ECR Minerals (ECR LN) 0.16p, Mkt Cap £6.6m – New gold-bearing reef found underground at Maddens in Australia
- ECR has found a new quartz reef carrying visible gold at the Maddens mine in North Queensland, where it holds 50%.
- Jack’s Reef was discovered during work on the mine’s ventilation system, at the northern limit of the known ore.
- The reef:
- A consistent quartz structure, >50cm wide in places, with gold visible in the exposed rock
- Exposed over about 10m vertically and 5-10m along strike
- Material from it is already stockpiled on surface, with processing due to start this month
- Geology:
- The old workings stop right where Jack’s Reef begins
- The orientation of the mineralisation has changed with the old ore cutting across the grain of the rock, while the mineralisation at Jack’s Reef runs along it
- Miners call that a ramp and flat, where a vein climbs across the rock then flattens out and carries on
- This is interpreted as showing continuity with mineralisation heading 120m towards the older workings of the Maddens Northern Lode
- Gold tends to collect where the ramp meets the flat
- The reef can be followed from existing underground workings, without a surface drill programme.
- Chairman Nick Tulloch commented: “The presence of visible gold is clearly exciting, but just as importantly, the location and substantial nature of the reef may help us better understand how the mineralised system continues beyond the historic workings.”
