REG - ECR Minerals PLC - Highly Encouraging Test Result From Blue Mountain

ECR MineralsAnnouncement

08/10/2024 07:00

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RNS Number : 2592H  ECR Minerals PLC  08 October 2024

8 October 2024

 

ECR MINERALS PLC

 

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

 

Highly Encouraging Test Work Result Reveals 91.7% Gold Recovery From Blue
Mountain Ore Sample

 

ECR Minerals plc (LON: ECR), the exploration and development company focused
on gold in Australia, is pleased to announce highly encouraging results from
the enhanced gold recovery process at the Company's Blue Mountain Project in
Queensland (the "Blue Mountain Project").

 

HIGHLIGHTS

●     Single Stage Gravity Recoverable Gold ("GRG") test work on ore
samples collected at the Blue Mountain Project demonstrated a recovery rate of
91.7% gold into 0.40% of the mass.

●     These findings suggest that the ore located at the Blue Mountain
Project is suitable for gravity concentration using a batch centrifugal
concentrator ("BCC").

●     If these results are repeatable across the Blue Mountain Project
area, then the Company may have a commercial project suitable for a production
plant on site.

 

Blue Mountain, Queensland

As announced by the Company on 1 August 2024, a trenching and bulk concentrate
sampling programme was undertaken at the Blue Mountain Project during July
2024.  Following highly encouraging results from sluice box concentrates,
with best results including 192.15 g/t Au and 97.40 g/t Au, further samples
were submitted to the laboratory to undergo an enhanced gold recovery process
to determine the potential commercial options for recovery.

 

Gekko Systems Pty Limited ("Gekko") has carried out the GRG test and Sighter
Leach test worked on samples of ore collected at the Blue Mountain Project.
The results have given the board of directors of ECR (the "Board" or the
Directors") further confidence that the Blue Mountain Project may be a viable
commercial gold resource and, if these results are successfully corroborated
through further work, a production plant could potentially be established on
site.

 

It is important to note that, unlike other ECR projects, the Blue Mountain
Project is based on an alluvial gold system.  Gold is therefore found at or
near the surface, meaning that the mining techniques used to extract any
minerals are not associated with high capital expenditure that other projects
may have, for example, where higher gold grades are located at great depth.

 

Future production at the Blue Mountain Project would most likely be undertaken
through gravity concentration of near-surface ore.

 

The full report provided by Gekko has been published on the ECR Minerals
website (www.ecrminerals.com (http://www.ecrminerals.com) ) and the executive
summary is set out below:

 

"This report presents the results for Single Stage Gravity Recoverable Gold
(GRG) and Sighter Leach testwork carried out by Gekko Systems on sample of
Blue Mountain ore. The aim of the testwork program was to determine the Blue
Mountain ore's amenability to gravity concentration and cyanide leaching.

 

The following conclusions were made from the testwork results:

 

·    The average assayed testwork head grade was 89.95 g/t gold. The
average calculated head grade was 91.57 g/t gold. The average calculated head
grade is considered a more accurate measure of gold content, as it is based on
the largest number of assays.

·    Gold distribution in the Single Stage GRG feed (P80 75 um) showed
that the +106 µm size fraction contained 80% of the gold but only 6.03% of
the mass indicative of the presence of liberated gold in this size fraction.

·    The Single Stage GRG test recovered 91.7% of the gold into 0.40% of
the mass. The concentrate grade was 22,043.25 g/t Au (2.2% Au). This GRG
result indicates the gold in the ore is amenable to gravity concentration by a
batch centrifugal concentrator (BCC).

·    Sighter Leach Testwork (1,000 ppm NaCN) on the Single Stage GRG tail
resulted in a gold recovery of 87.6% after 24 hours and a leach tail grade of
1.63 g/t Au having started off with a calculated leach head grade of 13.14
g/t.

 

Following a review of the results, the testwork indicates that a gravity
recovery circuit and conventional cyanidation is a viable treatment option as
a way of recovering the gold from Blue Mountain ore after further testwork and
economic evaluation."

 

Mike Whitlow, ECR's Managing Director, said: "These results from the Blue
Mountain Project, using a straightforward gravity recovery process, are highly
encouraging and have significantly bolstered our confidence in the commercial
credentials of the Blue Mountain Project. Although further analysis is still
required, the concentrations of gold being found at or around surface level
fully validates examining the viability of installing a production plant at
the site.  Significantly, the results so far have provided evidence that
potential commercial opportunities still exist in some of the historical
goldfields through the application of modern technology. Certainly, at the
Blue Mountain Project, the indications are that, based on Gekko's report, we
can potentially recover materially higher quantities of gold than those levels
achieved by the first prospectors. The Board and ECR's technical team will now
further evaluate these results and determine the next steps for the Blue
Mountain Project. I will look forward to providing further updates in due
course."

 

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.

 

MARKET ABUSE REGULATION (MAR) DISCLOSURE

This announcement contains inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of
the Market Abuse Regulation (EU) 596/2014 as it forms part of UK domestic law
by virtue of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 ("MAR"), and is
disclosed in accordance with the Company's obligations under Article 17 of
MAR.

 

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)

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 Nominated Adviser                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    info@allenbycapital.com (mailto:info@allenbycapital.com)

 Nick Naylor / Alex Brearley / Vivek Bhardwaj

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 Broker
 Ben Tadd / Lewis Jones

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 Nick Emerson

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 Alan Green

Glossary

 

 Au:    Gold
 g/t:   Grammes per Tonne (Metric)
 km:    Kilometres (Metric)
 km²:   Kilometre squared (Metric)
 NaCN:  Sodium Cyanide
 ppm:   Parts per million (Metric)
 µm:    Micrometre (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 km2 over a
relatively unexplored area in Lolworth Range, Queensland, Australia. The
Company has also submitted a license 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), 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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