REG-ECR Minerals plc Approval Queensland Gold Work Programmes Australia

ECR MineralsAnnouncement

07/07/2021 07:00

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Approval Queensland Gold Work Programmes Australia

 

7 July 2021

ECR MINERALS plc

(“ECR Minerals”, “ECR” or the “Company” and with its subsidiaries
the “Group”)

DEPARTMENT OF RESOURCES & ENVIRONMENTAL AUTHORITY APPROVE LUX EXPLORATION
WORK PROGRAMMES FOR THREE TERRITORIES WEST OF CHARTERS TOWERS IN THE LOLWORTH
DISTRICT OF NORTH QUEENSLAND, AUSTRALIA

ECR Minerals plc (LON: ECR), the gold exploration and development company
focused on Australia, is pleased to announce that the Department of Resources
(DoR) and Environmental Authority have approved work programmes for three
Exploration Permits (“EPM”) at its Lolworth District licence territories
in North Queensland, Australia.

The EPM licenses have yet to be approved but now that the work programmes have
been approved, the EPM’s will be advertised, following which there will be a
4-month consultation period. The Directors believe the licences should be
granted in approximately 6 months time, and further announcements will be made
at that time. Once approved, all three are valid for an initial period of 5
years to enable the Group to complete the planned exploration program, with a
right to apply for permit extensions for up to a total of 15 years. The
licenses will be held in the name of LUX Exploration Pty Ltd (“LUX”) which
is a 100%-owned Australian subsidiary of ECR Minerals.

Craig Brown, Chief Executive Officer, commented:

“I am pleased to report that following our application for three strategic
licenses in the Lolworth district announced on 27 May 2021, we have received
work programme approval back in record time to complete the EPM application
process.

Historical data* from the area shows that regional deposits, including
Charters Towers have produced over 24m Oz in total gold production over the
years, so naturally our team are very keen to get on the ground and start
work.

Our strong cash position has enabled us to maintain aggressive drilling
programmes, operating two diamond drill rigs at the Bailieston and Creswick
projects in Victoria. While our team at Bendigo continue to assess the core
and drill data, under the leadership of Geologist Adam Jones, we now have the
capacity to aggressively pursue and develop this new opportunity.

I am confident that our ongoing drilling operations across multiple
high-profile gold targets will expose ECR to potential new gold discoveries,
and I look forward to updating shareholders again in the near term.”

THE LOLWORTH RANGE AREA

Exploration Permits (EPM 27901, 27902 and 27903) represent 300 sub-blocks
covering a total 900 km2 of highly prospective ground located within the
Lolworth Range, 200km WSW of Townsville and 30km north from Pentlands, North
Queensland Australia.

EXPLORATION POTENTIAL

The application area contains metamorphic rocks of the Charters Towers
Province, that host historical large gold producing centres such as Charters
Tower (6.6M Oz Au) *** and Ravenswood (3.5M Oz Au)****; although these numbers
have not been independently validated by ECR and so are provided for guidance
purposes only. The structural and basement geology is poorly understood in the
area, which suggests it is possible to find new deposits.

The area also contains reported rhyolitic volcanics which play host to
intrusion-related breccia gold deposits in the region such as Mount Leyshon
(>2.5M oz) and Mount Wright (>1M oz). **

Desktop study of historic exploration data from the late 1980’s revealed
anomalous gold stream sediment sample results within the applied areas.

The application area is encompassed on the southern boundary by rich alluvial
gold deposits of the Cape River and Gorge Creek area, which drain the southern
Lolworth Range.

The east boundary of EPM27902 and EPM27903 is bordered by current exploration
permits exploring the Lolworth dyke swarm; a north-west trending system of
rhyolitic dykes and small breccia pipes containing gold, copper and
molybdenum.

Historic sample data also highlighted tin-tungsten mineralisation in the
western areas of EPM27902 (see Figure 1). Reports show no detailed follow-up
work has been undertaken.

Figure 1: Plan of EPM27901, 27902 and 27903 areas and historic anomalous pan
stream sediments.

https://www.ecrminerals.com/images/figure1_210706.jpg
(https://cts.businesswire.com/ct/CT?id=smartlink&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ecrminerals.com%2Fimages%2Ffigure1_210706.jpg&esheet=52456085&newsitemid=20210706005834&lan=en-US&anchor=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ecrminerals.com%2Fimages%2Ffigure1_210706.jpg&index=1&md5=e281525bccc57624ef771522e1cd1585)

(Internally produced using data from sources set out at the end of this
announcement)

EXPLORATION OUTLINE

Research suggests that little mineral exploration work has been done within
the Lolworth Range. While historical ore-deposit reports and metal prices have
provided some context and background to the opportunity, the ECR board believe
that the most relevant exploration work undertaken within the application area
was under AP4855M (by A.R.I Limited) during the 1987-88 period. The work this
company undertook is one of the main reasons for the current application area.
A.R.I Limited undertook a major stream sediment program within the drainage of
the Lolworth Range via helicopter access. This work highlighted seven gold
anomalous areas worth following up. Historical rock chip samples also
demonstrate the prospectivity of the region with elevated gold in association
with rhyolites and breccias. Eleven watersheds showed visible gold in pan
concentrates.

