REG - ECR Minerals PLC - Tambo Fire Assays Confirm High Grade Gold

ECR MineralsAnnouncement

12/07/2024 07:15

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RNS Number : 1327W  ECR Minerals PLC  12 July 2024

ECR MINERALS plc

 

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

Fire Assay Results Confirm High Grade Gold Photon Analysis Numbers at Tambo,
Victoria

 

ECR Minerals plc (LON: ECR), the exploration and development company focused
on gold in Australia, is pleased to provide the fire assay gold results from
the historic Duke of Cornwall Mine, Swifts Creek (Tambo), Victoria, Australia.

 

HIGHLIGHTS

●     Fire assay of 37 rock chips at the Duke of Cornwall Lode improves
earlier best result from photon analysis from 51.5 g/t Au to 52.2 g/t Au

●     10 Samples returned results above 5 g/t Au

●     Additional gold results for 19 rock chips include more best
results including 9.79 g/t Au, 8.55 g/t Au and 5.31 g/t Au

●     The results fall within the 95% confidence interval indicating
photon analysis does offer a reliable indication of fire assay results

 

Background to Photon Assay Analysis

As announced on 10 June 2024, ECR Minerals undertook an exploration campaign
at its Eastern Victorian exploration tenement (EL007484) which included
detailed mapping of historical gold workings and the collection of 56 rock
chips and 84 soil samples at spaced intervals across and along strike of the
known mineralisation. Initial testing of 37 rock chips using the Photon Assay
method returned significant results with 8 samples showing gold concentrations
exceeding 5 g/t Au, including a best result of 51.5 g/t Au.

 

Fire Assay Comparison

The Board has now received the gold and multi-element results for all 56 rock
chip samples, analysed using both traditional Fire Assay and ME-ICPMS methods.
In comparing the 37 Photon Assays to the Fire Assays, all samples are within a
95% confidence level. The largest variance observed between assay methods was
2.05 g/t Au in rock chip BTR054. It is acknowledged that gold results
inherently exhibit some variance, as evidenced by duplicate and repeat testing
for Au (refer to Table 1 below). A vein previously sampled in 2023, with a
fire assay indicating 0.2 metres at 22 g/t Au, produced a photon analysis
result consistent with expectations, measuring 24 g/t Au.

 

Multi-Element Pathfinders

All rock chip samples also underwent ME-ICP analysis to determine levels of
Silver, Arsenic, Bismuth, Copper, Lead, and Zinc. Elements such as Arsenic
(As) have traditionally been a key indicator for gold mineralisation. Bismuth
(Bi) has shown the closest correlation with gold at higher elevations and
falls within the detectable range of a pXRF device, a valuable tool included
in the Company's exploration toolkit (refer to Chart 1 below). Pathfinder
elements can be crucial for expediting and cost-effectively generating future
regional exploration targets.

 

Table One: Results above 5g/t Gold from 56 Rock Chip Samples, Tambo Project
Exploration. Comparison between earlier Photon Analysis also shown.

 

 Sample  Photon Au g/t  FA Ave Au g/t  Au g/t   Au g/t (Duplicate)  Au g/t (Repeat)  Bismuth ppm

                                       (FA-1)
 BTR005                 8.55           8.56                         8.53             1230
 BTR011                 5.31           5.52                         5.09             186
 BTR019                 9.79           8.88                         10.70            482
 BTR021  16.70          15.70          16.50                        14.90            1200
 BTR027  7.00           6.13           5.72     6.53                                 256
 BTR044  26.50          26.25          25.60                        26.90            1040
 BTR046  16.90          17.20          17.00    17.40                                747
 BTR047  24.00          22.85          21.80                        23.90            316
 BTR054  19.70          17.65          16.50                        18.80            640
 BTR056  51.50          52.20          53.20                        51.20            1450

 

* Fire Assay Average grade = (Au g/t + duplicate + repeat) / number of
analysis

 

No other rock chip samples returned results above 5 g/t Au.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chart 1: Plot of Au (g/t) against Bismuth (ppm) showing close correlation
between the two elements.

 

Mike Whitlow Chief Operating Officer commented: "The high grade gold results,
and perhaps more importantly, the statistically significant correlation to the
fire assay data has validated our decision to implement photon assaying at
Tambo. A best result of 52.2 g/t Au in rock chips is an exceptional outcome
and I look forward to our exploration teams resuming work at the project in
due course.

 

"In Queensland, the earlier recovery of visible gold through our washplant at
Blue Mountain has exceeded expectations and we're eagerly awaiting the results
of laboratory analysis which will guide our next steps for the project. In the
coming days, I'm looking forward to our chief geologist Adam Jones joining our
field crews at Lolworth where initial hard rock trenching is planned for Gorge
Creek West."

 

Adam Jones Chief Geologist added: "Our geological team has been very impressed
with the Photon Assay method, noting its close correlation with reported Fire
Assays. It not only provides faster and more cost-effective results but also
represents a significant shift in our approach moving forward. Our next
objective at this prospect is to confirm the consistency of gold hits within
the vein structure which is likely to include a short drill program."

 

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) 1738 317 693
 Nick Tulloch, Chairman

 Andrew Scott, Director

 Email:

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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.  MGA also has approximately A$75
million of unutilised tax losses incurred during previous operations.

 

ECR holds a royalty on the SLM gold project in La Rioja Province, Argentina
which could potentially receive up to US$2.7 million in aggregate across all
licences.

 

ABOUT PHOTONASSAY

 

Developed by Australia's national science agency, CSIRO, photon assay is
described as a technique that can deliver faster, safer, and more accurate
gold analysis. The developers of PhotonAssay are positioning it as an
environmentally-friendly replacement for fire assay that can provide rapid
turnaround on high sample volumes.  Samples can be processed in less than 2
minutes in an automated process, compared to 3-4 hours for fire assay samples.
A number of companies have undertaken a thorough evaluation of the method on
their projects by undertaking extensive testing against fire assays (currently
considered the gold standard for grade determination) with excellent results.
PhotonAssay is considered most suitable for coarse gold mineralisation where
analysis of large sample sizes is advantageous.

 

The technique works by hitting samples with high-energy X-rays, which causes
excitation of atomic nuclei allowing enhanced analysis of gold, silver, copper
and other elements in as little as two minutes. A highly sensitive detector
picks up the unique atomic signatures from these elements to determine
concentrations.

 

PhotonAssay has the following features:

·    Bulk measurement of large samples, typically 400-650 g

·    Minimal sample preparation e.g. crush to 2-3 mm top-size

·    Non-destructive; no chemical reagents required

·    Rapid (< 2 mins per sample, 70 samples/hour)

·    Excellent sensitivity (0.01 ppm detection limit on reagent blanks,
0.015-0.030 on typical gold ores)

·    Independent of sample matrix, chemistry or mineralogy

·    Fully-automated

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