REG - ECR Minerals PLC - Strong Maiden Drill Results & Operations Update
01/12/2025 07:00
For best results when printing this announcement, please click on link below:
https://newsfile.refinitiv.com/getnewsfile/v1/story?guid=urn:newsml:reuters.com:20251201:nRSA6380Ja&default-theme=true
RNS Number : 6380J ECR Minerals PLC 01 December 2025
1 December 2025
ECR MINERALS PLC
("ECR Minerals", "ECR" or the "Company")
Strong Maiden Drill Results at Lolworth Confirm Gold-Silver System and
Highlight Growth Potential
Operations update
ECR Minerals plc (AIM: ECR), the exploration and development company focused
on gold in Australia, is pleased to announce assay results from the recently
completed maiden drilling programme on the 100% owned Lolworth Project, North
Queensland, Australia. The Company also provides an update on progress in
respect of its other activities.
Highlights
· Highly encouraging maiden Reverse Circulation drilling programme at
the Uncle Terry and Gorge Creek West prospects delivering multiple gold and
silver intercepts.
· Notable shallow intercepts of gold and silver include:
4m @ 7.18 g/t Ag
4m @ 3.33 g/t Ag
2m @ 3.57 g/t Au
5m @ 0.47 g/t Au
· Silver mineralisation may be significantly more widespread than the
areas drilled based on outcrop mapping and sampling.
· Results reinforce Lolworth as a high-priority growth project within
ECR's portfolio.
· Blue Mountain assay results expected before mid-December, anticipated
to support near-term production momentum.
· Raglan Project acquisition documentation now agreed in all material
respects, with completion expected in December, marking progress toward ECR's
first alluvial gold production.
· Creswick JV negotiations advancing positively, following a successful
meeting between the parties.
ECR Chief Geologist Adam Jones commented: "We are pleased to present assay
results from what has been a very successful maiden drilling campaign at the
Lolworth Project. This follows the encouraging surface exploration
previously completed and validates our expectations that gold mineralisation
extends underneath the outcrops at the Uncle Terry and Gorge Creek West
prospects. However, the stand out result is the extensive presence of silver
grades. Our outcrop mapping and geochemistry indicates that this silver
mineralisation is likely to be significantly broader than the areas drilled,
adding further potential upside to the overall Lolworth Project. A further
drilling programme will determine the scale of this potential mineralisation."
ECR Chairman Nick Tulloch added: "We frequently talk about our near-term
production prospects at Blue Mountain and our proposed acquisition of the
Raglan project, but today's announcement of results from Lolworth, the largest
project in our portfolio, is a reminder of the scale of the wider
opportunities that we have before us.
"The drilling results speak for themselves, evidencing extensive
mineralisation over our target prospects of Uncle Terry and Gorge Creek
West. But significantly, for a project that we have previously referred to
as being focused on gold and rare earths, we can now add silver as a target
metal. Silver prices have reached all-time highs earlier in 2025, with its
price growth so far this year outpacing that of gold. Many analysts forecast
ongoing silver price strength. We had already identified Lolworth as being
one of our core tenements, but the opportunity has now become even more
interesting.
"In a year of considerable change for ECR, we are still working on several
projects. At a corporate level, we are looking to conclude our proposed
acquisition of the Raglan project and pursue our proposed Creswick JV and, at
the operational level, we look forward to the remaining results from the
drilling at Blue Mountain which we expect to announce before mid-December."
Summary of the Maiden Drilling Campaign at the Lolworth Project
A total of 28 reverse circulation drill holes (1,058 metres in aggregate) were
completed in September and October 2025 over two gold prospects at the
Lolworth Project known as Uncle Terry and Gorge Creek West. This is the first
drilling campaign to be completed by an exploration company within this part
of the Lolworth Range. Drilling followed up on previous years' rock chip
sampling of outcrops, where sporadic Galena (AgPb sulphide) mineralisation had
been observed.
