381,998

(52,534,860)

3,735,226

Loss for the year

(550,018)

(550,018)

Gain/loss on exchange translation

(171,442)

(171,442)

Total comprehensive expense

(171,442)

(550,018)

(721,460)

Shares issued

929

649,071

650,000
Share issue costs

(27,220)

(27,220)
Warrants issued in lieu
of finance cost

Shares issued in payment
of creditors
15

14,985

15,000

Total transactions with owners, recognised directly in equity

944

636,836

637,780

Balance at 30 September 2018 11,283,756 44,460,171

(389,501)

1,381,998

(53,084,878)

3,651,546

Company Statement of Changes in Equity

For the year ended 30 September 2018

Share capital Share premium Other reserves Retained reserves
(Note 13) (Note 13) Total
£ £ £ £ £
Balance at 30 September 2016 11,281,628 42,441,553 1,147,717 (51,728,374) 3,142,524
Loss for the year (208,774) (208,774)
Total comprehensive expense (208,774) (208,774)
Shares issued 1,109 1,552,455 1,553,564
Share issue costs (84,878) (84,878)
Share based payments (166,739) 234,281 67,542
Shares issued in payment of creditors 75 80,944 81,019
Total transactions with owners, recognised directly in equity

1,184

1,381,782

234,281

1,617,247

Balance at 30 September 2017 11,282,812 43,823,335 1,381,998 (51,937,148) 4,550,997
Loss for the year (373,149) (373,149)
Total comprehensive expense (373,149) (373,149)
Shares issued 929 649,071 650,000
Share issue costs (27,220) (27,220)
Shares issued in payment of creditors 15 14,985 15,000
Total transactions with owners, recognised
directly in equity 944 636,836

637,780

Balance at 30 September 2018 11,283,756 44,460,171

1,381,998

(52,310,297)

4,815,628

Consolidated & Company Cash Flow Statement

For the year ended 30 September 2018

Group

Company

Year ended 30 September

Year ended 30 September

Year ended 30 September

Year ended 30 September

Note

2018

£

2017

£

2018

£

2017

£

Net cash flow used in operations 21 (563,850) (569,016) (547,730) (511,307)
Investing activities
Purchase of property, plant & equipment (6,174) (4,082)
Increase in exploration assets 10 (302,794) (231,140) (75,998) (104,209)
Investment in subsidiaries (558) (112,070)
Loan to subsidiary (297,524) (133,629)
Interest income 1,386 353 1,268 233
Net cash used in investing activities (301,408) (236,961) (372,812) (353,757)
Financing activities
Proceeds from issue of share capital 622,780 1,468,686 622,780 1,468,686
Net cash from financing activities 622,780 1,468,686 622,780 1,468,686
Net change in cash and cash equivalents (242,478) 662,709 (297,762) 603,622
Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of the year 1,082,994 471,809 1,046,787 443,165
Effect of changes in foreign exchange rates (59,374) (51,524)
Cash and cash equivalents at end of the year 12 781,142 1,082,994 749,025 1,046,787

Non-cash transactions:

1. Settlement of creditors of £15,000 (2017: £80,994) with ordinary shares.

Notes to the Financial Statements

For the year ended 30 September 2018

1 General information

The Company and the Group operated mineral exploration and development projects. The Group’s principal interests are located in Argentina, the Philippines and Australia.

The Company is a public limited company incorporated and domiciled in England. The registered office of the Company and its principal place of business is Unit 117, Chester House, 81-83 Fulham High Street, Fulham Green, London SW6 3JA. The Company is listed on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM) of the London Stock Exchange.

2 Accounting policies

Overall considerations

The principal accounting policies that have been used in the preparation of these consolidated financial statements are set out below. The policies have been consistently applied unless otherwise stated.

Basis of preparation

The financial statements of both the Group and the Parent Company have been prepared in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRSs) and Interpretations issued by the IFRS Interpretations Committee (IFRIC) as adopted by the European Union and with those parts of the Companies Act 2006 applicable to companies reporting under IFRS. These are the standards, subsequent amendments and related interpretations issued and adopted by the International Accounting Standard Board (IASB) that have been endorsed by the European Union at the year end. The consolidated financial statements have been prepared under the historical cost convention, as modified by the revaluation of certain financial instruments. The Directors have taken advantage of the exemption available under Section 408 of the Companies Act 2006 and have not prepared an Income Statement or a Statement of Comprehensive Income for the Company alone.

The Group and Parent Company financial statements have been prepared on a going concern basis as explained in the Directors’ Report.

New accounting standards and interpretations

Effective during the year

During the year the Group has adopted the following standards and amendments:

  • Annual Improvements to IFRSs 2014–2016 Cycle
  • Amendments to IAS 12: Recognition of Deferred Tax Assets for Unrealised Losses
  • Amendments to IAS 7: Disclosure Initiative

The adoption of these standards and amendments did not have any impact on the financial position or performance of the Group.

Not yet effective

At the date of authorisation of these Group Financial Statements and the Parent Company Financial Statements, the following Standards, amendments and interpretations were endorsed by the EU but not yet effective:

IFRS 15 Revenue from Contracts with Customers including amendments to IFRS 15

  • Clarifications to IFRS 15 Revenue from Contracts with Customers
  • IFRS 9 Financial Instruments
  • IFRS 16 Leases
  • Amendments to IFRS 2: Classification and Measurement of Share-based Payment Transactions
  • IFRIC Interpretation 22 Foreign Currency Transactions and Advance Consideration
  • IFRIC 23 Uncertainty over Income Tax Treatments
  • Amendments to IAS 28 Long-term Interests in Associates and Joint Ventures

In addition to the above there are also the following standards and amendments that have not yet been endorsed by the EU:

  • Annual Improvements to IFRS Standards 2015-2017 Cycle
  • Amendments to IFRS 3 Business Combinations
  • Amendments to IAS 1 and IAS 8 Definition of Material

The Group intends to adopt these standards when they become effective. The introduction of these new standards and amendments is not expected to have a material impact on the Group or Parent Company.

