REG - ECR Minerals PLC - Corporate and Operational Update

ECR MineralsAnnouncement

17/10/2025 07:00

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RNS Number : 7514D  ECR Minerals PLC  17 October 2025

 

 

17 October 2025

 

ECR MINERALS PLC

 

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

 

ECR defines Queensland gold growth strategy following successful drilling at
Lolworth

 

Strategic focus on near-term alluvial gold production and major exploration in
Queensland

 

ECR Minerals plc (AIM: ECR), the gold exploration and development company
focused on Australia, is pleased to announce the successful conclusion of its
2025 drilling programme at the Lolworth gold and rare earths project in North
Queensland, Australia (the "Lolworth Project"), together with a wider update
on progress at its alluvial gold operations at the Blue Mountain project in
Queensland, Australia (the "Blue Mountain Project") and its proposed
acquisition of Licence ML 3665 (the "Raglan Project").

The Company's operational focus continues to centre on establishing near-term
production at its advanced-stage Queensland alluvial gold projects, while
unlocking the large-scale discovery potential across its broader tenement
package in one of Australia's most prospective gold provinces.

 

Highlights

·    Successful completion of drilling at the Lolworth Project, confirming
gold and silver-bearing veins at shallow depths.

·    Ongoing wash plant trials and resource modelling at the Blue Mountain
Project ahead of a full mining lease application intended to be made in the
fourth quarter of 2025 ("Q4 2025").

·    Proposed acquisition of the Raglan Project (the "Proposed
Acquisition") advancing towards completion, with first gold production
targeted for Q4 2025.

·    Pre-completion restructuring to remove surplus assets has reduced the
cost of the Proposed Acquisition to A$1.01 million plus any applicable GST in
cash.

·    Further updates in Q4 2025 are expected to include assay results,
wash plant trial outcomes and the potential conclusion of the Creswick JV (as
defined below).

 

Lolworth Project

Located close to 1,000 square kilometres in North Queensland, the Lolworth
Project is a large-scale exploration project prospective for gold, silver,
lead and rare earth elements. The Lolworth Project remains free of native
title claims, enabling straightforward and low-cost exploration access.

The 2025 drill programme has successfully validated the Company's geological
interpretation of gold and silver-bearing vein systems at Uncle Terry
prospect, with all predicted veins intersected. ECR drilled 21 reverse
circulation ("RC") holes at the Uncle Terry prospect and a further seven at
the Gorge Creek West prospect, to depths of between 30 and 42 metres.

ECR's chief geologist Adam Jones, who has been on site throughout the drilling
campaign, reported strong visual results including multiple intersections of
sulphides and, in particular, visible silver mineralisation. Rock chip
sampling and soil XRF analysis will be undertaken before Adam's departure from
site, with initial assay results from the drilling campaign expected in the
coming weeks.

 

Blue Mountain Project

At Blue Mountain, ECR is finalising its most extensive alluvial gold drilling
programme to date, with close to 400 holes completed across the Lower
Patterson, Windmill and Upper Kariboe Creek areas. Visible coarse gold has
been confirmed in multiple zones.

Adam Jones is expected to return to the Blue Mountain Project site next week
to pan and weigh more than 150 samples prior to detailed assay testing. These
results are expected to feed into the upcoming wash plant trials, which will
include selective testing of both high-and-low-grade material to validate the
drill results and inform an initial internal resource estimate.

Following the conclusion of wash plant trials, and therefore evidence of the
extent of the commercial opportunity at the Blue Mountain Project, ECR intends
to submit a mining lease application during Q4 2025, an important milestone
towards near-term production and cashflow generation.

 

Raglan Project - near-term production of Alluvial Gold

The Raglan Project, located near Gladstone, Queensland, represents a fully
permitted alluvial gold operation with an existing mining lease and a
60-tonne-per-hour wash plant on site. Following a successful due diligence
site visit earlier this month, ECR is aiming to complete the Proposed
Acquisition in the coming weeks and is already preparing personnel for
mobilisation.  The final stages of the Proposed Acquisition are expected to
involve concluding the legal documentation and due diligence. This is well
underway and proceeding satisfactorily and, in particular, the parties have
agreed certain simplifications of the structure.

 

ECR will now only acquire Raglan Resources Pty Ltd ("Raglan Resources"), the
holder of Licence ML 3665, and Raglan Mining Pty Ltd will be retained by the
vendors.  This is part of the pre-completion restructuring of Raglan
Resources by the vendors so that any unrelated tenements and non-core assets
can be excluded from the Proposed Acquisition, in line with the Company's
notification on 1 October 2025.  The vendors have confirmed that Raglan
Resources carries A$1.2 million of unutilised tax losses that can be
amalgamated with ECR's existing A$75 million of tax losses and applied against
its forthcoming production projects.

 

Pursuant to this restructuring, the parties have also agreed that certain
surplus equipment will also be excluded from the Proposed Acquisition and
sold separately by the vendors.  As a result, a corresponding A$90,000 price
reduction to A$1.01 million plus any applicable GST in cash has been agreed.