The Uncle Terry prospect was formally named and discovered by previous
tenement holders A.R.I Limited in 1988 where Galena was observed in a quartz
outcrop. Grab samples from the outcrop during their discovery included 34 g/t
Au and 6 g/t Au. The original location of the discovery has only been recently
identified. The outcrop was initially thought to strike in a north-south
direction; however, ECR's recent mapping and drill programme suggests that the
vein strikes east-west, dipping to the south.
See Figure One for the location of drill holes at Uncle Terry and Figure Two
for the location of drill holes at Gorge Creek West.
Six drill holes (LWDR001 to LWDR006 and LWDR008 to LWDR009) were initially
drilled underneath and down plunge of the original Uncle Terry discovery
outcrop. Another six holes (LWDR007 and LWDR010 to LWDR013) were drilled
just south of the discovery site to test for mineralisation located underneath
sporadic quartz outcrops where previous rock chips of up to 75 g/t Au have
been taken. Eight holes (LWDR014 to LWDR021) were drilled underneath a swarm
of quartz shear zones located towards the south of the prospect.
Seven holes (LWDR022 to LWDR028) were drilled underneath a north-south
striking quartz stockwork zone at Gorge Creek West. Previous campaigns of rock
chipping and channel sampling across this outcrop have returned values
including 14.7 g/t Au and 50.2 g/t Ag and 6.34 g/t Au and 5.2 g/t Ag.
A total of 1,058 metres were drilled during this maiden campaign. All of the
drilling was shallow with a maximum depth of 45 metres. All samples were split
at the drill rig into 2 to 5 kg samples. Analysis of the samples was
undertaken at ALS Global's Townsville laboratory using methods AuAA-26 (50g
fire assay for gold) and ME-ICP41 for multi-element analysis (Ag, As etc).
Table One: All Drill hole details for the Maiden Reverse Circulation Drilling
Programme, September - October 2025
Drill Hole Easting* Northing* Relative Level (RL) Dip Azimuth (Grid) Final Depth (m) Prospect
LWDR001 312167.9 7752170.5 698.5 -55 338 36 Uncle Terry
LWDR002 312170.5 7752163.4 698.9 -62 335 42 Uncle Terry
LWDR003 312175.8 7752151.5 700.1 -64 336 40 Uncle Terry
LWDR004 312154.1 7752158.3 702.1 -63 331 36 Uncle Terry
LWDR005 312157.6 7752152.5 702.6 -64 330 40 Uncle Terry
LWDR006 312160.6 7752147.3 703.2 -70 331 39 Uncle Terry
LWDR007 312178.3 7752148.6 700.1 -58 117 36 Uncle Terry
LWDR008 312173.1 7752175.5 697.9 -54 11 36 Uncle Terry
LWDR009 312172.2 7752169.1 698.6 -65 11 39 Uncle Terry
LWDR010 312166.8 7752118.7 705.3 -56 82 45 Uncle Terry
LWDR011 312167.9 7752108.5 705.4 -56 85 30 Uncle Terry
LWDR012 312167.8 7752107.6 705.6 -49 142 30 Uncle Terry
LWDR013 312167.4 7752107.2 705.7 -56 158 39 Uncle Terry
LWDR014 312340.9 7751883.4 721.6 -51 276 39 Uncle Terry
LWDR015 312341.0 7751882.5 721.7 -50 236 42 Uncle Terry
LWDR016 312344.1 7751869.0 722.2 -54 49 39 Uncle Terry
LWDR017 312344.1 7751869.1 722.2 -59 46 39 Uncle Terry
LWDR018 312342.0 7751882.9 721.7 -50 185 42 Uncle Terry
LWDR019 312349.4 7751889.3 721.7 -54 44 30 Uncle Terry
LWDR020 312345.8 7751885.4 721.6 -64 38 36 Uncle Terry
LWDR021 312350.6 7751884.8 722.0 -64 85 30 Uncle Terry
LWDR022 313350.9 7751450.4 742.7 -54 153 42 Gorge Creek West
LWDR023 313350.5 7751451.0 742.9 -69 152 45 Gorge Creek West
LWDR024 313355.8 7751458.1 743.6 -55 86 39 Gorge Creek West
LWDR025 313356.3 7751458.0 743.6 -55 129 36 Gorge Creek West
LWDR026 313349.9 7751456.3 743.2 -55 231 39 Gorge Creek West
LWDR027 313363.6 7751474.2 744.6 -61 113 36 Gorge Creek West
LWDR028 313368.7 7751488.6 744.8 -60 110 36 Gorge Creek West
*Drill hole locations given in GDA94 Zone 55 co-ordinates.