Basis of consolidation

The consolidated financial statements incorporate the financial statements of the Company and two of its subsidiaries made up to 30 September 2018. Subsidiary undertakings acquired during the period are recorded under the acquisition method of accounting and their results consolidated from the date of acquisition, being the date on which the Company obtains control, and continue to be consolidated until the date such control ceases.

The Group controls an entity when the Group is exposed to, or has rights to, variable returns from its involvement with the entity and has the ability to affect those returns through its power over the entity.

Going concern

It is the prime responsibility of the Board to ensure the Group and Company remains a going concern. At 30 September 2018, the Group had cash and cash equivalents of £781,142 and no borrowings. The Group’s financial projections and cash flow forecasts covering a period of at least twelve months from the date of approval of these financial statements show that the Group will have sufficient available funds in order to meet its contracted and committed expenditure. Further details are included in Note 19 to the financial statements. The Directors are confident in the ability of the Group to raise additional funding, if required, from the issue of equity and/or the sale of assets.

Based on their assessment of the financial position, the Directors have a reasonable expectation that the Group and Company will be able to continue in operational existence for the next 12 months and continue to adopt the going concern basis of accounting in preparing these Financial Statements.

Cash and cash equivalents

Cash includes petty cash and cash held in current bank 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.

Property, plant and equipment

Property, plant and equipment are stated at cost, less accumulated depreciation and any provision for impairment losses.

Depreciation is charged on each part of an item of property, plant and equipment so as to write off the cost of assets less the residual value over their estimated useful lives, using the straight–line method. Depreciation is charged to the income statement. The estimated useful lives are as follows:

Office equipment 3 years
Furniture and fittings 5 years
Machinery and equipment 5 years

Expenses incurred in respect of the maintenance and repair of property, plant and equipment are charged against income when incurred. Refurbishments and improvements expenditure, where the benefit is expected to be long lasting, is capitalised as part of the appropriate asset.

An item of property, plant and equipment ceases to be recognised upon disposal or when no future economic benefits are expected from its use or disposal. Any gain or loss arising on cessation of recognition of the asset (calculated as the difference between the net disposal proceeds and the carrying amount of the asset) is included in the income statement in the year the asset ceases to be recognised.

Exploration and development costs

All costs associated with mineral exploration and investments are capitalised on a project–by–project basis, pending determination of the feasibility of the project. Costs incurred include appropriate technical and administrative expenses but not general overheads. If an exploration project is successful, the related expenditures will be transferred to mining assets and amortised over the estimated life of the commercial ore reserves on a unit of production basis. Where a licence is relinquished or a project abandoned, the related costs are written off in the period in which the event occurs. Where the Group maintains an interest in a project, but the value of the project is considered to be impaired, a provision against the relevant capitalised costs will be raised.

The recoverability of all exploration and development costs is dependent upon the discovery of economically recoverable reserves, the ability of the Group to obtain necessary financing to complete the development of reserves and future profitable production or proceeds from the disposition thereof.

Impairment testing

Individual assets are tested for impairment whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying amount of an asset may exceed its recoverable amount, being the higher of net realisable value and value in use. Any such excess of carrying value over recoverable amount or value in use is taken as a debit to the income statement.

Intangible exploration assets are not subject to amortisation and are tested annually for impairment.

Provisions

A provision is recognised in the Statement of Financial Position when the Group or Company has a present legal or constructive obligation as a result of a past event, and it is probable that an outflow of economic benefits will be required to settle the obligation. If the effect is material, provisions are determined by discounting the expected future cash flows at a pre–tax rate that reflects current market assessments of the time value of money and, where appropriate, the risks specific to the liability.

Leased assets

In accordance with IAS 17, leases in terms of which the Group or Company assumes substantially all the risks and rewards of ownership are classified as finance leases. All other leases are regarded as operating leases and the payments made under them are charged to the income statement on a straight line basis over the lease term.

Taxation

There is no current tax payable in view of the losses to date.

Deferred income taxes are calculated using the Statement of Financial Position liability method on temporary differences. Deferred tax is generally provided on the difference between the carrying amounts of assets and liabilities and their tax bases. However, deferred tax is not provided on the initial recognition of goodwill or on the initial recognition of an asset or liability unless the related transaction is a business combination or affects tax or accounting profit. Deferred tax on temporary differences associated with shares in subsidiaries and joint ventures is not provided if reversal of these temporary differences can be controlled by the Company and it is probable that reversal will not occur in the foreseeable future.

In addition, tax losses available to be carried forward as well as other income tax credits to the Company are assessed for recognition as deferred tax assets.

Deferred tax liabilities are provided in full, with no discounting. Deferred tax assets are recognised to the extent that it is probable that the underlying deductible temporary differences will be able to be offset against future taxable income. Current and deferred tax assets and liabilities are calculated at tax rates that are expected to apply to their respective period of realisation, provided they are enacted or substantively enacted at the Statement of Financial Position date.

Changes in deferred tax assets or liabilities are recognised as a component of tax expense in the income statement, except where they relate to items that are charged or credited directly to equity, in which case the related current or deferred tax is also charged or credited directly to equity.

