ECR Minerals plc (LON: ECR), the exploration and development company focused on gold in Australia, is pleased to announce updated gold results from the stream sampling campaign at the Lolworth Range project, North Queensland, Australia.
ECR Minerals plc has 100% ownership of three exploration tenements (EPM27901, EPM27902 and EPM27903), which covers the Lolworth Range, located 120km west of the famous gold district of Charters Towers. The project is being explored under ECR’s Australian wholly owned subsidiary Lux Exploration Pty Ltd (“LUX”).
HIGHLIGHTS
- Assays from the final 75 stream sediment samples now received.
- Results have outlined another 6 stream drainages that are anomalous in gold.
- Gold results up to 1395 ppm gold correlate well to visual gold seen in pan concentrates
- Results for Li-Ta-Ni-Ce are yet to be received.
ECR CEO Andrew Haythorpe commented: “I am pleased to report that once again our Lolworth assets continue to exceed expectations. As the regional streams and gullies continue to give up their secrets and yield some high gold values, there is a real sense of excitement and anticipation at the potential scale and diversity at the project. Once our field team get back on the ground and zone in on the most promising streams, we expect to be able to produce a shortlist of drill targets ready for our rig to commence work at the earliest opportunity.”
“ We already know 2023 will be a definitive year for Lolworth, and with so much more to come from the rest of ECR’s asset portfolio, I look forward to reporting further developments as they occur.”
Plan of all outlying anomalous gold areas identified from stream sampling to date at the Lolworth Project are shown in Figure 1 below:
Figure 1: https://www.ecrminerals.com/images/2023/Fig1_Lolworth_Project_230322.png
NEW GOLD RESULTS
We are pleased that the long-awaited results for the last batch of stream samples have finally arrived. The results show that 12 of the 75 completed samples contain anomalous values greater than 0.21 ppm Au with three samples in particular recording 25.9, 205 and 1395 ppm gold. Whilst this is still early stage sampling work, it should be noted that the majority of these high gold values correlate with the visual identification of gold seen in the pan stream concentrates. The Directors believe the reported high values are strongly indicative of a gold source up-stream and therefore are not representative of the in-situ gold resource within the streams themselves.
ADDITIONAL STREAM ANOMALIES
As outlined in Figure 1 above, our reported additional gold results have identified five new stream catchments that are anomalous in gold. All these new areas are situated to the west of the Reedy Creek and Gorge Creek drainages, and will be re-visited once the current tropical wet season ends.
NEXT STEPS
Since initial work began at Lolworth in September 2022, the field team have identified numerous catchments that have highlighted potential multiple gold sources across all three tenements. Adding further value to this, critical minerals such as lithium, tantalum and niobium have also been identified within streams that are draining from a prominent 10km long north-south ridge line that starts north from Gorge Creek. The results so far have exceeded the expectations of the Board, and along with the geology and field teams on the ground, there is a palpable sense of anticipation over what the project could yield in the coming months.
As we wait for the heavy tropical rains to pass, the ECR Board has planned out the next ‘boots on the ground’ phase to commence in May-June this year. The new campaign priorities will involve mapping, rock chip sampling and soil sampling over the headwaters and ridgelines of the most promising streams. Subject to these results the board will then delineate appropriate drill targets, and schedule a drilling campaign to commence late 2023 / early 2024.
REVIEW OF ANNOUNCEMENT BY QUALIFIED PERSON
This announcement has been reviewed by Adam Jones, Technical Director of Exploration 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 7929 1010
David Tang, Non-Executive Chairman
Andrew Haythorpe, CEO
Email: info@ecrminerals.com
Website: www.ecrminerals.com