Overview of Drill Results
Individual drill results have been composited to a minimum cut off of 1m @
0.25 g/t (Gold) and 1m @ 2 g/t (Silver). Contained metal per metre (grammes
multiplied by metre, shown as 'Gramme Metres') has also been calculated.
Results for Gold and Silver are set out in Table Two (Gold) and Table Three
(Silver) below.
Table Two: Drilling results for significant Gold intercepts and depths of
zones tested at cut-off 1m @ 0.25 g/t Au.
Drill Hole From (m) Sample Length (m) Average grade of mineralisation Au g/t * Gramme Metres Au Prospect
LWDR012 14 2 3.57 7.14 Uncle Terry
LWDR025 14 5 0.47 2.34 Gorge Creek West
LWDR026 21 1 2.04 2.04 Gorge Creek West
LWDR024 15 2 0.82 1.64 Gorge Creek West
LWDR011 7 1 1.44 1.44 Uncle Terry
LWDR026 14 4 0.33 1.31 Gorge Creek West
LWDR026 6 2 0.58 1.15 Gorge Creek West
LWDR006 33 1 0.85 0.85 Uncle Terry
LWDR024 31 1 0.74 0.74 Gorge Creek West
LWDR011 23 1 0.58 0.58 Uncle Terry
LWDR022 41 1 0.45 0.45 Gorge Creek West
LWDR023 16 1 0.40 0.40 Gorge Creek West
LWDR024 25 1 0.37 0.37 Gorge Creek West
LWDR011 25 1 0.34 0.34 Uncle Terry
LWDR003 16 1 0.29 0.29 Uncle Terry
LWDR026 12 1 0.27 0.27 Gorge Creek West
Table Three: Drilling results for significant Silver intercepts and depths of
zones tested at cut-off 1m @ 2.0 g/t Ag.
Drill Hole From (m) Sample Length (m) Average grade of mineralisation Ag g/t Gramme Metres Ag Prospect
LWDR006 33 4 7.18 28.70 Uncle Terry
LWDR021 11 1 15.00 15.00 Uncle Terry
LWDR025 14 4 3.33 13.30 Gorge Creek West
LWDR012 14 1 10.10 10.10 Uncle Terry
LWDR024 15 2 3.80 7.60 Gorge Creek West
LWDR002 18 1 6.00 6.00 Uncle Terry
LWDR014 30 1 4.20 4.20 Uncle Terry
LWDR011 23 1 3.50 3.50 Uncle Terry
LWDR024 31 1 2.60 2.60 Gorge Creek West
Drilling underneath the Uncle Terry discovery outcrop has demonstrated that
mineralisation extends underneath dipping to the south as hypothesised, with
silver intercepts up to 4m @ 7.18 g/t Ag from 33m deep.
Drilling also shows localised gold mineralisation underneath quartz outcrops
immediately south of the Uncle Terry outcrop, such as 2m @ 3.57 g/t Au from
14m in hole LWDR012. This intercept lies directly underneath an outcrop that
has previously graded 75 g/t Au from rock chip sampling. Drill holes also show
evidence of multiple parallel veinlets with multiple mineralised intercepts
including 1m @ 1.44 g/t Au (LWDR011), 1m @ 0.58 g/t Au (LWDR011), 1m @ 0.74
g/t Au (LWDR024), as shown in Table Two.
Previous mapping of the outcrop at Gorge Creek West showed that the stockwork
zone consists of a network of narrow north-south striking quartz shears.
Drilling has picked up on some of these broader mineralised zones such as 4m @
0.33 g/t Au (LWDR026).