Operations at the Raglan Project are targeted to commence during Q4 2025,
providing the Company potentially with immediate production capability - and
revenue - while the Blue Mountain Project final planning process and mining
lease application progresses.  As previously announced, there are expected to
be operational synergies between the two projects with the ability to redeploy
both personnel and operating equipment at the Blue Mountain Project at the
appropriate time.

 

This dual-track approach positions ECR to potentially generate near-term
revenues while advancing the larger-scale development potential of its
Queensland portfolio.

 

The Proposed Acquisition remains subject to, among other things, further due
diligence by ECR and the execution of a legally binding agreement governing
the Proposed Acquisition. There can therefore be no certainty that final
binding terms will be agreed in order to complete the Proposed Acquisition,
nor as to the timing or final terms, value or conditions of the Proposed
Acquisition. Further updates will be provided in due course.

 

Raglan Resources reported unaudited total assets of A$1.37 million for the
year ended 30 June 2024 and an unaudited total net loss of A$0.15 million for
the same period. This unaudited financial information is before the proposed
restructuring of Raglan Resources, to exclude any unrelated tenements and
non-core assets from the Proposed Acquisition, as described above.

 

Proposed joint venture at the Creswick Gold Project, Victoria

On 18 September 2025, ECR announced that it had entered into non-binding heads
of terms with Exertis Pty Ltd trading as Bold Gold ("Bold Gold") for a
proposed joint venture (the "Creswick JV") covering the Company's Creswick
Gold Project in Victoria, Australia.  The Company has prepared a data room
detailing the history of the project and which Bold Gold have access to.
Following completion of Bold Gold's due diligence, the final step are expected
to be the entry into a legally binding agreement for the Creswick JV, the
terms of which are agreed and set out in the 18 September 2025 announcement.

 

Under the terms of the Creswick JV, Bold Gold will fund all exploration costs
by investing up to A$3 million to earn an 80% interest through staged
exploration expenditure.  ECR will retain an interest in a project which it
believes potentially has considerable potential upside but is able to focus
its management time and resources on its Queensland projects.

 

The Creswick JV will be subject to, among other things, due diligence by Bold
Gold, entry into a legally binding JV agreement and satisfaction of regulatory
requirements. There can therefore be no certainty that final binding terms
will be agreed, nor as to the timing or final terms, value or conditions of
the Creswick JV.

 

ECR Chief Geologist Adam Jones commented: "The completion of our first
drilling campaign at the Lolworth Project marks a significant step forward for
ECR. We've confirmed the presence of gold and silver in multiple vein systems
and identified several new mineralised outcrops for follow-up. The visuals are
highly encouraging, and the Lolworth Project continues to show the scale and
geological potential to be a major discovery in Queensland. With no native
title constraints and close to 1,000 square kilometres of prospective ground,
we believe Lolworth to be a project with truly district-scale potential."

 

ECR Chairman Nick Tulloch added: "The successful drilling at the Lolworth
Project marks an important milestone for ECR as we build momentum across our
Queensland portfolio. With production planning advancing at both the Raglan
Project and the Blue Mountain Project, and assay results and wash plant trials
due in the coming weeks, the remainder of 2025 is expected to set the scene
for what is a pivotal period for the Company as we graduate from an explorer
to a producer. We are entering Q4 2025 with a significant number of near-term
value catalysts that we believe are capable of redefining ECR. The Lolworth
Project remains our flagship exploration project with enormous upside
potential, while our near-term production projects at the Blue Mountain
Project and the Raglan Project underpin the Company's transition towards
cashflow generation."

 

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) 20 8080 8176
 Nick Tulloch, Chairman                                                                                                                                                                                                                             info@ecrminerals.com (mailto:info@ecrminerals.com)

 Andrew Scott, Director

 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 and Joint Broker                                                                                                                                                                                                                 info@allenbycapital.com (mailto:info@allenbycapital.com)
 Alex Brearley / Nick Naylor / Vivek Bhardwaj (Corporate Finance)
 Kelly Gardiner (Sales and Corporate Broking)

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

 SI Capital Ltd                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     Tel: +44 (0) 1483 413500
 Joint 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 operating
through two wholly owned Australian subsidiaries ECR Minerals (Australia) Pty
Ltd ("ECR Australia") and ECR Minerals (Queensland) Pty Ltd ("ECR
Queensland").

 

ECR Australia owns the Bailieston and Creswick gold projects in central
Victoria, Australia as well as the Tambo gold project in eastern Victoria.

 

ECR Queensland has two approved exploration permits over the Blue Mountain
alluvial gold project in central Queensland, Australia, which it is currently
working to bring into production.  It also has three approved exploration
permits covering 946 km2 over a relatively unexplored area in Lolworth Range
in northern Queensland. Furthermore, ECR Queensland has also submitted a
licence application at Kondaparinga which is approximately 120km2 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), ECR Australia has the right to receive up to A$2 million in
payments subject to future resource estimation or production from these
projects.

 

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

 

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