TIDMECR
14 September 2020
ECR MINERALS plc
("ECR Minerals", "ECR" or the "Company")
BUSINESS OPERATIONS UPDATE
ECR Minerals plc (LON: ECR), the gold exploration and
development company focussed on Australia, is pleased to provide
the following update on its activities, which are centred on the
Bailieston and Creswick gold projects in Victoria, Australia. Both
projects are 100% owned by ECR's wholly owned Australian subsidiary
Mercator Gold Australia Pty Ltd ("MGA").
HIGHLIGHTS
-- Field mapping and geochemistry currently underway across numerous gold
prospects in the Bailieston project area;
-- ECR has acquired a diamond drilling rig capable of drilling as deep as
1,300 metres, due for delivery next month and which will be deployed
immediately on an ECR managed drill programme;
-- High priority gold prospects within the Bailieston and Creswick project
areas with potential for immediate drilling have been identified.
Craig Brown, Chief Executive Officer of ECR, commented:
"There is continuing interest in ECR's Bailieston and Creswick
projects with regards to potential joint venture or earn in
opportunities. However, there can be no guarantee that any
transaction will occur. The Company will provide further updates as
appropriate.
The engagement we are experiencing is not surprising given the
interest in Victoria gold opportunities, as evidenced by the many
corporate transactions that we have seen in the area.
ECR is also gearing up to launch next stage exploration
campaigns across our properties and we look forward to providing
updates as the work progresses
The Directors are very optimistic for the future, and the
Company has a robust underlying cash position of GBP1.65m with
which we can confidently push ahead with operational
programmes."
CURRENT EXPLORATION ACTIVITIES
With the approaching end of the Victorian winter, MGA has begun
to ramp-up exploration at the Bailieston and Creswick projects. A
programme of follow-up field mapping and geochemistry across
numerous prospects in the Bailieston project area is currently
underway. MGA has recently purchased its own portable Olympus XRF
analyser in order to enhance and expedite its geochemical sampling
capabilities.
A map of the eastern Bailieston project area showing some of the
prospects and features referred to in this announcement can be
viewed at:
https://www.ecrminerals.com/images/2020/09/09/prospectsreefs-eastern-bailieston-tenement-area.jpg
Detailed mapping and geochemistry at the Cherry Tree, Cherry
Tree South and Black Cat prospects is aimed at locating the surface
position of shoots and identifying mineralisation along strike of
trends established by historical and recent exploration. This will
assist with the consideration of these prospects for drilling.
Cherry Tree (Historic Reserve #4) and Cherry Tree South are
along the Bailieston trend and south of the Fosterville-style
mineralisation mined in a small open cut in the 1990s at Historic
Reserve #1 (HR1).
Rock chip samples were taken by MGA from Cherry Tree and Cherry
Tree South as part of a 2018 sampling programme along the
Bailieston trend. A total of 58 rock chip samples were taken at
Cherry Tree and Cherry Tree South, with 17 samples returning grades
of >1 g/t gold and the highest assay result being 8.8 g/t
gold.
Field mapping and geochemical sampling at the Kings Cross and
Pontings prospects in the Bailieston project area will follow-up
earlier results including soil samples of up to 1.79 g/t gold at
Kings Cross and rock chip samples of up to 8.31 g/t gold at
Pontings.
PURCHASE OF DIAMOND DRILLING RIG AND POTENTIAL FUTURE
DRILLING
MGA has recently signed a contract for the purchase of a new
Cortech CSD1300G diamond drilling rig complete with spares and all
downhole equipment, which is capable of drilling as deep as 1,300
metres. The rig is expected to be delivered in October 2020 and
will give MGA an in-house drilling capability, which will be
preferable to relying on contractors.
MGA has access to experienced drilling personnel to operate the
rig, and it is expected that future drilling can be completed at
lower cost and with greater flexibility using MGA's own rig.
High priority gold prospects within the Bailieston and Creswick
project areas which have the potential for immediate further
drilling are detailed below. Once the drill rig has been received
in Australia, a decision will be taken as to where it should first
be put to work.