A particular highlight of the results is the predominant Silver mineralisation
at both prospects (see Table Three).
Indications of a Broader System
Previous soil sampling at Uncle Terry has been analysed internally by ECR with
a pXRF analyser. It has been hypothesised that high Lead (Pb) concentrations
in soil could be related to a silver mineralisation system. A number of high
Pb anomalies have been identified across the greater Uncle Terry area, such as
those shown in Figure One. During the drilling campaign, a number of Pb soil
anomaly locations were visited, mapped and any outcrop sampled. A number of
outcrops were found to contain visible spotty galena within quartz shear
zones. Rock chip sampling results confirm the presence of silver
mineralisation and also confirm the high probability of linking high lead
anomalies within the soil to silver mineralisation in the area. The best
outcrop is located in the centre of the Uncle Terry prospect. This outcrop can
be traced along a broken line for approximately 70 metres. Best rock chip
sampling results include 44.9, 46.5, 35.2 g/t Ag. Geochemistry mapping
indicates that mineralisation is contained within NNW and NNE striking
structural trends, with the strongest mineralisation concentrated around the
intersection of such structures.
Table Four: Rock Chip Sampling Results from the Uncle Terry Prospect
Sample # Easting Northing Relative Level (RL) Au g/t Ag g/t
LWC965 312331.7 7752301.4 697.6 0.01 btl
LWC966 312329.0 7752303.3 696.9 btl btl
LWC967 312332.2 7752305.9 697.6 0.01 btl
LWC968 312334.5 7752314.6 697.2 0.44 btl
LWC969 312337.3 7752317.5 697.2 btl btl
LWC970 312341.2 7752327.8 697.1 0.01 btl
LWC971 312338.4 7752320.8 697.1 0.01 btl
LWC972 312337.3 7752386.3 693.6 0.42 0.7
LWC973 312339.4 7752388.0 693.6 0.56 0.2
LWC974 312341.1 7752380.2 694.3 1.52 0.5
LWC975 312299.0 7752302.0 689.8 0.01 btl
LWC976 312302.0 7752304.5 690.7 btl btl
LWC977 312295.5 7752298.9 688.3 0.01 btl
LWC978 312294.7 7752302.0 688.5 btl btl
LWC979 312291.4 7752306.3 688.5 btl btl
LWC981 312326.6 7751997.1 716.1 0.01 4.8
LWC982 312327.0 7752000.7 717.8 0.08 13.2
LWC983 312323.3 7751993.1 714.4 0.04 9.4
LWC984 312315.1 7751984.8 710.7 0.08 44.9
LWC985 312299.5 7751969.8 711.3 0.06 0.7
LWC986 312295.4 7751969.2 710.3 0.04 0.4
LWC987 312275.9 7751974.5 707.2 0.03 46.5
LWC988 312323.2 7752163.2 709.9 0.01 3
LWC989 312266.6 7751969.9 706.8 0.04 35.2
LWC990 312264.0 7751966.8 708.3 0.02 22.5
LWC991 312323.4 7751989.7 713.3 btl 9.4
LWC992 312327.4 7752170.2 710.1 0.04 14.9
LWC993 312207.1 7752242.6 690.9 btl 0.2
LWC994 312200.7 7752236.7 690.7 btl btl
LWC995 312199.0 7752234.3 690.4 0.01 btl
LWC996 312200.8 7752232.9 691.0 0.02 btl
LWC997 312218.2 7752219.7 694.0 btl btl
LWC998 312221.2 7752222.5 693.8 btl btl
LWC999 312175.8 7752283.4 679.0 0.04 0.3
LWC1003 312175.0 7752279.9 678.8 btl btl
LWC1004 312171.6 7752274.1 678.5 btl btl
LWC1005 312174.4 7752286.4 678.1 0.02 btl
*Rock Chip locations given in GDA94 Zone 55 co-ordinates.
(btl = below detection limit).
