REG - ECR Minerals PLC - JV heads of terms to advance the Creswick Project

ECR MineralsAnnouncement

18/09/2025 09:00

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RNS Number : 8702Z  ECR Minerals PLC  18 September 2025

 

 

18 September 2025

 

ECR MINERALS PLC

 

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

 

Joint venture heads of terms to advance the Creswick Gold Project, Victoria

 

ECR Minerals plc (AIM: ECR), the gold exploration and development company
focused on Australia, is pleased to announce that ECR Minerals (Australia) Pty
Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of ECR, has entered into a non-binding heads of
terms with Exertis Pty Ltd trading as Bold Gold ("Bold Gold") for a proposed
joint venture (the "Proposed JV") covering the Company's Creswick Gold Project
("Creswick" or the "Project") in Victoria, Australia.

 

HIGHLIGHTS

·      Completion of the Proposed JV is expected to fund exploration
costs at Creswick without further dilution to ECR shareholders

·      Proposed initial A$250,000 exploration commitment to be spent in
the first 12 months

·      Bold Gold proposed to invest up to A$3 million to earn an 80%
interest through staged exploration expenditure

·      ECR would retain a minimum 20% interest in Creswick or
alternatively elect to receive a royalty interest while continuing to advance
Blue Mountain and pursue other opportunities

 

Details of the Proposed JV

 

Under the Proposed JV, Bold Gold will be responsible for all mandated
expenditure on the Creswick licences during the Proposed JV period, up to a
limit of A$3 million, for which it would earn a maximum 80% interest in the
Project. ECR's only commitment will be to assist Bold Gold in certain renewals
of the Project's licences.

 

Upon the execution of a binding joint venture agreement, Bold Gold will commit
to a minimum exploration spend of A$250,000 during the first 12 months of the
JV.  Following this, Bold Gold will also commit to spend an aggregate of
A$1.25 million on exploration in the Project area over a two-year period, to
earn an interest of 51% in the Project. Thereafter, Bold Gold would spend a
further A$1.75 million (or A$1.5 million should part of the Project be
converted into a retention licence or otherwise renewed) on exploration in the
Project area over a further two year period, to earn an interest of 80% in the
Project.

 

Bold Gold would be obliged to spend not less than an aggregate of A$1.25
million before it secures any interest in the Project.

 

A joint venture committee will also be established, comprising two
representatives from each company, to determine the Project's work programme.

 

At the point at which Bold Gold earns into 80% of Creswick, ECR can elect
either to pay for its 20% share of future operational expenditure on the
Project area or convert its interest to a royalty on terms to be agreed at
that time.

 

The Proposed 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 Proposed JV.

 

The Board views the Proposed JV as consistent with its strategy of maximising
value from its Victorian assets while prioritising its own time and resources
on exploration and nearer-term production opportunities in Queensland. ECR's
flagship Blue Mountain Gold Project is advancing towards potential near-term
production, while the Company continues systematic exploration at its Lolworth
Gold and Rare Earths Project, which the Board believes is one of the largest
underexplored tenements in North Queensland.

 

Next Steps

Bold Gold has commenced its due diligence process and will shortly be granted
access to ECR's Creswick data room. Following successful due diligence, the
parties expect to enter into a binding joint venture agreement. Further
announcements will be made in due course.

 

ECR Minerals Chairman, Nick Tulloch, commented: "We are delighted with Bold
Gold's interest in  Creswick. Creswick has been a significant part of ECR's
portfolio for some time and work we have carried out there has consistently
identified gold mineralisation. Set in the heart of Victoria's gold industry,
we remain of the view that the Project carries considerable potential upside.

 

"However, our strategic focus is on developing the potential commercial
production opportunity we have at Blue Mountain, along with the high potential
exploration programme at Lolworth. The Proposed JV achieves our aim of freeing
up management time and financial resources to concentrate on these projects
whilst still maintaining an interest in Creswick which can now be developed
further without dilution to our shareholders.

 

"The team at Bold Gold have a detailed knowledge of the Project area and we
are looking forward to working with them to advance the opportunities at
Creswick. The next steps are due diligence and preparing a joint venture
agreement which we expect to do as quickly as practicable."

 

Creswick Gold Project, Victoria

 

The Creswick Gold Project, located in central Victoria and covering
approximately 45 km², is considered by ECR management as highly prospective
due to its position within the Dimocks Main Shale ("DMS"), a 25-metre-wide
shale formation extending over 15 km, of which 7 km lies within ECR's
licences. The DMS sits between two historically strong gold-producing areas,
estimated to have produced 15 million ounces of gold.

 

ECR's drilling campaigns at Creswick have consistently identified gold
mineralisation, with notable results including grades of up to 80.97 g/t Au in
duplicate assays with multiple intersections exceeding 20 g/t Au. The
"nuggety" distribution of gold at Creswick, while presenting sampling
challenges, has demonstrated coarse gold potential and the opportunity for
high-grade zones.

 

To date, only a fraction of the DMS within Creswick has been systematically
drilled, leaving substantial upside potential. The Project's proximity to
world-class goldfields such as Ballarat and Fosterville underscores its
strategic value, and the Board believes that ongoing exploration will continue
to support the potential for a substantial gold project.

 

The Project had unaudited total assets of approximately £1.44 million for the
year ended 30 September 2024 and an unaudited capitalised expenditure
(equivalent to losses at the Project level) of approximately £0.175 million
for the same period.

 

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) 20 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
 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

 

ABOUT ECR MINERALS PLC

 

ECR Minerals is a mineral exploration and development company. ECR's wholly
owned Australian subsidiary ECR Minerals (Australia) Pty Ltd ("ECR Australia")
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 ECR Minerals (Queensland) Pty
Ltd 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 Australia also has approximately A$75 million of unutilised tax losses
incurred during previous operations.

 

Glossary

 

 Au:    Gold
 g/t:   Grammes per tonne (Metric)
 km:    Kilometres (Metric)
 km²:   Kilometre squared (Metric)
 M:     Metres (Metric)
 Mg:    Milligram (Metric)
 Sq:    Square (Metric)

 

 

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