Bailieston Project - Blue Moon
Blue Moon is an exciting new gold discovery made by MGA, with
intercepts from 2019 reverse circulation (RC) drilling including 15
metres at 3.81 g/t gold from 51 metres downhole (with 2 metres at
17.87 g/t gold) (see announcement dated 14 March 2019 for full
details of the drill programme). The best 2019 drilling results
came from the western fence line. The host sandstone thins towards
the east, where the drill results diminished accordingly.
ECR plans to test whether the mineralisation continues to
improve towards the west, subject to gaining surface access. There
is also potential to carry out further drilling within the zones
already tested, with the objective of establishing an initial JORC
Mineral Resource.
Bailieston Project - HR3
Three dimensional (3D) modelling of historical data for the
Bailieston Historic Reserve #3 (HR3) and the results of drilling in
the area by MGA in 2017 was completed in late 2019 and has assisted
in the identification of the architecture of the major folds,
structures and cross structures at the prospect. HR3 comprises at
least four closely-spaced lines of reef, including the Byron, Dan
Genders, Scoulars and Maori Reefs, plus numerous cross-structures.
This provides a number of drill-ready targets.
Creswick Project
Drilling conducted by MGA in 2019 at the Slades Reef prospect
covered 300 metres of the 12.5 kilometre strike length of the
Dimocks Main Shale (DMS) within ECR's granted exploration licence
(EL) and EL application areas at Creswick. This drilling
encountered complex structures at Slades Reef; the cross section
shown in ECR's announcement dated 21 June 2019 showed drilling into
interpreted faulted and parasitic folded DMS on an overall
west-dipping limb.
Diamond drilling can be utilised to test this structural
hypothesis and test the gold-bearing structures identified at
Slades Reef where key faults intersect the anticline. Elsewhere at
Creswick, field mapping and geochemical sampling could be used to
attempt to delineate the surface expression of shoots to the south
including Jackass Reef and Mills Reef ahead of potential drilling
of these targets.
Review of Announcement by Qualified Person
This announcement has been reviewed by Dr Rodney Boucher of
Linex Pty Ltd. Linex Pty Ltd provides geological services to
Mercator Gold Australia Pty Ltd, including the services of Dr
Boucher, who has a PhD in geology, is a Member and RPGeo of the
Australian Institute of Geoscientists and is a Member of the
Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy. Dr Boucher is a
Qualified Person as that term is defined by the AIM Note for
Mining, Oil and Gas Companies.
MARKET ABUSE REGULATIONS (EU) No. 596/2014
The information contained within this announcement is deemed by
the Company to constitute inside information as stipulated under
the Market Abuse Regulations (EU) No. 596/2014 (MAR). Upon the
publication of this announcement via Regulatory Information Service
(RIS), this inside information is now considered to be in the
public domain.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:
ECR Minerals plc Tel: +44 (0)20 7929 1010
David Tang, Non-Executive Chairman
Craig Brown, Director & CEO
Email:
info@ecrminerals.com
Website: www.ecrminerals.com
WH Ireland Ltd Tel: +44 (0)161 832 2174
Nominated Adviser
Katy Mitchell/James Sinclair-Ford
SI Capital Ltd Tel: +44 (0)1483 413500
Broker
Nick Emerson
ABOUT ECR MINERALS PLC
ECR is a mineral exploration and development company. ECR's
wholly owned Australian subsidiary Mercator Gold Australia Pty Ltd
has 100% ownership of the Bailieston and Creswick gold projects in
central Victoria, Australia.
Following the sale of the Avoca, Moormbool and Timor gold
projects in Victoria, Australia to Fosterville South Exploration
Ltd (TSX-V: FSX), ECR has the right to receive up to A$2 million in
payments subject to future resource estimation or production at
those projects.
ECR has earned a 25% interest in the Danglay gold project, an
advanced exploration project located in a prolific gold and copper
mining district in the north of the Philippines, and holds a
royalty on the SLM gold project in La Rioja Province,
Argentina.
View source version on businesswire.com:
https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200914005317/en/
CONTACT:
ECR Minerals plc
SOURCE: ECR Minerals plc
Copyright Business Wire 2020
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