Investments in subsidiaries

Subsidiaries are entities controlled by the Group. The Group controls an entity when it is exposed to, or has rights to, variable returns from its involvement with the entity and has the ability to affect those returns through its power over the entity.

The investments in subsidiaries held by the Company are valued at cost less any provision for impairment that is considered to have occurred, the resultant loss being recognised in the income statement.

Equity

Equity comprises the following:

  • “Share capital” represents the nominal value of equity shares, both ordinary and deferred.
  • “Share premium” represents the excess over nominal value of the fair value of consideration received for equity shares, net of expenses of the share issues.
  • “Other reserves” represent the fair values of share options and warrants issued.
  • “Retained reserves” include all current and prior year results, including fair value adjustments on available for sale financial assets, as disclosed in the consolidated statement of comprehensive income.
  • “Exchange reserve” includes the amounts described in more detail in the following note on foreign currency below.

Foreign currency translation

The consolidated financial statements are presented in pounds sterling which is the functional and presentational currency representing the primary economic environment of the Group.

Foreign currency transactions are translated into the respective functional currencies of the Company and its subsidiaries using the exchange rates prevailing at the date of the transaction or at an average rate where it is not practicable to translate individual transactions. Foreign exchange gains and losses are recognised in the income statement.

Monetary assets and liabilities denominated in a foreign currency are translated at the rates ruling at the Statement of Financial Position date.

The assets and liabilities of the Group’s foreign operations are translated at exchange rates ruling at the Statement of Financial Position date. Income and expense items are translated at the average rates for the period. Exchange differences are classified as equity and transferred to the Group’s exchange reserve. Such differences are recognised in the income statement in the periods in which the operation is disposed of.

Share–based payments

The Company operates equity–settled share–based remuneration plans for the remuneration of some of its employees. The Company awards share options to certain Company Directors and employees to acquire shares of the Company. Additionally, the Company has issued warrants to providers of loan finance.

All goods and services received in exchange for the grant of any share–based payment are measured at their fair values. Where employees are rewarded using share–based payments, the fair values of employees’ services are determined indirectly by reference to the fair value of the instrument granted to the employee. The fair value is appraised at the grant date and excludes the impact of non–market vesting conditions. Fair value is measured by use of the Black Scholes model. The expected life used in the model has been adjusted, based on management’s best estimate, for the effects of non–transferability, exercise restrictions, and behavioural considerations.

All equity–settled share–based payments are ultimately recognised as an expense in the income statement with a corresponding credit to “other reserves”.

If vesting periods or other non–market vesting conditions apply, the expense is allocated over the vesting period, based on the best available estimate of the number of share options expected to vest. Estimates are subsequently revised if there is any indication that the number of share options expected to vest differs from previous estimates. Any cumulative adjustment prior to vesting is recognised in the current period. No adjustment is made to any expense recognised in prior years if share options ultimately exercised are different to that estimated on vesting.

Upon exercise of share options the proceeds received net of attributable transaction costs are credited to share capital and, where appropriate, share premium.

A gain or loss is recognised in profit or loss when a financial liability is settled through the issuance of the Company’s own equity instruments. The amount of the gain or loss is calculated as the difference between the carrying value of the financial liability extinguished and the fair value of the equity instrument issued.

Financial instruments

The Group’s financial assets comprise cash and cash equivalents, investments and loans and receivables. Financial assets are assigned to the respective categories on initial recognition, depending on the purpose for which they were acquired. This designation is re–evaluated at every reporting date at which a choice of classification or accounting treatment is available.

The Group’s loans, investments and receivables are non–derivative financial assets with fixed or determinable payments that are not quoted in an active market. Loans and receivables are measured at fair value on initial recognition. After initial recognition they are measured at amortised cost using the effective interest rate method, less any provision for impairment. Any change in their value is recognised in profit or loss. The Group’s receivables fall into this category of financial instruments. Discounting is omitted where the effect of discounting is immaterial. All receivables are considered for impairment on a case–by–case basis when they are past due at the Statement of Financial Position date or when objective evidence is received that a specific counterparty will default.

Investments that are held as available for sale financial assets are financial assets that are not classified in any other categories. After initial recognition, available for sale financial assets are measured at fair value. Any gains or losses from changes in the fair value of the financial asset are recognised in equity, except that impairment losses, foreign exchange gains and losses on monetary items and interest calculated using the effective interest method are recognised in the income statement.

Where there is a significant or prolonged decline in the fair value of an available for sale financial asset (which constitutes objective evidence of impairment), the full amount of the impairment, including any amount previously charged to equity, is recognised in the consolidated income statement. The Directors consider a significant decline to be one in which the fair value is below the weighted average cost by more than 25%. A prolonged decline is considered to be one in which the fair value is below the weighted average cost for a period of more than twelve months.

If an available for sale equity security is impaired, any further declines in the fair value at subsequent reporting dates are recognised as impairments. Reversals of impairments of available for sale equity securities are not recorded through the income statement. Upon sale, accumulated gains or losses are recycled through the income statement.

Financial liabilities, which are measured at amortised cost, and equity instruments are classified according to the substance of the contractual arrangements entered into. An equity instrument is any contract that evidences a residual interest in the assets of the entity after deducting all of its financial liabilities. Any instrument that includes a repayment obligation is classified as a liability.

Where the contractual liabilities of financial instruments (including share capital) are equivalent to a similar debt instrument, those financial instruments are classed as financial liabilities, and are presented as such in the Statement of Financial Position. Finance costs and gains or losses relating to financial liabilities are included in the income statement. Finance costs are calculated so as to produce a constant rate of return on the outstanding liability.

