REG-ECR Minerals plc High Gold and Antimony Results from Soil Sampling, Victoria, Australia

ECR MineralsAnnouncement

15/06/2021 09:45

For best results when printing this announcement, please click on link below:
http://newsfile.refinitiv.com/getnewsfile/v1/story?guid=urn:newsml:reuters.com:20210615:nBw31wv0Wa&default-theme=true


High Gold and Antimony Results from Soil Sampling, Victoria, Australia

 

15 June 2021

ECR MINERALS plc

(“ECR Minerals”, “ECR” or the “Company”)

HIGH GOLD AND ANTIMONY RESULTS FROM SOIL SAMPLING, VICTORIA, AUSTRALIA

EXPLORATION AT HR3 BAILIESTON PROJECT HIGHLIGHTS POTENTIAL UNDEVELOPED REEF
LINES

ECR Minerals plc (LON: ECR), the gold exploration and development company
focused on Australia, is pleased to announce results from recent soil sampling
undertaken within the Historic Reserve #3 (HR3) Bailieston in Victoria,
Australia and 100%-owned by ECR’s wholly owned Australian subsidiary
Mercator Gold Australia Pty Ltd (“MGA”).

Craig Brown, Chief Executive Officer, commented:

“I am delighted to announce further positive exploration news, this time
from the implementation of a soil sampling programme utilising an innovative
exploration methodology (see below) at HR3 that has revealed particularly high
gold grades in soils and therefore identified a new target for drilling.

The significance of these findings means we have now submitted a request for
consent to undertake additional exploration drilling at the location, which is
over and above initial planned drill holes in the area.

As the momentum of our two rig drill programmes continues to build, additional
findings such as those announced today further demonstrate the geological
prospectivity of our licence areas. I look forward to providing further
updates as material exploration data is received and reviewed by the
Company.”

HIGHLIGHTS


 * Soil sampling has revealed high gold anomalies (up to 3.75 g/t Au) along with
spatially associated antimony which is thought to be from the mineral stibnite
which forms a close association with gold mineralisation.


 * A total of 720 B-horizon soil samples were taken across the central and
eastern part of the Bailieston Historic Reserve # 3 (HR3) between February and
March 2021.

The samples were tested by portable X-ray fluorescence (“pXRF”) for
anomalous pathfinder elements for gold and a selected sub-set of 229 samples
have been sent for trace element analysis (TL) for Au, Ag, As, Sb, Zn, Cu and
Pb.


 * Results of this work show a strong spatial relationship between Au (gold), Sb
(antimony) and to a lesser extent As (arsenic). Plotting of spatial Au-Sb
elemental maps reveals trends which may correspond to the weathering of high
grade gold shoots under shallow cover (fig. 1).


 * Field mapping shows sub-cropping quartz with little to no historical workings
associated with these anomalies. Plans have been submitted for approval to
drill along strike to test these quartz reefs at depth.

METHODOLOGY

Soils grids were designed over known and the possible strike extensions of
gold-bearing quartz reefs. A 10m x 10m spaced grid was chosen as it is known
that narrow high-grade gold reefs will erode over a small spatial area into
the adjacent soil.

Metal detector prospectors in central Victoria know this phenomenon creating
what are known as ‘patches’ and often contain visible coarse gold. Soils
have been taken from the B-horizon, often at the gravel-clay interface at a
depth around 10cm. This is where the gravels have not transported too far from
their source rocks.

Soils located within gullies and adjacent mullock dumps were removed due to
contamination. All soils were sieved on site to < 2mm and bagged, producing
a sample around 300g in weight. A total of 720 samples have been taken to date
(June 2021).

All soils were systematically analysed in-house using ECR’s owned Olympus
pXRF. Analysis is undertaken using three sequential beams with a 15 second
count attributing to each beam. Results are evaluated for traditional
pathfinder elements such as As, Ag, Pb, Zn, Cu and Sb.

Soil with moderate arsenic content (generally > 40 ppm) and soils spatially
close to extensions to known reef lines were selected for further trace
elemental analysis for Au, Ag, As, Pb, Zn, Cu and Sb. A total of 229
sub-samples have been selected and sent to ALS laboratories, Adelaide, South
Australia. Method Au-TL44/ME-ICP44 was chosen for analysis.

A detection limit in ppm is sufficient given the proximity to possible gold
sources. Any Au-TL44 results greater than 1 ppm was analysed by Au-AROR44
which is used for ‘ore grade’ analysis. A 50g charge from a 95% passing
75µm pulverise was chosen due to the likely presence of coarse gold.

RESULTS

Thirteen samples returned gold values above 0.1 g/t Au. Silver, Copper, lead
and Zinc results are low within the soils.

Arsenic is traditionally used as a pathfinder element for gold mineralisation
and occurs at moderate levels within soils at HR3 and is fairly distributed
which will mask blind gold deposits.

