ECR Minerals plc (LON: ECR), the exploration and development company focused on gold in Australia, is pleased to announce updated results from soil sampling and other on-going exploration activities within licence EL006184 at Creswick, Victoria, Australia.
ECR Minerals plc has 100% ownership of the Creswick Project which includes exploration tenements EL006907, EL006713 and EL006184. All licences reside north to north-east of the City of Ballarat, Victoria, Australia. The Company is exploring a number of parallel-gold mineralisation trends that are believed to extend 10km NE from the Nerrina Goldfields at Ballarat.
ECR CEO Andrew Haythorpe commented: “The ECR board is now of the opinion that the geochem results from the Davey Road prospect provides ample evidence that Creswick is host to an extended gold system, and that our decision to plan a drilling campaign and complete permit applications is fully justified. This view is further supported by the samples and anecdotal evidence of drill specks in road gutters from the Blue Gum South prospect in our ‘on the ground’ follow up to the 2021 diamond drill campaign.
As we start to ramp up our activities ahead of the 2023 drilling campaign, I very much look forward to reporting back to you with our full Creswick drill plan, and on our activities across our other assets.”
HIGHLIGHTS
- Final results from soil sampling at the newly identified Creswick Davey Road ‘CDY’ prospect have just been received.
- Results up to 1.59 ppm Au obtained at the Blue Gum South ‘BGS’ prospect.
- Figures related to this announcement can be viewed here;
Figure 1: Location map
https://www.ecrminerals.com/images/2023/fig1_Overview_Map_230120.png
Figure 2: Update gold anomaly map for Davey Road Prospect (CDY)
https://www.ecrminerals.com/images/2023/fig2_Davey_Rd_update_230120.png
Figure 3: Gold anomalies identified at Blue Gum South (BGS)
https://www.ecrminerals.com/images/2023/fig3_BGS_230120.png
UPDATED SOIL RESULTS AT DAVEY ROAD
Further results have been received from soil sampling at the recently announced Davey Road Prospect ‘CDY’ (see RNS from December 22 2022 here). Plotting of all the results strongly suggests that gold mineralisation originates from the North end of a line of historical gold workings, with another strong gold anomaly also present at the southern end of the historic workings. The Board believes these two anomalies represent the outcrop of two possible gold shoots.
GOLD ANOMALISM AT BLUE GUM SOUTH PROSPECT
Soil sampling has also been completed over a small grid area 200 metres to the north of some of the best drill intercepts from 2021’s diamond drilling (see Figure 3 above), where hole CSD003 returned 0.95m @ 9.93 g/t Au from 84.2m and 0.95m @ 23.58 g/t Au from 89.05m down hole. This grid lies within the Dimocks Main Shale trend., and the Company has named this prospect Blue Gum South ‘BGS’ after the access tracks to the area. Gold ‘specks’ can also be obtained from the road gutters within the grid. A small anomalous area of gold has been identified on the east side of the grid area with a maximum result of 1.59 ppm Au. Abundant quartz veining is visible across the hillside immediately above the anomalous area. Rock chips of the exposed part of the vein within the track have shown no gold result to date.
CDY (Creswick Davey Road Prospect), BGS (Blue Gum South Prospect)
*Co-ordinates in GDA94 Zone 54
**A complete set of results are set out in the Appendix at the end of this announcement.
NEXT STEPS
The soil exploration methodology utilised on EL006184 has proved effective in identifying blind outcrops of gold mineralisation. The anomalies identified to date will provide the foundations for a drilling program this year. Permits are being currently drafted for submission to the regional government.
Additionally, the field team have been actively sampling and mapping insitu quartz veins from exposed features accessible within historic adits, pits and trenches within EL006184 and the newly granted tenement EL006713 adjoining to the south. Added to this, the Company is also targeting other potential prospects along the strike of the Dimocks Main Shale trend. The aim of this work is to evaluate veining widths where possible and to provide some guidance in regard to possible gold grades from historical workings. This work will also form a key part of the drill programme planning process. Further details of the planning process will be released in due course. .
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:
Website: www.ecrminerals.com