Where the contractual terms of share capital do not have any features meeting the definition of a financial liability then

such capital is classed as an equity instrument. Dividends and distributions relating to equity instruments are debited direct to equity.

Critical accounting estimates and judgements

The preparation of financial statements in conformity with IFRSs requires management to make judgements, estimates and assumptions that affect the application of policies and reported amounts of assets and liabilities, income and expenses. The estimates and associated assumptions are based on historical experience and various other factors that are believed to be reasonable under the circumstances, the results of which form the basis of making the judgements about carrying values of assets and liabilities that are not readily apparent from other sources. Actual results may differ from these estimates.

The estimates and underlying assumptions are reviewed on an on–going basis. Revisions to accounting estimates are recognised in the year in which the estimate is revised if the revision affects only that year or in the year of the revision and future years if the revision affects both current and future years.

The most critical accounting policies and estimates in determining the financial condition and results of the Group are those requiring the greater degree of subjective or complete judgement. These relate to:

  • capitalisation and recoverability of exploration costs (Note 10);
  • share–based payments (Note 6 and Note 13).

3

Operating loss

Year ended
30 September
2018

Year ended
30 September
2017

The operating loss is stated after charging: £ £
Depreciation of property, plant and equipment 5,662 4,653
Operating lease expenses 22,875 24,213
Share–based payments 67,542
Auditors’ remuneration – fees payable to the Company’s auditor for the audit of
the parent company and consolidated financial statements 21,500 21,500

4

Earnings per share

Basic and Diluted

Year ended
30 September

2018

Year ended
30 September

2017

Weighted number of shares in issue during the year 263,542,617 166,559,125

£

£

Loss from continuing operations attributable to owners of the parent (550,018) (511,124)

Basic earnings per share has been calculated by dividing the loss attributable to equity holders of the company after taxation by the weighted average number of shares in issue during the year. There is no difference between the basic and diluted earnings per share as the effect on the exercise of options and warrants would be to decrease the earnings per share.

Details of share options and warrants that could potentially dilute earnings per share in future periods is set out in Note 13.

PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS DOCUMENT IS IMPORTANT AND REQUIRES YOUR IMMEDIATE ATTENTION. If you are in any doubt as to what action you should take, please consult your stockbroker or other independent adviser authorised under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 immediately. If you have recently sold or transferred all of your ordinary shares in ECR Minerals PLC, please forward this document, together with the accompanying documents, as soon as possible either to the purchaser or transferee or to the person who arranged the sale or transfer so they can pass these documents to the person who now holds the shares. If you have sold or transferred only part of your holding of ordinary shares in ECR Minerals PLC, you are advised to consult your stockbroker, bank or other agent through whom the sale or transfer was effected.

ECR MINERALS PLC

(the “Company”)

(Registered in England and Wales No 05079979)

NOTICE OF ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

NOTICE is hereby given that the Annual General Meeting of the Company will be held at the offices of Charles Russell Speechlys LLP, 5 Fleet Place, London EC4M 7RD on 23 April 2019 at 9.00 a.m. for the purpose of considering and, if thought fit, passing Resolutions 1 to 5 as ordinary resolutions, and Resolutions 6 and 7 as special resolutions:

Ordinary Resolutions

1 To receive, consider and adopt the annual accounts of the Company for the year ended 30 September 2018, together with the reports of the directors and auditors thereon.

2 That Samuel James Melville Garrett, a director retiring in accordance with article 79.1.1 of the Company’s articles of association, be elected as a director of the Company.

3 To re-appoint PKF Littlejohn LLP as auditors of the Company, to hold office until the conclusion of the next general meeting at which accounts are laid before the Company.

4 To authorise the audit committee to determine the remuneration of the auditors of the Company.

5 That the directors be generally and unconditionally authorised pursuant to and in accordance with section 551 of the Companies Act 2006 (the “CA 2006”) to exercise all the powers of the Company to allot shares or grant rights to subscribe for, or to convert any security into, shares in the Company up to an aggregate nominal amount of £10,000 provided that this authority shall, unless renewed, varied or revoked by the Company, expire on 30 June 2020 or, if earlier, the date of the next annual general meeting of the Company, save that the Company may, before such expiry, make offers or agreements which would or might require equity securities to be allotted (or treasury shares to be sold) after the authority expires and the directors may allot equity securities (or sell treasury shares) in pursuance of any such offer or agreement as if the authority had not expired.

Special Resolutions

6 That, subject to the passing of Resolution 5, the directors be empowered to allot equity securities (as defined by section 560 of the CA 2006) pursuant to the authority conferred by Resolution 5 for cash, and/or sell treasury shares for cash, as if section 561(1) of the CA 2006 did not apply to any such allotment, provided that this power shall be limited to the allotment of equity

securities of up to an aggregate nominal value of £10,000. The authority granted by this resolution will expire at the conclusion of the Company’s next annual general meeting after this resolution is passed or, if earlier, at the close of business on 30 June 2020 save that the Company may, before such expiry, make offers or agreements which would or might require equity securities to be allotted (or treasury shares to be sold) after the authority expires and the directors may allot equity securities (or sell treasury shares) in pursuance of any such offer or agreement as if the authority had not expired.

