10 September 2024

ECR MINERALS PLC

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

Australia Projects Update

Up to 75.6g/t Gold Rock Chip Identified at Lolworth, Queensland

Maiden Diamond Drilling Program to Commence at Tambo Gold Project in Coming Weeks

Drilling Application Lodged to Follow up 32% Antimony Result At Bailieston, Victoria

ECR Minerals plc (LON: ECR), the exploration and development company focused on gold in Australia, is pleased to announce an update on its gold and rare earths projects in Queensland and Victoria.

HIGHLIGHTS

Queensland

●     Up to 75.6 g/t gold rock chip discovered at the Uncle Terry Prospect at the Lolworth Project

●     Results expected from enhanced gold recovery process at the Blue Mountain Project

Victoria

●     Planning for diamond drill programme to commence at the Tambo Gold Project in coming weeks

●     Drilling application lodged to further investigate the potential at Bailieston given the recently announced exceptional Antimony results

Lolworth, Queensland

Two field teams have been working on site at the Company's Lolworth Project since early May 2024, where initial field work across several gold prospects in the Upper Gorge Creek showed promising signs, including visible gold in streams and hillsides.

First rock chip results now received from the Uncle Terry Prospect are encouraging, with samples of up to 75.6 g/t Au, 1.32 g/t Au and 1.29 g/t Au from a new mineralised quartz vein situated approximately 400m north-west from the main prospect. Follow-up mapping has traced the visible part of this outcrop for at least 100m in strike and ending in a quartz blow where Galena (Lead-Silver) is clearly visible. Numerous mineralised quartz shears at least 1m wide have been mapped over the entire Uncle Terry Prospect area. The main shear zone is showing to host Lead (Pb) and Silver (Ag) with best outcrop rock chips of 1.89% Pb and 11 samples greater than 5 g/t Ag, including two highlights of 272 g/t Ag and 69 g/t Ag. ECR's field teams are currently extending soil sampling to explore for hidden gold-bearing outcrops in the immediate vicinity.

The results for 378 rock chip samples covering all five gold prospects at the Lolworth Project are due in the coming weeks. Confirmation of the presence of further high-grade gold is expected, as samples anomalous in silver have been routinely sent to the laboratory for gold analysis. Silver has been identified as the strongest pathfinder element correlating to gold mineralisation at the Lolworth Project.

Stream sampling for gold and rare earths on the eastern side of the 1,000 km² project area is progressing well and nearing completion. Regional geological mapping has indicated the presence of significant pegmatitic intrusions. Previous work suggests that this eastern area features the same geological formations as the Oaky Creek region of the tenement where stream sampling has previously detected niobium in concentrate samples.

ECR's field crews have also taken a bulk sample from the Oaky Creek Niobium streamline which will be used for mineralogical purposes to aid in tracking down the source rock.

Table 1: Summary of latest rockchip results from the Uncle Terry Prospect, Lolworth.

Blue Mountain, Queensland

As announced on 1 August 2024, a trenching and bulk concentrate sampling programme was undertaken at the Blue Mountain Project during July of this year. A total of 15.4 cubic metres of alluvial gravel was processed through a pilot trommel wash plant, yielding 9.95 grammes of visible gold, an overall average of 1.55 grammes per b.c.m. Additionally, six bulk samples of sluice box concentrates were submitted for laboratory analysis, with best results including 192.15 g/t Au and 97.40 g/t Au within these concentrates.

Given these highly encouraging results ECR has submitted further samples to the laboratory to undergo an enhanced gold recovery process to determine the potential commercial options for recovery. The results are expected in the coming weeks.

The Blue Mountain Project consists of two exploration permits (EPM27175 and EPM27183). Both permits are in good standing and the Company has recently applied to extend the terms for an additional five years. Both tenements contain at least 12km of strike length available for follow up sampling and testing.

Tambo Project, Victoria

On 12 July 2024, ECR Minerals announced the fire assay gold results from the historic Duke of Cornwall Mine in Swifts Creek (Tambo Gold Project) with a best result including 52.2 g/t Au. A total of 10 samples returned results above 5 g/t Au. Subsequently, 84 soil samples were taken perpendicular to the strike of the Duke of Cornwall lode to gain a better understanding of the geochemical orientation with a best result of 0.56 ppm Au.

ECR Minerals is pleased to announce that terms have now been agreed with a drilling contractor and a site visit by ECR chief geologist, Adam Jones, is due to take place this week. A maiden diamond drilling campaign is expected to commence at the project in the coming weeks.

Bailieston, Victoria

On 3 July 2024, ECR Minerals announced results from additional testing for the critical mineral Antimony (Sb) from diamond core previously drilled at Bailieston, Central Victoria. 44 samples were submitted for additional multi-element testing with best results including 0.3m grading 32% Sb and 0.1m grading 1.20 % Sb.

A drilling application has now been lodged with the relevant Governmental authorities to further investigate the potential at Bailieston given the recently announced exceptional Antimony results. Further details will be announced in due course.  

The ECR Board made the decision to reanalyse diamond core samples for Antimony from the Bailieston Project, drilled during the 2021-2022 campaign, due to the Melbourne Geological Zone's reputation as a prominent host for Antimony lodes and the increasing demand for this critical mineral.

The Costerfield Mine, owned by Mandalay Resources, is a significant Antimony producer in the region, recording 1,860 tonnes of Sb in 2023. Nearby, Nagambie Resources recently announced a maiden JORC inferred resource estimate of 17,800 tonnes of Sb, while Southern Cross Gold has been actively exploring for Antimony at its Sunday Creek Project.

ECR Minerals holds exploration licenses situated 45 kilometres east of Costerfield and 25 kilometres west of Nagambie. ECR's Bailieston Prospect (HR3) is positioned on the Bailieston Anticline, renowned for its Antimony mineralisation.

Mike Whitlow, Managing Director, said: "It has been a highly productive year for ECR, with significant progress made across our portfolio of gold and rare earths projects, and exploration activities are set to accelerate even further. We consider that we're on the verge of identifying the key sources of gold at Lolworth, with a number of high-priority drill targets soon to be lined up for testing. This marks a pivotal step forward as we look to unlock the project's full potential. At the Blue Mountain Project, we are eagerly anticipating the results from our enhanced gold recovery process which will be critical in guiding us towards the potential commercial options for gold extraction. In Victoria, our focus remains firmly on drilling. We're set to commence drilling at the Tambo Project in the coming weeks and work is underway to further explore the highly prospective Antimony potential at Bailieston. With the recent surge in this critical mineral's price, we believe that the Bailieston project's Antimony potential may become increasingly significant."

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.

Market Abuse Regulation (MAR) Disclosure

This announcement contains inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of the Market Abuse Regulation (EU) 596/2014 as it forms part of UK domestic law by virtue of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 ("MAR"), and is disclosed in accordance with the Company's obligations under Article 17 of MAR.

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Glossary 

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.  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.

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