Initial exploration is likely to include confirmation of existing stream
sampling anomalies to potential watersheds, followed up by soil and rock chip
sampling of ridgelines that are above these anomalous watersheds. The outcome
of this work will delineate worthy drill targets.

Figure 2: Planned focus of exploration activities for EPM27901, 27902 and
27903.

https://www.ecrminerals.com/images/figure2_210706.jpg
(https://cts.businesswire.com/ct/CT?id=smartlink&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ecrminerals.com%2Fimages%2Ffigure2_210706.jpg&esheet=52456085&newsitemid=20210706005834&lan=en-US&anchor=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ecrminerals.com%2Fimages%2Ffigure2_210706.jpg&index=2&md5=218204eb8099b6c44f00db59bfd21bce)

Once the EPM licence applications have been approved, LUX Exploration Pty Ltd.
will have initially 5 years to complete the planned exploration program, with
right to apply for permit extensions for up to a total of 15 years. LUX
Exploration will need to relinquish 50% of the initial application area after
5 years.

The work programmes and forecast expenditure for licenses EPM27901, 27902 and
27903 are expected to total £1.8m over 5 years (Figure 3). NB: These
forecasts and projections represent the board’s assumptions and expectations
in light of currently available information, and are based on industry trends,
costs and other factors that are subject to change.

Figure 3: https://www.ecrminerals.com/images/lux-work-programme.jpg
(https://cts.businesswire.com/ct/CT?id=smartlink&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ecrminerals.com%2Fimages%2Flux-work-programme.jpg&esheet=52456085&newsitemid=20210706005834&lan=en-US&anchor=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ecrminerals.com%2Fimages%2Flux-work-programme.jpg&index=3&md5=865dc9668d90acf361dca59200cdb8b0)

REVIEW OF ANNOUNCEMENT BY QUALIFIED PERSON

This announcement has been reviewed by Adam Jones, a director of 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.

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                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   
 (mailto:info@ecrminerals.com)                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  
 Website: www.ecrminerals.com                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   
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Nominated Adviser                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   
                         
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                
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Broker                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        
 
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Broker                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        
 
Jon Belliss                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                
 Brand Communications                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 Tel: +44 (0) 7976 431608  
 
Public & Investor Relations                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   
 
Alan Green                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    


ABOUT ECR MINERALS PLC

ECR Minerals is a mineral exploration and development company. ECR’s wholly
owned Australian subsidiary Mercator Gold Australia Pty Ltd (“MGA”) has
100% ownership of the Bailieston and Creswick gold projects in central
Victoria, Australia, has eight licence applications outstanding including two
licence applications lodged in eastern Victoria. (Tambo gold project). MGA is
currently drilling at both the Bailieston and Creswick projects and has an
experienced exploration team with significant local knowledge in the Victoria
Goldfields and wider region.

https://mercatorgold.com.au/
(https://cts.businesswire.com/ct/CT?id=smartlink&url=https%3A%2F%2Fmercatorgold.com.au%2F&esheet=52456085&newsitemid=20210706005834&lan=en-US&anchor=https%3A%2F%2Fmercatorgold.com.au%2F&index=5&md5=b6d0dc4bb8cbbbb50cc72f32cb4a24a6)

ECR also owns 100% of an Australian subsidiary LUX Exploration Pty Ltd
(“LUX”) which has three licence applications covering 900 km2 covering a
relatively unexplored area in Queesnland, Australia.

https://luxexploration.com/
(https://cts.businesswire.com/ct/CT?id=smartlink&url=https%3A%2F%2Fluxexploration.com%2F&esheet=52456085&newsitemid=20210706005834&lan=en-US&anchor=https%3A%2F%2Fluxexploration.com%2F&index=6&md5=bac520dad881b4a1911aab17e9490496)

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 at any of 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.

*: Which has not been validated by ECR and so is provided for guidance
purposes only

**:
https://smedg.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Nik_Breccias_NQ_M&W2013_Lisowiec_FINAL.pptx

(https://cts.businesswire.com/ct/CT?id=smartlink&url=https%3A%2F%2Fsmedg.org.au%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2020%2F07%2FNik_Breccias_NQ_M%26W2013_Lisowiec_FINAL.pptx&esheet=52456085&newsitemid=20210706005834&lan=en-US&anchor=https%3A%2F%2Fsmedg.org.au%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2020%2F07%2FNik_Breccias_NQ_M%26amp%3BW2013_Lisowiec_FINAL.pptx&index=7&md5=6988ebdfc8d454eef666fd519b9402eb)

***: https://www.mining-technology.com/projects/charterstowersgoldmi/ 
(https://cts.businesswire.com/ct/CT?id=smartlink&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.mining-technology.com%2Fprojects%2Fcharterstowersgoldmi%2F&esheet=52456085&newsitemid=20210706005834&lan=en-US&anchor=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.mining-technology.com%2Fprojects%2Fcharterstowersgoldmi%2F&index=8&md5=711abf1d98cda395c4cfefafa66509b5)

****: Open file exploration reports from licence ATP4855 (authority to
prospect)



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