7 That the Company be generally and unconditionally authorised for the purposes of section 701 of the CA 2006 to make one or more market purchases (as defined in section 693(4) of the CA 2006) of its ordinary shares with nominal value of £0.00001 each in the Company, provided that:

7.1 the Company does not purchase under this authority more than 44,584,078 ordinary shares;

7.2 the Company does not pay less than £0.00001 for each ordinary share; and

7.3 the Company does not pay more per ordinary share than the higher of (i) an amount equal to 5 per cent. over the average of the middle-market price of the ordinary shares for the five business days immediately preceding the day on which the Company agrees to buy the shares concerned, based on share prices published in the Daily Official List of the London Stock Exchange; and

(ii) the amount stipulated by the regulatory technical standards adopted by the European Commission pursuant to Article 5(6) of the Market Abuse Regulation (EU) No. 596/2014.

This authority shall continue until the conclusion of the Company’s annual general meeting in 2020 or 30 June 2020, whichever is the earlier, provided that if the Company has agreed before this date to purchase ordinary shares where these purchases will or may be executed after the authority terminates (either wholly or in part) the Company may complete such purchases.

By order of the board

Craig Brown

Director and Company Secretary

Registered Office:

Unit 117, Chester House 81-83 Fulham High Street Fulham Green

London, SW6 3JA 29 March 2019

NOTES ON RESOLUTIONS

The following paragraphs explain, in summary, the resolutions to be proposed at the annual general meeting (the “Meeting”).

Resolution 1: Receipt of the annual accounts

Resolution 1 proposes that the Company’s annual accounts for the period ended 30 September 2018, together with the reports of the directors and auditors on these accounts, be received, considered and adopted.

Resolution 2: Election of Samuel James Melville Garrett

Resolution 2 proposes that Mr Garrett, who was appointed since the last Annual General Meeting of the Company and is retiring in accordance with article 79.1.1 of the Company’s articles of association, be elected as a director of the Company.

Resolution 3: Re-appointment of auditor

Resolution 3 proposes the reappointment of the Company’s existing auditor to hold office until the end of the next annual general meeting.

Resolution 4: Remuneration of auditor

Resolution 4 is to authorise the audit committee of the Company to determine the remuneration of the Company’s auditors.

Resolution 5: Authority to allot shares

Resolution 5 is to renew the directors’ power to allot shares in accordance with section 551 of the CA 2006. The authority granted at the annual general meeting on 24 April 2018 is due to expire on 23 April 2019 (i.e. the proposed date of the forthcoming annual general meeting).

If passed, the resolution will authorise the directors to allot equity securities up to a maximum nominal amount of £10,000, which represents approximately 224% of the Company’s issued ordinary shares as at 28 March 2019 (being the latest practicable date before publication of this document).

If given, these authorities will expire at the annual general meeting in 2020 or on 30 June 2020, whichever is the earlier.

The directors have no present intention to issue new ordinary shares, other than pursuant to the exercise of options or warrants. However, the directors consider it prudent to maintain the flexibility to take advantage of business opportunities that this authority provides.

As at the date of this document the Company does not hold any ordinary shares in the capital of the Company in treasury.

Resolution 6: Disapplication of pre-emption rights

Resolution 6 is to grant the directors the authority to allot equity securities for cash or sell any shares held in treasury otherwise than to existing shareholders pro rata to their holdings, as there may be occasions where it is in the best interests of the Company not to be required to first offer such shares to existing shareholders.

Accordingly, resolution 6 will be proposed as a special resolution to grant such a power and will permit the directors, pursuant to the authority granted by resolution 5, to allot equity securities (as defined by section 560 of the CA 2006) or sell treasury shares for cash without first offering them to existing shareholders in proportion to their existing holdings up to a maximum nominal value of £10,000 representing approximately 224% of the Company’s issued ordinary shares as at 28 March 2019 (being the latest practicable date before publication of this document). If given, this authority will expire at the annual general meeting in 2020 or on 30 June 2020, whichever is the earlier.

Resolution 7: Purchase of own shares

Resolution 7 will be proposed as a special resolution and will give the Company authority to purchase its own shares in the markets up to a limit of 10 per cent. of its issued ordinary share capital. The maximum and minimum prices are stated in the resolution. Your directors believe that it is advantageous for the Company to have this flexibility to make market purchases of its own shares.

Your directors will exercise this authority only if they are satisfied that a purchase would result in an increase in expected earnings per share and would be in the interests of shareholders generally. In the event that shares are purchased, they would either be cancelled (and the number of shares in issue would be reduced accordingly) or, in accordance with the CA 2006, be retained as treasury shares.

If given, this authority will expire at the annual general meeting in 2020 or on 30 June 2020, whichever is the earlier.

As at 28 March 2019, the total number of outstanding options and warrants over ordinary shares in the Company was 309,179,606, which represents approximately 69 per cent. of the Company’s voting rights at that date. If the Company were to purchase its own ordinary shares to the fullest possible extent of its authority from shareholders (existing and being sought), this number of outstanding options and warrants could potentially represent 82 per cent. of the voting rights of the Company as at 28 March 2019.

END.

The ECR Minerals investment case keeps growing as gold continues to shine in Australia – Harry Dacres-Dixon

ECR Minerals investment case keeps growing as gold continues to shine in Australia

by Harry Dacres-Dixon

  • Gold prices on the up
  • Australia breaks production record
  • ECR Minerals promising portfolio
  • New Non-Exec Director to strengthen ECR board
  • A quality portfolio in a first world operating environment

Gold hits March high

Gold has extended its price gains for March, hitting $1,322.48(XAU/USD) at the end of Monday, it’s highest price since February 28th. This growth reflects safe haven demand as investors hedge against worsening global market conditions as a result of creeping concerns over an economic recession in the US, the continued contraction of the German manufacturing sector and the ongoing Brexit saga.

