REG - ECR Minerals PLC - Queensland operations update

ECR MineralsAnnouncement

19/06/2025 07:00

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RNS Number : 4749N  ECR Minerals PLC  19 June 2025

 

 

19 June 2025

 

ECR MINERALS PLC

 

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

 

Queensland operations update

 

ECR Minerals plc (LON: ECR), the exploration and development company focused
on gold in Australia, is pleased to provide an update on its Queensland
operations, with significant progress at the Blue Mountain gold project ("Blue
Mountain") and an upcoming drilling programme at the Lolworth gold and rare
earths project ("Lolworth"). The Board believes that these developments mark
key milestones in advancing the Company's future exploration and production
objectives.

 

Highlights

 

Blue Mountain

•   Drilling rig to be mobilised with bulk sampling and prototype wash
plant testing ongoing, with the objective to demonstrate recovery and revenue
potential

•    Expanded work programme to assess larger-capacity wash plant and
production partnerships, aiming to support long-term operational scalability

 

Lolworth

•     Drill-ready gold targets defined at Gorge Creek West, Uncle Terry,
and Gorge Diggings, with drilling set to commence in July 2025

 

Blue Mountain Project

 

The Blue Mountain Project is advancing rapidly, with a contracted drilling rig
set to be mobilised and moving to site before the end of June 2025. ECR's
Chief Geologist, Adam Jones, and the technical team are expected to arrive on
site by 23 June 2025 with a fully modified wash plant prototype and are
expected to immediately commence operations. This phase will focus on bulk
sampling and testing our revised wash plant modifications to optimise the
Company's future alluvial mining model. This is expected to provide critical
data on gold recovery and revenue potential. The drilling programme is
specifically designed to test the depth to bedrock to enable a clearer
understanding of the project's geological potential. Holes are envisaged to be
of 3 - 5 metres depth on gridlines across the core areas of the alluvial
resource. No representative sampling program is envisaged but the presence of
alluvial gold will be logged to guide the program. The bulk sampling campaign
will analyse the expansion, scalability, and recovery potential of the
project, with drilling also targeted at areas where ECR intends, in due
course, to commence operations. These efforts are a critical step in advancing
towards production, de-risking the project, and building confidence in its
long-term commercial viability.

 

The team has also scheduled a review of a larger-capacity wash plant and
associated heavy equipment at a nearby location, aligning with ECR's strategy
to scale operations and explore production partnerships.

 

Lolworth Gold and Rare Earths Project

 

ECR is also preparing for an exploration campaign, in what is targeted to be a
significant advance at Lolworth, that is expected to take place between July
and August 2025. Following extensive soil and stream sampling, drill-ready
gold targets have been identified at Gorge Creek West, Uncle Terry, and Gorge
Diggings, with Butterfly Creek as a potential additional target. A minimum of
1,500 metres of percussion drilling is planned, using a rig capable of 100
millimetre diameter holes to depths of at least 100 metres. The programme, set
to commence in mid-July and conclude in August 2025, will focus on
near-surface gold mineralisation up to depths of 70 metres depth, optimising
cost-effective intercept density. Previous surface sampling at Uncle Terry
returned grades of up to 75.6 g/t Au, with accompanying silver-lead
mineralisation.

 

ECR continues its collaboration with James Cook University and the Queensland
Geological Department's Critical Minerals division to advance rare earth
elements (REE) exploration, with a focus on Niobium-Tantalum mineralisation at
Oaky Creek and the ridgeline zone, where past sampling yielded results up to
146 ppm Nb. Historical alluvial mining evidence suggests significant
downstream gold potential, which remains untested by modern exploration
methods, which the Board believes present a compelling opportunity for
exploration.

 

Charters Towers Presentation

 

ECR's Chief Geologist, Adam Jones, will present the Company's Queensland
portfolio at the regional exploration forum in Charters Towers on 28 June
2025. This event will highlight recent achievements and strategic objectives,
reinforcing ECR's growing presence in this historically productive mining
region.

 

Corporate Update

 

ECR remains on budget and on schedule across its operations. Importantly, the
under-budget completion of the recent Bailieston drilling campaign has
provided flexibility to accelerate activities in Queensland. Final results
from the antimony drilling programme at Bailieston are expected in the
shorter-term.

The progress from our recent projects is increasing the awareness of ECR in
Australia with both prospective counterparties and investors. We are
reinforcing this by renaming our two Australian subsidiaries ECR Minerals
(Australia) Pty Limited and ECR Minerals (Queensland) Pty Limited as the
previous names did not directly identify them as ECR group companies.

 

Managing Director, Mike Whitlow, commented: "The next two months are expected
to be pivotal for ECR. We are pleased with the strong progress at Blue
Mountain, where the arrival of the drilling rig and our modified wash plant
marks a pivotal step towards demonstrating the Blue Mountain project's
production potential. The drilling programme will test bedrock depth and
provide critical insights into the scalability, recovery potential, and
potential expansion opportunities, laying the groundwork to move towards
operational commencement and advancing our production story. We consider that
the team's dedication to refining our mining model is laying a robust
foundation for the future. Equally exciting is the upcoming drilling programme
at Lolworth, which targets high-grade gold prospects and builds on several
years of high-quality surface exploration. These developments underscore ECR's
commitment to delivering value for shareholders and advancing our strategic
objectives in Queensland."

 

ECR's Chief Geologist, Adam Jones, added: "At Blue Mountain, we're advancing
towards production, whilst de-risking the project and building confidence in
its gold potential. At Lolworth, we're poised to drill untested, high-grade
gold targets in a geologically underexplored region, with the potential for
significant discoveries."

 

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) 02 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                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  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 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 Minerals (Australia) Pty Ltd 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)
 Nb:    Niobium
 Ppm:   Parts per million (Metric)
 Sq:    Square (Metric)

 

 

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