REG - ECR Minerals PLC - Australia Projects Update

ECR MineralsAnnouncement

09/10/2024 07:00

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RNS Number : 4394H  ECR Minerals PLC  09 October 2024

9 October 2024

 

ECR MINERALS PLC

 

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

 

Australia Projects Update
(https://irtools.co.uk/12/story/516ec3cf-2d90-4036-ab9d-f7905214b079)

 

ECR Minerals plc (LON: ECR), the exploration and development company focused
on gold in Australia, is pleased to announce an update on its gold and rare
earths projects in Queensland and Victoria.

 

HIGHLIGHTS

 

·    Ongoing discussions with three Australia-domiciled public and private
companies in relation to the potential sale of ECR's A$75 million of tax
losses

·    Rock chip results from Lolworth Project, including Butterfly Creek,
Uncle Terry and Gorge Creek expected in the coming weeks

·    Partnership with the Geological Survey of Queensland ("GSQ") to
further investigate the critical minerals potential at the Lolworth Project

·    Maiden diamond drilling program at the Tambo Project to commence this
month

 

Update on Potential Sale of Tax Losses

Further to the Company's announcement of 2 July 2024, ECR, through its
engagement with Argonaut PCF Ltd (''Argonaut''), is currently in discussions
with three Australia-domiciled public and private companies in relation to the
potential sale of its A$75 million of tax losses. Each company has signed a
non-disclosure agreement.

 

ECR's tax losses are held within its wholly owned subsidiary, Mercator Gold
Australia Pty Ltd, and were incurred during the period from 2006 to date. Any
sale of the tax losses would be coupled with a disposal of certain non-core
assets of the Company.  Whilst no guarantee can be given as to any potential
sale or agreement being reached or as to the timing or terms, the board of
directors of ECR (the "Board" or the "Directors") continues to be encouraged
by the considerable interest shown in this potentially valuable asset.

 

Queensland

Laboratory results from 378 rock chips recently taken from gold prospects at
the Lolworth Project in Queensland, including Butterfly Creek, Uncle Terry and
Gorge Creek are expected in the coming weeks.  Based on the work done to
date, confirmation of the presence of further high-grade gold is expected, as
initial field work across the Lolworth Project showed promising signs,
including visible gold in streams and hillsides.

 

As announced on 3 October 2024, ECR Minerals is now also working in
partnership with the GSQ to further investigate the critical minerals
potential at the Lolworth Project. The results from geochemical analysis on
samples taken from the Oaky Creek prospect in the central-north area of the
project will be announced once received. Stream sampling in this area has
previously detected Niobium in concentrate samples and geochemical analysis
will be carried out by the GSQ on pegmatites to better understand their
fertility for hosting critical minerals, in particular Niobium and Tantalum.

 

Victoria

Further to the Company's announcement on 25 September 2024, civil works for
ECR's maiden diamond drilling programme at the Tambo Project are nearing
completion.  The drilling programme is expected to commence this month and
will target beneath the historical workings of the Duke of Cornwall Mine,
Swifts Creek. Previous rock chip assays from direct outcrop and exposures
around and within the old workings include results of 22.85 g/t Au, 26.25 g/t
Au and 52.2 g/t Au coupled with highly anomalous gold in soils.

 

Nick Tulloch, ECR's Chairman, said: "With much of our recent focus being on
our highly encouraging results from the Blue Mountain Project which has given
us the confidence to examine the viability of installing a production plant at
the site, we continue to develop the other parts of our portfolio of assets.
We await rock chip results from the Lolworth Project and we look forward to
commencing our maiden diamond drilling programme at the Tambo Project later
this month. We have also been very encouraged by the level of interest in our
tax losses. Transferring tax losses is a specialist and bespoke process but,
if successful, the potential value could be significant to ECR."

 

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
 Ben Tadd / 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

 

Glossary

 

 Au:    Gold
 g/t:   Grammes per Tonne (Metric)
 km:    Kilometres (Metric)
 km²:   Kilometre squared (Metric)

 

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.  ECR also holds a royalty on the SLM
gold project in La Rioja Province, Argentina.

 

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

 

 

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