 

Image courtesy of BP Trends

Gold started 2019 strongly, rising above $1,340 on the 19th of February, before prices temporarily crashed down to $1,292 on the 1st of March. The yellow metal has since gone on to shine again, last week posting its third consecutive weekly gain. No real surprise for some though: these returns are simply in line with numerous bullish forecasts for 2019.

Asset management firm Altana Wealth wrote in a note to clients; “We are entering a period of high uncertainty for fundamentals and risk assets and if this were to heighten further, gold could break out substantially, helped by safe-haven flows, lower yields and expectations of a possible return to quantitative easing,” (Reuters).

INTL FCStone analyst wrote; “The dollar has been a bit weaker along with equities. A lot of macro numbers we have been getting have been deteriorating sharply. Central banks, which are already dovish, will be more dovish, which is good for gold,” (Reuters).

Meanwhile Business Insider revealed that central banks have bought more gold than at any time since the end of World War II, as the commodity becomes an increasingly valuable hedge against growing global instability.

2019 set be a record breaker for Australian gold production?

Australia’s gold production hit a record high of 317 tonnes in 2018, according to gold consultancy firm Surbiton Associates who valued the production at A$17.3 billion at the average spot price.

The previous record of 314.5t was set back in 1997. But with 2019 set to be another big year for Australian production, we may not be waiting long for a new record number.

While global gold production in 2019 is expected to be stable, outputs in Australia-Oceania, Europe and Africa are expected to rise.

New Australian production in 2019 is expected to come from a number of projects, including Gold Fields and Gold Road Resources new 300,000oz per annum Gruyere mine in Western Australia and Kirkland Lake Gold’s Fosterville mine in Victoria, which is en-route to a record year of around 600,000oz of gold production for 2019 (Mining Journal);

Australian gold miners have also benefited from the twin effect of rising gold prices and falling value of the Australian dollar. Evolution Mining, Northern Star Resources and Newcrest Mining have also seen their share prices pushed higher (Forbes).

Australia’s biggest gold producer, Newcrest Mining, revealed last month that it had raised its ‘underlying profit in the six months to December 31st by 104% to $168 million ($A237 million) thanks to a 6% increase in gold production and a 13% reduction in costs’ (Forbes).

ECR Minerals quality portfolio

Another company making moves in Australia is AIM listed precious metals exploration and development company ECR Minerals (AIM:ECR).

Focusing their attention on the Central Victorian Goldfields and the Yilgarn Craton in Western Australia, ECR have amassed a growing portfolio, which has not gone unnoticed by the mining industry and investing community, particularly following the appointment this month of Australian mining industry veteran Sam Garrett to the board.

Following oversubscribed fundraising initiatives in 2018, coupled with expected R&D rebates from the Australian government, cash balances are strong and see ECR fully funded through to Q2 2020.

Central Victoria Projects

ECR currently holds five highly prospective projects located geologically within the major orogenic Lachlan Fold Belt in the historically prolific Central Victoria region.

These are Avoca (EL5387) and Bailieston (EL5433) held since 2016; Timor (EL006278) and Moormbool (EL006280) since 2017; and Creswick (EL006184) since early 2018. ECR also applied for three additional tenements around Bailieston and one near Creswick at the end of 2018.

ECR’s Victoria projects are sited close to mines and projects owned by some of the largest gold producers in the world. Fosterville, Australia’s fifth largest gold producer is located just 50km to the west of the Bailieston project, while Newmont Mining has applied for a mining license on ground adjacent to ECR’s Bailieston project.

Drilling Announcements

In Q1 2019, ECR currently has two ongoing drilling campaigns across three prospects in the Victoria region.

The company announced on the 28th of February that a combined 2,461 metres of reverse circulation drilling had been completed in less than a month at the Creswick and Bailieston Blue Moon prospect.

Subsequently high grade gold assay results were reported from the Blue Moon prospect at the Bailieston gold project. Significant intersections reported include 2 metres @ 17.87 g/t gold from 57 metres down hole in BBM007 within a zone of 15 metres at 3.81 g/t gold from 51 metres.

ECR CEO Craig Brown commented: “These results quantify the field geologists’ assessment of visible gold at Blue Moon during drilling of BBM007 and provide great encouragement for the Company and the Bailieston gold project

To achieve an intersection of 17.87g/t gold over 2 metres is notable. But also of significance is that this was part of an intersection of 15 metres at 3.81g/t gold from relatively shallow depth”

ECR also announced on the 4th March that an additional 250 meters of rotary air blast drilling had been completed at the Company’s Black Cat prospect in the Bailieston project area. The 10 target holes were drilled immediately south of territory included in the Newmont Mining license application.

ECR expands Windidda gold project, WA

Despite the high profile nature of their Victoria projects, ECR have remained both ambitious and strategic in their exploration plans. The company announced at the beginning of January that it had applied for 9 new exploration licences covering approximately 1600 km2 in the Yilgarn region, Western Australia.

At the time, Craig Brown said he expected the license applications to be approved within the next three to six months.

The Yilgarn Craton geology is extensively documented. The region is known to host around 30% of the world’s known gold reserves and produces two-thirds of all gold mined in Australia. Unsurprisingly the area attracts more than half of Australia’s minerals exploration expenditure.

As such, ECR have been very lucky to pick up such prospective potential undercover greenstone acreage, in one of the world’s most productive gold provinces.

Sam Garrett ECR’s new Non-Exec Director commented; “This is one of the great provinces of the world and as a consequence the ground position is pretty much flooded, it’s almost impossible to acquire ground.”

