Craig Brown, Chief Executive Officer of ECR Minerals plc, commented: “I am delighted to announce the commencement of this dual drill programme at Creswick and Bailieston which is seeking to test multiple gold targets across both projects.
ECR Minerals plc (LON: ECR), the precious metals exploration and development company, is pleased to announce the commencement of its gold-focused drilling programme at the Company’s Victoria Region gold projects in Australia.
HIGHLIGHTS:
- A contract has been signed for 4,000 to 6,000m of reverse circulation (RC) drilling in Victoria, Australia by ECR’s wholly owned Australian subsidiary Mercator Gold Australia Pty Ltd (“MGA”).
Creswick Gold Project
- Drilling at the Creswick gold project is expected to commence this week targeting multiple quartz vein orientations identified within the Dimocks Main Shale (“DMS”), which extends over a 15km trend, approximately 7km of which is covered by MGA’s granted exploration licence and exploration licence applications;
- As announced on 25 September 2018 at Creswick the Company’s exploration mapping has identified a large gold system within the DMS;
- The DMS is the hard-rock source of much alluvial and deep lead gold, with historical alluvial and deep lead production estimated at up to 2.5 Moz in the Creswick/Berry lead system, and up to 11 Moz in the entire Ballarat area, of which the DMS is a significant contributor.
Bailieston Gold Project
- Following completion at Creswick, the drill rig will move to the Blue Moon gold prospect in the Bailieston project area to follow-up the significant near surface gold intercept and evidence of a near-surface mineralised gold system as announced by ECR on 6 July 2018;
- The drill target at Blue Moon is a sandstone which has been heavily weathered near surface, but may host higher grade gold mineralisation, including disseminated sulphides, at deeper levels.
Craig Brown, Chief Executive Officer of ECR Minerals plc, commented: “I am delighted to announce the commencement of this dual drill programme at Creswick and Bailieston which is seeking to test multiple gold targets across both projects.
This is an extensive drilling campaign by the Company, and one of the largest we have undertaken in recent times. ECR’s objective is to discover a multi-million-ounce gold deposit in Australia and based on the significant technical work undertaken to date, we believe the Creswick and Bailieston licences hold the potential for such a discovery.
All the planned drilling is being undertaken from existing cash resources. The Company will be entitled to claim back a proportion of drilling costs under government grants subsidising drilling. As a result, and assuming on budget operations and cost recovery through grants, the entire programme is estimated to amount to under 20% of existing cash resources.
I would like to thank our technical team and advisers for their hard work in recent weeks to bring this programme together.
We will ensure material developments are released to the market as appropriate during the coming weeks and months.”
COMPETENT PERSON STATEMENT
The information in this announcement that relates to Exploration Results is based on information compiled by Dr Rodney Boucher of Linex Pty Ltd. Linex Pty Ltd provides geological services to Mercator Gold Australia Pty Ltd, including the services of Dr Boucher, who has a PhD in geology, is a Member and RPGeo of the Australian Institute of Geoscientists and is a Member of the Australian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy. Dr Boucher has sufficient experience that is relevant to the style of mineralisation and type of deposit under consideration and to the activity being undertaken to qualify as a Competent Person as defined in the 2012 Edition of the ‘Australasian Code for Reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves’. Dr Boucher consents to the inclusion in the announcement of the material based on his information in the form and context in which it appears.
MARKET ABUSE REGULATIONS (EU) No. 596/2014
The information contained within this announcement is deemed by the Company to constitute inside information as stipulated under the Market Abuse Regulations (EU) No. 596/2014 (MAR). Upon the publication of this announcement via Regulatory Information Service (RIS), this inside information is now considered to be in the public domain.
