REG - ECR Minerals PLC - AGM Statement

ECR MineralsAnnouncement

23/04/2025 07:00

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RNS Number : 7510F  ECR Minerals PLC  23 April 2025

23 April 2025

 

                                                ECR MINERALS plc

 

("ECR Minerals", "ECR" or the "Company")

 

AGM Statement

ECR Minerals plc (LON: ECR), the exploration and development company focused
on gold in Australia, announces that at the Company's annual general meeting
("AGM") to be held at 11:00 a.m. today, Nick Tulloch, the Company's chairman
will make the following statement:

 

"Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. It is my pleasure to welcome you to the
2025 annual general meeting of ECR Minerals plc. I am delighted to begin by
highlighting our strengthened financial position, secured through a successful
£950,000 fundraising announced in November 2024 and further reinforced by the
sale of the Company's surplus land at Brewing Lane in Victoria, Australia for
A$225,000. These additional funds ensures that ECR is fully equipped to
execute our ambitious 2025 work programmes.

 

I wish to extend my sincere appreciation to the board of directors of ECR (the
"Board" or the "Directors") for their continued commitment to receiving a
significant portion of their remuneration in ECR ordinary shares of 0.001
pence each ("Ordinary Shares"), a policy which is now over halfway through its
second year and which has been instrumental in preserving the Company's cash
resources.

 

The market for junior exploration companies remains undeniably tough with
limited access to capital creating significant challenges for many of our
peers. Yet ECR stands out, well-positioned to advance our projects without
the immediate need for additional fundraising, a testament to our continued
prudent financial management and strategic focus.

 

Turning to our operations, we are advancing our projects at a time when gold
and antimony prices are hitting record highs. This very favourable market
backdrop enhances the potential of our portfolio.

 

At our Bailieston Gold and Antimony project in Central Victoria, Australia
(the "Bailieston Project") a diamond core drill rig is anticipated to arrive
this week, with drilling expected to commence imminently. Historical soil
sampling has identified four in-situ antimony anomalies at the Bailieston
Project. In addition, recent rock chip sampling suggested antimony at the
surface, with 34 samples returning antimony grades between 0.25% and 1.91%
supporting our best result of a 32% antimony grade over 0.3 metres (hole 19)
from previous drilling. With strong antimony and gold prices driving renewed
exploration in Victoria's Costerfield Bailieston-Nagambie corridor, these
results, alongside substantial antimony resources that have been reported
nearby, have generated significant interest in our Bailieston Project.

 

Additionally, our tax losses held within our wholly-owned subsidiary, Mercator
Gold Australia Pty Ltd ("MGA"), continues to attract increased attention, with
new parties signing non-disclosure agreements ("NDAs") to access our data
room. We have also been approached by a third party interested in a potential
collaboration for the development of our Creswick project. While discussions
remain early-stage, we will update shareholders should discussions progress
further.

 

In Queensland, our Blue Mountain Project (the "Blue Mountain Project") offers
the potential for a significant near-term revenue opportunity, with production
targeted to start later this year. Earlier testing by Gekko Systems Pty
Limited ("Gekko") on ore samples collected at the Blue Mountain Project
demonstrated a recovery rate of 91.7% gold into 0.40% of the mass, suggesting
the ore's suitability for gravity concentration using a batch centrifugal
concentrator. A further bulk sampling campaign will aim to validate our
operating and financial model before potentially moving into production. We
are projecting monthly revenues of approximately A$470,000 (US$295,000) from
the Blue Mountain Project, based on a 0.6 g/BCM grade, a 25 tonnes per hour
wash plant, and a gold price of US$2,790 per ounce. Dual wash plants could
further boost output and of course with gold prices more than 15% up on the
levels used in our feasibility assessment, the returns are well underpinned.
The estimated costs for the work programme and wash plant are included in our
2025 budget.

 

At our Lolworth Gold and Rare Earths project, we are focusing on five
promising gold prospects with our first drilling campaign planned there for
mid-2025.

 

ECR has numerous opportunities to deliver significant value for our
shareholders in 2025 and beyond. I extend my sincere thanks to our
shareholders for their support through challenging market conditions. As we
advance our projects, we remain committed to rigorous cost control. I look
forward to sharing further progress with you soon."

 

Review of Announcement by Qualified Person

 

This announcement has been reviewed by Adam Jones, Chief Geologist at ECR
Minerals Plc. Adam Jones is a professional geologist and is a Member of
the Australian Institute of Geoscientists (MAIG). He is a qualified person
as that term is defined by the AIM Note for Mining, Oil and Gas Companies.

 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:

 

 ECR Minerals Plc                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     Tel: +44 (0) 1738 317 693
 Nick Tulloch, Chairman

 Andrew Scott, Director

 Email:

 info@ecrminerals.com
 Website: www.ecrminerals.com
 (http://cts.businesswire.com/ct/CT?id=smartlink&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ecrminerals.com%2F&esheet=51817334&newsitemid=20180605005810&lan=en-US&anchor=www.ecrminerals.com&index=1&md5=820ad49dc1fc2c84a0538453c017bc1b)

 Allenby Capital Limited                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              Tel: +44 (0) 3328 5656
 Nominated Adviser                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    info@allenbycapital.com (mailto:info@allenbycapital.com)

 Nick Naylor / Alex Brearley / Vivek Bhardwaj

 Axis Capital Markets Limited                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         Tel: +44 (0) 203 026 0320
 Broker
 Lewis Jones

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

 Brand Communications                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  Tel: +44 (0) 7976 431608
 Public & Investor Relations
 Alan Green

 

ABOUT ECR MINERALS PLC

 

ECR Minerals is a mineral exploration and development company. ECR's wholly
owned Australian subsidiary Mercator Gold Australia Pty Ltd ("MGA") has 100%
ownership of the Bailieston and Creswick gold projects in central Victoria,
Australia, has six licence applications outstanding which includes one licence
application lodged in eastern Victoria (Tambo gold project).

 

ECR also owns 100% of an Australian subsidiary LUX Exploration Pty Ltd ("LUX")
which has three approved exploration permits covering 946 km(2) over a
relatively unexplored area in Lolworth Range, Queensland, Australia. The
Company has also submitted a license application at Kondaparinga which is
approximately 120km(2) in area and located within the Hodgkinson Gold
Province, 80km NW of Mareeba, North Queensland.

 

Following the sale of the Avoca, Moormbool and Timor gold projects in
Victoria, Australia to Fosterville South Exploration Ltd (TSX-V: FSX) and the
subsequent spin-out of the Avoca and Timor projects to Leviathan Gold Ltd
(TSX-V: LVX), MGA has the right to receive up to A$2 million in payments
subject to future resource estimation or production from projects sold to
Fosterville South Exploration Limited.

 

MGA also has approximately A$75 million of unutilised tax losses incurred
during previous operations.

 

ECR is also in exclusive negotiations to acquire Maximus Minerals Ltd for
£500,000 along with exercising that company's option over the Cat Key
advanced gold project for C$600,000.  The consideration, if the transaction
completes, will be settled in new ECR shares, issued at no less than 0.33
pence per share.

 

Glossary

 

 g/BCM:  Grammes per bank cubic metres (Metric)
 km:     Kilometres (Metric)
 km²:    Kilometre squared (Metric)

 

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