New Non-Exec Director to strengthen ECR board

As already stated, ECR announced the appointment of Sam Garrett as the new Non-Executive Director at the end of February, a move that brings substantial credibility to ECR and significantly strengthens the team led by Craig Brown.

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, Mr Garrett is an excellent addition.

Craig Brown commented:“Sam brings extensive geological experience onto the board, not just in Australia but also in South America and the Philippines, where the Company has existing business interests.

The timing of Sam’s appointment is key, as we look to rapidly advance our existing interests and continue to identify new strategic acquisition opportunities.”

A quality portfolio in a first world operating environment

With the yellow metal firmly back in the spotlight and likely to stay put, going digging for gold looks like a no-brainer option for investors, with Australia probably offering the richest cross section of opportunities at this time. With a highly educated workforce, the latest technology, fantastic infrastructure and a pro mining government, Australia is the premier destination for doing business when it comes to gold.

If you’re looking for a gold small cap with experienced management, strong finances and sites that have the potential to deliver big then ECR looks a great buy. Their exciting Victoria projects have already began to demonstrate their huge potential, whilst additional sites in an in demand Western Australia offer a massive opportunity and great potential upside for the company.

‘The company is well resourced and planned exploration only makes a relatively small dent in funds. This implies little to no dilution in the short term. Therefore we have rated ECR Minerals as a Long position with a 12-month target price of GBP 2.5 pence’ (Hallgarten & Company).

 

References

  1. FXStreet– Gold Price Forecast: Why it is rising on US recession fears and the big levels to watch
  2. Bullion Vault– Gold Prices Start 4th Week of Gains as US Yield Curve Inversion Signals Recession
  3. Reuters– PRECIOUS-Gold hits 3-week high as global growth fears lift safe-haven appeal
  4. BloombergIndustry Insiders Bullish on Gold, Forecast of $1585
  5. Business Insider– Central banks are buying the most gold since the end of World War II — here’s why
  6. Mining Journal– New high for Australian gold output
  7. Kitco– Global Gold Mining Expected To Remain Stable In 2019
  8. ForbesRising Gold And Falling Currency Delivers Strong Profits For Australian Gold Miners
  9. Brand Communication– Gold Drilling Update – Creswick & Blue Moon Australia
  10. Brand Communications – High Grade Gold Assays from Drilling at Blue Moon Prospect Victoria, Australia
  11. Brand Communications– ECR Minerals plc (ECR) Gold Drilling Update – Bailieston Black Cat Prospect Victoria Australia
  12. Brand Communications– Central Victoria gold rush revival continues as ECR Minerals applies for licensing at an additional four sites following Newmont’s application a few weeks ago
  13. Brand CommunicationsWindidda gold project to further expand ECR Minerals’ #ECR Australian gold portfolio
  14. Brand CommunicationsECR Minerals #ECR – Experienced Geologist Sam Garrett joins ECR Board as Non-Exec Director
  15. Hallgarten & Company– Initiation of Coverage Research Report for ECR Minerals

Windidda gold project to further expand ECR Minerals’ #ECR Australian gold portfolio

Windidda gold project to further expand ECR Minerals’ Australian gold portfolio      

by Harry Dacres-Dixon

  • ECR expand into Western Australia
  • Yilgarn Craton: Australia’s premier mineral province
  • An exciting prospect for ECR
  • Independent research – 2.5p price target

At the beginning of last month the precious metals exploration and development company, ECR Minerals (AIM:ECR), revealed it had applied for 9 new exploration licences in the Yilgarn region of Western Australia.

Named the Windidda gold project, the applications represent another major push forward by ECR following their successful strategic financings in July and December last year. ECR is now fully funded to develop its burgeoning asset portfolio through to June 2020.

The Windidda land package will complement the company’s already extensive gold portfolio in Victoria, as they press forward with their mission to deliver shareholders the next multi-million ounce gold resource. The Windidda applications, which lie east of the town of Wiluna, cover a total of 523 graticular blocks representing roughly 1,600km2of the Yilgarn Craton.

The area is highlighted as holding the potential to contain significant Archean greenstones, which are known for hosting many of Australia’s and the world’s richest gold deposits.

Craig Brown, CEO of ECR said “I am particularly pleased to announce this strategic move into Western Australia, which, like Victoria, has exceptional gold exploration potential in a first world operating environment.”

“Greenstone-hosted gold trends in the Western Australian Yilgarn province are very tightly held and access to free ground, when it becomes available, is highly competitive.

“So it is very encouraging that ECR has managed to compile a large land position of contiguous tenements covering untested gravity-magnetic anomalies representative of potential greenstone-hosted gold trends.”

Previous exploration in the area has focused on base metal and manganese deposits only. However, pre-existing data from these projects will enhance ECR’s opportunities here.

“There was some work completed in the 1980s and 1990s but they were looking for nickel at the time, and they also found molybdenum. So one of the first things we’re going to do is go over that old information. Because nobody’s ever looked for gold here” says Brown.

This was in part due to the potentially mineralised rocks lying under cover, however ECR believes this cover to be shallow and are hopeful the drilling will be relatively straightforward. ECR plan to use aircore drilling across gravity-magnetic anomaly targets to allow for rapid assessment of the potential for gold mineralisation.

Brown says;“The best way to test it is to do aircore drilling. It’s very cheap at around A$40 or A$50 per metre, including assaying costs, so our plan is to do an aircore programme once we’ve reviewed the existing data.”

This under-cover greenstone gold exploration model has been successfully tested by Greatland Gold (LON:GGP) at its Ernest Giles project located approximately 125 kilometres east of ECR’s Windidda project.