Antimony (Sb) results are variable with high results correlating spatially
with high gold assays (fig1)

Figure 1: https://www.ecrminerals.com/images/fig1_HR3_Au-Sb_Soils_210608.jpg
(https://cts.businesswire.com/ct/CT?id=smartlink&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ecrminerals.com%2Fimages%2Ffig1_HR3_Au-Sb_Soils_210608.jpg&esheet=52445397&newsitemid=20210615005553&lan=en-US&anchor=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ecrminerals.com%2Fimages%2Ffig1_HR3_Au-Sb_Soils_210608.jpg&index=1&md5=a07baa4f7ec2c9e86ca305b4dd46fc96)

Rock chips taken during 2018 along strike of the main soil anomaly showed a
visible speck of coarse gold (fig. 2). Assays for these rock chips were
analysed using a small charge fire assay resulting in variable results (up to
0.32 g/t Au) reflecting how coarse gold can be missed using traditional assay
methods. Furthermore, non-executive director (Adam Jones) in February 2019 has
found coarse gold by using a metal detector within the shallow soils in the
vicinity of the reported soil anomalies (fig 3).

Figure 2: https://www.ecrminerals.com/images/fig2_LX0819_vg__2018.jpg
(https://cts.businesswire.com/ct/CT?id=smartlink&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ecrminerals.com%2Fimages%2Ffig2_LX0819_vg__2018.jpg&esheet=52445397&newsitemid=20210615005553&lan=en-US&anchor=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ecrminerals.com%2Fimages%2Ffig2_LX0819_vg__2018.jpg&index=2&md5=c5fc6f04c240ed7678d8adcb1fff9922)

Figure 3: https://www.ecrminerals.com/images/fig3_036g_nugget_HR3.jpg
(https://cts.businesswire.com/ct/CT?id=smartlink&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ecrminerals.com%2Fimages%2Ffig3_036g_nugget_HR3.jpg&esheet=52445397&newsitemid=20210615005553&lan=en-US&anchor=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ecrminerals.com%2Fimages%2Ffig3_036g_nugget_HR3.jpg&index=3&md5=0bf9c84618ead8ccc33aad51d68248a4)

Table 1 Summary of results for analysis of a 229 selected soil samples using
method Au-TL44/ME-ICP44.
                 Au-PREF  Ag-T L44  As-TL44  Cu-TL44  Pb-TL44  Sb-TL44  Zn-TL44  
                 
        
         
        
        
        
        
        
                 ppm      ppm       ppm      ppm      ppm      ppm      ppm      
 Number          229      229       229      229      229      229      229      
 Minimum         0        0.1       7.5      1.8      4.8      3        3        
 Maximum         3.75     0.1       124      14.9     28.6     386      44       
 Mean            0.05     0.1       46.78    6.68     10.52    43.47    9.99     
 Lower Quartile  0.01     0.1       33.7     4.7      8.5      14       6        
 Median          0.01     0.1       45.1     6.5      10.4     24       9        
 Upper Quartile  0.02     0.1       56.8     8.25     12.2     51       12       
 STD-deviation   0.26     0         21.61    2.52     3.17     54.96    5.99     
 CV              5.53     0         0.46     0.38     0.3      1.26     0.6      
 Range           3.75     0         116.5    13.1     23.8     383      41       


LOOKING FORWARD STATEMENT

Results from the undertaking of this work reflect a close gold-antimony
spatial relationship with a low to moderate arsenic undertone within the
Bailieston goldfield. Further soil analysis for pathfinder elements will be
undertaken on other tenements now under increased exploration activity within
central Victoria such as Creswick, near Ballarat.

The outcome of this work will greatly increase the chances of finding blind
sub-surface gold bearing reefs that have been missed by previous explorers.

To our current knowledge, this is the first-time geochemical analysis has been
undertaken at such a high standard within these tenements.

Plans have been submitted for approval to drill underneath and along strike of
these anomalous soils. Once approved, this drilling will be a continuation of
the current drilling program that is underway on nearby HR4, Cherry Tree.

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                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          
 (https://cts.businesswire.com/ct/CT?id=smartlink&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ecrminerals.com%2F&esheet=52445397&newsitemid=20210615005553&lan=en-US&anchor=www.ecrminerals.com&index=4&md5=3e0ec55494dd77f874d51500ba266b25)                                                                 
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       
 WH Ireland Ltd                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          Tel: +44 (0)161 832 2174      
 Nominated Adviser                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         Tel: +44 (0)20 7399 9425      
 
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     
 Novum Securities Limited                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              
 
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     
 Broker                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                
 
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     
 Jon Belliss                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       
 SI Capital Ltd                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          Tel: +44 (0)1483 413500       
 Broker                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                


Nick Emerson

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, and two licence applications lodged in eastern Victoria
for the 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.

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.



View source version on businesswire.com:
https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210615005553/en/
(https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210615005553/en/)

ECR Minerals plc


Copyright Business Wire 2021