Next Steps
The results from this maiden drill programme demonstrate the presence of
silver and gold mineralisation at shallow depths within these two prospects at
the Lolworth Project. Outcrop mapping and geochemistry also indicates that
silver mineralisation is also broader than the areas drilled. Due to time
constraints and drilling logistics, these outcrops were not able to be drilled
whilst the rig was present on site on this occasion. However, off the back of
these highly encouraging results, the Board believes that these outcrops (and
other prospects) should be drilled during the next campaign at the Lolworth
Project. Proposed follow up drilling methods would include diamond drilling,
which will allow structural measurements to be taken and to determine what is
controlling this mineralisation. Deeper drillholes will also be beneficial on
both prospects.
This maiden drilling campaign and associated mapping has significantly
increased ECR's understanding of mineralisation at the Lolworth Project. In
addition, the team have already established that a number of other anomalies
exist adjacent to these areas drilled which show similar geological traits.
These include:
· A mineralised vein traceable for over 30m lying 350m east of Gorge
Creek West. Rock chip samples of up to 14 g/t Au and 54 g/t Ag have been
obtained from here.
· Visible gold halo in soils with no visible outcrop located only 170m
west of the drilling at Gorge Creek West, indicating other blind deposits.
· At Flaggy Creek, sub-cropping multiple narrow quartz veins over an
area 70m x 100m. Rock chip samples of up to 6.6 g/t Au and 24.3 g/t Ag have
been obtained from here.
Raglan Project - Near-Term Production of Alluvial Gold
As announced on 1 October 2025, ECR is proposing to acquire Raglan Resources
Pty Ltd (the "Proposed Acquisition"), the holder of Licence ML 3665 (the
"Raglan Project") for A$1.01 million. The purchase price is fully funded by
the subscription announced on 1 October 2025. Legal documentation for the
Proposed Acquisition is now agreed in all material respects. The final step
is for the vendors to remove certain unrelated tenements and non-core assets
from Raglan Resources Pty Ltd, the owner of the Raglan Project and the company
that ECR is proposing to acquire. The vendors are currently finalising their
tax and restructuring advice in order to proceed and, as such, ECR anticipates
completing the Proposed Acquisition later this month.
There can 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.
Creswick
On 18 September 2025, ECR announced that it had entered into a 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. Following a successful meeting between
the parties in the last week of November, these discussions are progressing
well and ECR is working with Bold Gold to seek to finalise the terms of the
Creswick JV.
The Creswick JV will be subject to, among other things, entry into a legally
binding JV agreement and the 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 Creswick JV.
Figure One. Plan of Uncle Terry
Figure Two. Plan of Gorge Creek West.
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
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
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 km(2) 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 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), 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.
Glossary
Ag: Silver
As: Arsenic
Au: Gold
g: Grammes (Metric)
kg: Kilogrammes (Metric)
km: Kilometres (Metric)
km²: Kilometre squared (Metric)
M: Metres (Metric)
Pb: Lead
pXRF: Portable x-ray fluorescence (analyser)
This information is provided by RNS, the news service of the London Stock Exchange. RNS is approved by the Financial Conduct Authority to act as a Primary Information Provider in the United Kingdom. Terms and conditions relating to the use and distribution of this information may apply. For further information, please contact
rns@lseg.com (mailto:rns@lseg.com)
or visit
www.rns.com (http://www.rns.com/)
.
RNS may use your IP address to confirm compliance with the terms and conditions, to analyse how you engage with the information contained in this communication, and to share such analysis on an anonymised basis with others as part of our commercial services. For further information about how RNS and the London Stock Exchange use the personal data you provide us, please see our
Privacy Policy (https://www.lseg.com/privacy-and-cookie-policy)
. END UPDFDMESSEISEEF
Copyright 2019 Regulatory News Service, all rights reservedRecent news on ECR Minerals
See all newsREG - ECR Minerals PLC - Blue Mountain drilling results & operations update
AnnouncementREG - ECR Minerals PLC - Strong Maiden Drill Results & Operations Update
AnnouncementREG - ECR Minerals PLC - Directorate Change
AnnouncementRCS - ECR Minerals PLC - Initiation of research by Allenby Capital
AnnouncementREG - ECR Minerals PLC - Operations update
Announcement