Yilgarn Craton: Australia’s premier mineral province

Metamorphism of the original rock produces a number of green minerals
Metamorphism of the original rock produces a number of green minerals

Evidenced as containing the oldest crust on earth and abundant Archean greenstones, Australia’s Yilgarn Craton is one of the world’s most important gold provinces.

The region has had a history of significant gold production for over a century. Since the 1980s the Yilgarn Craton has re-emerged as one of the world’s premier gold-producing areas and the site of some exceptional exploration successes.

For three decades since 1979, the Archean Yilgarn Craton has sustained a tenfold increase in production and along with Nevada its growth has outperformed all other parts of the world. Across this period over 8000t gold (270 Moz) in the Yilgarn Craton have been discovered. To put this success into perspective, no region has ever had an equivalent period of gold discovery except for South Africa immediately after 1886 and again around 1930–1940s (Phillips et al, 2019).

The Yilgarn Craton is host to around 30% of the world’s known gold reserves and produces two-thirds of all gold mined in Australia. Unsurprisingly the area attracts more than half of Australia’s minerals exploration expenditure.

Many of the richest gold deposits in the world, including Kalgoorlie’s Golden Mile, are hosted in the Yilgarn’s greenstone belts. These exposed packages of ancient volcanic and sedimentary rocks have been metamorphosed over millions of years.

At almost 4km long, 1.5km wide and 500 metres deep, the world-famous Kalgoorlie Super Pit alone produces up to 800,000 ounces of gold per year. The Super Pit is owned by Kalgoorlie Consolidated Gold Mines Pty Ltd, a company owned 50:50 by the two of the world’s largest gold mining companies Barrick Gold and Newmont Mining.

Other significant gold deposits in the Yilgarn include Mount Charlotte, Norseman, Wiluna, Sunrise Dam, Sons of Gwalia, St Ives-Kambalda, Tarmoola and Wallaby

The super pit, Kalgoorlie, Western Australia
The super pit, Kalgoorlie, Western Australia

Greatland Gold’s Ernest Giles project, which at 2,000sq km extends over a slightly bigger area than ECR’s Windidda, is believed to hold the potential to deliver the discovery of large +5 million ounce gold camps and 5-10Mt nickel deposits. Meanwhile, Blackham Resources Ltd’s Wiluna mine has produced over 4 million ounces of gold from 20 open pits and 3 underground mines.

In addition to gold, the Yilgarn hosts approximately 20% of the world’s nickel reserves, 80% of the world’s tantalum reserves, and considerable iron ore, copper, zinc and minor lead reserves.

An exciting prospect for ECR

Located in the world-class mining region of Western Australia, known for holding Archean greenstones, ECR’s latest Windidda project looks an exciting addition to an already promising portfolio in Australia. The region’s rich history of producing significant gold deposits and continued expansion over the last 3 decades provides firm evidence of the ongoing potential for new entrants.

“It looks like very prospective territory. Everybody regards Western Australia as a very promising area to work in,” said Brown

The new site will compliment ECR’s Bailieston, Moormbool, Creswick, Timor and Avoca projects. ECR’s Bailieston and Moormbool projects received instant validation of their prospectivity in November after Newmont Gold applied for a license adjacent to Bailieston. ECR also announced last week that an initial four holes had been successfully drilled at its Creswick gold project, with additional drilling also underway at the Black Cat prospect within the Bailieston gold project area.

Independent research – 2.5p price target

This veritable hive of activity is further underpinned by the rising gold price. The yellow metal hit a 7 month high as it broke through the $1,300 mark last Friday, which helps put ECR’s paltry market cap of just £3.7m firmly in bargain territory.

This view is echoed by Hallgarten Equity Research, who in a research note published on February 12th 2019 said; “With over GBP 1.2m in the bank as at the end of last year and R&D rebates expected in from the Australian government, the company is well resourced and planned exploration only makes a relatively small dent in funds. This implies little to no dilution in the short term. Therefore we have rated ECR Minerals as a Long position with a 12-month target price of GBP 2.5 pence.”

 

Sources:

Blackham Resources: http://blackhamresources.com.au/wiluna-mine/

Brand Communications:

http://www.branduk.net/ecr-mineralss-craig-brown-says-new-yilgarn-gold-properties-look-highly-prospective-proactive-investors/

http://www.branduk.net/ecr-minerals-ecr-drilling-update-creswick-gold-project-australia/

http://www.branduk.net/central-victoria-gold-rush-revival-continues-as-ecr-minerals-applies-for-licensing-at-an-additional-four-sites-following-newmonts-application-a-few-weeks-ago/

ECR Minerals: https://www.ecrminerals.com/investors-media/presentations/download?path=ECR%2BWindidda%2BAu%2BProject%2BPresentation.pdf

Geology for Investors: https://www.geologyforinvestors.com/gold-archean-greenstone-belts/

Greatland Gold: https://greatlandgold.com/ernest-giles/

Phillip, G., J.Vearncombe, J., Eshuys, E. (2019). Gold production and the importance of exploration success: Yilgarn Craton, Western Australia. Ore Geology Reviews. Volume 105. Pp. 137-150. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0169136818306425

Proactive Investors: https://www.proactiveinvestors.co.uk/companies/news/211826/ecr-minerals-moves-into-western-australia-211826.html

Hallgarten Equity Research:

http://www.branduk.net/hallgarten-company-produce-initiation-of-coverage-research-report-for-ecr-minerals/

Many of the larger gold deposits of the Archean Yilgarn Craton (Davis et al, 2010) are associated with granite-cored domes. ‘These provided an architecture that focused fluid metals into the upper crust’s depositional sites.’

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