TIDMECR
AIM: ECRUS OTC: MTGDY
ECR MINERALS plc("ECR" or the "Company")
COMMENCEMENT OF AUSTRALIAN EXPLORATION PROGRAMME
LONDON: 15 JUNE 2017 - The directors of ECR Minerals plc (the
"Board") are pleased to announce that its planned exploration
drilling programme at its Bailieston licence located in Victoria,
Australia has now commenced.
Highlights
-- Initial drill programme to test most significant prospects at
high-priority Byron target within Bailieston licence area has
commenced
-- Byron, an historic mine, which produced 4,416oz Au from 8,698t mined
at an implied grade of 15.5g/t Au
-- ECR is planning to undertake a high-quality low-cost exploration
programme to test extensions to the known mineralisation at
Byron and
generate additional targets for a more comprehensive
programme
-- The Central Victorian Goldfields, one of the premier gold districts in
the world in terms of production, is estimated to have produced
over
80.4Moz AU
-- Bailieston licence area is in close proximity to other highly
successful currently producing gold mines
Craig Brown, CEO of ECR commented:
"The Board of ECR are very excited to begin our exploration
programme in the Victorian Goldfields; our Bailieston project
located in the Australian state of Victoria, one of the world's
most prolific gold producing regions, is not only in close
proximity to two significant operating gold mines but the region
has a long history of producing high-grade material from
underground workings.
Within Bailieston, our first high priority drill targets remain
in the proximity of the historic Byron mine where we have
identified several areas proximal to old workings with good
production figures as highly prospective targets worthy of
immediate testing.
ECR has made significant strides forward in recent months and
the Board strongly believe that our Australian exploration
programme in this highly prospective district, capably led by Ivor
Jones, ECR's Chief Operating Officer and member of the JORC
committee, is the first step to really beginning to build value for
shareholders.
Following two successful rounds of funding, one with our
strategic Chinese investor Shenyang, we are fully funded for our
current exploration programme and beyond. We look forward to
updating the market as we test these exciting areas at the drill
bit and continue rolling out our programme across our other
Australian licence areas".
About Bailieston
ECR, through its wholly-owned subsidiary, Mercator Gold, has a
100% interest in the Bailieston project located in Victoria,
Australia. The Bailieston tenement is accessed by excellent
infrastructure and is approximately 1.5hrs drive from
Melbourne.
The state of Victoria, within which the Bailieston project lies,
with a long history of mining (it is estimated that Victoria, since
the discovery of gold in 1851, has produced some 80.4Moz Au), well
established mining legislation and a strong pool of skilled labour
is widely considered to be a low risk jurisdiction. Bailieston
itself is located near to other successful large mining operations
such as Fosterville (producing c140koz p.a. at a cash cost $461/oz)
and Costerfield (producing 42koz p.a. at a cash cost of $630/oz).
Although Victoria has a rich and varied gold mining history going
back to the nineteenth century, with a lack of modern exploration
within the region, the Directors of ECR are of the view that these
successful modern operations indicate that Victoria is a workable
jurisdiction for large scale mineral development justifying a
systematic exploration programme utilizing modern techniques
especially with regard to hard rock targets under cover.
The Bailieston tenement contains the historic Byron Mine which
records show produced 4,416oz from 8,698t mined at an implied grade
of 15.5g/t Au. Mining ceased at this property due to pump failure
and subsequent dewatering issues. The sulphidic nature of other
mineralization targeted at the deposit added recovery issues, not a
lack of ore, and no work has been undertaken at the mine since
1905. This reflects the available processing equipment available to
the mine at the time. Extensions to the high-grade ore shoot remain
untested.
ECR has identified three areas proximal to the old Byron mine as
a high priority hard-rock drill targets and intend to complete a
reverse circulation (RC) drilling programme of approximately 550m
to test these significant prospects.
The three high priority hard-rock drill targets to be initially
tested are:
i) Below the old Byron shaft workings into a zone interpreted to
be the extension of the previously mined high-grade reef
ii) West of the Byron shaft with a view to intersecting
high-grade mineralization that was identified during historical
underground mining, but only partly exploited
iii) The high-grade Maori mineralisation encountered by
historical drilling and a small amount of historic mining.
A Competent Persons Report compiled by Snowden is also available
on the ECR website and covers Bailieston in some detail:
http://www.ecrminerals.com/projects-investments/mercator-gold-australia/snowden-jorc-report
A detailed review of Bailieston and some of ECR's other
tenements in Victorian Goldfields may be may be found in a research
note Optiva Securities entitled Victorian Gold: new Board, new
direction, new opportunities.
This can also be downloaded from the ECR minerals website:
http://www.ecrminerals.com/investors-media/research-notes
It should be noted that the research note is published by
Optiva, not the Company, and that Optiva is solely responsible for
the contents thereof. Persons downloading the research note from
the ECR website are advised to read the disclaimers on page 26 of
the research note."
Qualified Person
Information disclosed in this announcement has been reviewed and
verified by ECR's qualified person, Ivor Jones, Executive Director
and Chief Operating Officer of the Company and a Competent Person
within the meaning of Australasian Code for Reporting of
Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves' (the JORC
Code) and for the purposes of the AIM Rules.
Mr Jones holds a BSc (Hons) in Geology from Macquarie University
and an MSc in Resource Evaluation from the University of
Queensland. He is a Fellow and Chartered Professional (Geology) of
the Australian Institute of Mining & Metallurgy (AusIMM) and a
Member of the Joint Ore Reserves Committee (JORC).
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.
ABOUT ECR
ECR is a mineral exploration and development company. ECR's
wholly owned Australian subsidiary Mercator Gold Australia has 100%
ownership of the Avoca, Bailieston and Timor gold projects in
Victoria, 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 subsidiary Ochre Mining has a 100% interest
in 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
William (Bill) Howell, Non-Executive Chairman
Craig Brown, Director & CEO
Ivor Jones, Director & COO
Email:
info@ecrminerals.com
Website: www.ecrminerals.com
Cairn Financial Advisers LLP Tel: +44 (0)20 7213 0880
Nominated Adviser
Emma Earl / Jo Turner
Optiva Securities Ltd Tel: +44 (0)203 137 1902
Broker
Graeme Dickson
FlowComms Tel: +44 (0)7891 677 441
Investor Relations
Sasha Sethi
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.
View source version on businesswire.com:
http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170614006293/en/
This information is provided by Business Wire
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
June 15, 2017 02:00 ET (06:00 GMT)
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