TIDMECR
ECR MINERALS plc
("ECR Minerals", "ECR" or the "Company")
Progress Update - Creswick Gold Project Australia
ECR Minerals plc (LON:ECR), the precious metals exploration and
development company, is pleased to announce a progress update from
the testing of reverse circulation ("RC") drilling sample bags
taken from the Creswick gold project (the "Project") in Victoria,
Australia.
As announced on 11 June 2019 and 8 May 2019 ECR are conducting
whole of bag testing in order to increase the sample size to gain
more representative results than from the original 2 kg assays.
Images of recovered gold referenced in this announcement may be
viewed through the following link:
https://www.ecrminerals.com/images/2019/08/22/gec_au_photos.jpg
Craig Brown, Chief Executive Officer commented: "I am pleased to
update shareholders with our progress in respect of the Creswick
gold project.
Establishing the testing process was technically complex and,
with the extremely poor winter weather in Victoria, took us longer
than anticipated.
The good news is we are up and running with an established
process and test results starting to flow into the company. It is
positive to see results so far that overall demonstrate increased
gold in the samples. These are the early results however and a
significant amount of further information is required before
conclusions can be drawn.
The results so far have demonstrated significant variability
from the original assays, demonstrating that the small sample size
can overstate and understate results. Notably the original 44.63
g/t assay from the 2 kg sample from CSR006 (15-16 m) is increased
to 63.03 g/t.
Of particular importance is that we use the data gathered from
our work generally, and the test results themselves, to understand
the geological structures involved and the distribution of gold
mineralisation.
In this regard I would like to welcome Dr Simon Dominy
FGS(CGeol) FAusIMM(CPGeo) as a consultant to the Company. Simon has
extensive relevant experience evaluating high-nugget effect gold
deposits and will help assess our results and guide our future work
programmes.
With our testing system now established and running further
announcements are expected in the near future."
HIGHLIGHTS:
Update on Bag Testing and Gold Recovery
-- In June 2019 the Company the confirmed it was evaluating methodologies to conduct full-bag testing of RC samples from Creswick;
-- Under the guidance of Resource Geologist, Keith Whitehouse, ECR staff and contractors constructed a laboratory for gravity and electrostatic concentration of gold, referred to as GEC;
-- GEC uses the dual processes of gravity and chargeability and is capable of removing coarse, fine and ultrafine particles of gold from the RC samples and is similar to commercially available electrostatic drywashers;
-- The process of retrieving samples, setting up the lab and processing the samples has been significantly slowed by the winter weather at Creswick, however testing is now moving forward and generating results which we can incorporate into a project model to understand the geology and gold mineralisation at Creswick;
-- Samples put through the GEC are logged, dried, sieved, weighed and a shroud is wrapped around the GEC to ensure no fine material is lost. The entire process adds some time to the testing period for each bag, but is essential for reliable data collection. Separate assaying of the processed sample by an independent laboratory takes additional time;
-- The process using the GEC separates the sample into four fractions:
-- Coarse oversize material (>3mm) is sieved, metal detected and assayed separately
-- Concentrate off the GEC is assayed separately
-- Tails from the GEC are stored separately. When concentrate or oversize assays are high, the tails are assayed as well. (The tails are captured in a bucket below the GEC and because the GEC is a dry process, a considerable amount of dust is generated.)
-- Tails Dust: The entire system is enclosed and the tails dust is captured separately and selectively assayed with the remaining tails sample.
-- Gold recovered from the process is logged and weighed to contribute to the total gold recovered from each bag tested;
-- The GEC has effectively captured small particles of gold as fine as 0.07 mm (refer to image link above);
-- The first batches of concentrate and oversize material has been tested at Gekko Laboratories in Ballarat and the tails and tails dust have been subsequently tested with full results available from the first 17 samples (Table 1);
-- The results from samples tested so far are from the quartz zones around the higher grade results from CSR006 and CSR012 and a single bag from CSR010. Key findings are:
-- The CSR006 sample from 15-16 m has been upgraded from 44.63 g/t to 63.03 g/t (6% of the gold in this sample was in the tails dust and over 50% in the tails overall indicating there is a significant component of very fine gold with the nuggets)
-- Upgrades in most bags processed with downgrades in 3 bags (Table 1);
-- Microscopic examination of the recovered coarse gold shows gold particles commonly up to 2 mm and this gold is both flat/leafy and ropey (refer to image link above).
-- Nuggets recovered by prospecting nearby dumps are a lattice network of ropey gold (refer to image link above) and such a nugget may break down to smaller fragments like those seen in CSR006 following hammering during drilling;
-- The testing process remains underway and further results will be provided in due course;
-- Fundamentally the Company is seeking to understand the particle size distribution/nugget effect and which geological structures/veins preferably host gold to enable follow on work programmes to be devised with a view to ultimately ascertaining the potential for commercial production.
Appointment of Dr Simon Dominy
-- To assist with the Company's Project review ECR has engaged Dr Simon Dominy, a mining geologist-geometallurgist with over 25 years' experience to evaluate the results, review the sampling process and guide future exploration & project development work;
-- Dr Dominy is a Principal Advisor and Qualified Person to Novo Resources Corp. providing technical input across sampling and resource development activities for the Karratha and Beaton's Creek conglomerate, and Egina alluvial gold projects in the Pilbara of Western Australia;
-- He has worked extensively in nuggety gold projects throughout central Victoria and Australia as well as goldfields across Europe, South America and Greenland.
HoleID From(m) To(m) Interval (m) Original 2 kg Full-bag test (g/t)
assay (g/t)
CSR006 13 14 1 x X
CSR006 14 15 1 0.12 0.11
CSR006 15 16 1 44.63 63.03
CSR006 16 17 1 0.11 0.17
CSR006 17 18 1 0.15 0.18
CSR006 18 19 1 0.06 0.30
CSR006 20 21 1 x 0.12
CSR006 21 22 1 x 0.01
CSR006 22 23 1 0.39 1.38
CSR006 23 24 1 x 0.00
CSR010 85 86 1 0.27 1.32
CSR012 49 50 1 x 0.01
CSR012 50 51 1 x 0.01
CSR012 51 52 1 x 0.00
CSR012 52 53 1 2.49 2.28
CSR012 53 54 1 0.28 0.24
CSR012 54 55 1 x 0.03
Table 1. Full-bag test results and comparison to the original 2
kg Leachwell assays (x = below detection).
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
Australasian 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.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:
ECR Minerals plc Tel: +44 (0)20 7929 1010
David Tang, Non-Executive Chairman
Craig Brown, Director & CEO
Email:
info@ecrminerals.com
Website: www.ecrminerals.com
WH Ireland Ltd Tel: +44 (0)161 832 2174
Nominated Adviser
Katy Mitchell/James Sinclair-Ford
SI Capital Ltd Tel: +44 (0)1483 413500
Broker
Nick Emerson
ABOUT ECR MINERALS PLC
ECR is a mineral exploration and development company. ECR's
wholly owned Australian subsidiary Mercator Gold Australia Pty
Limited has 100% ownership of the Avoca, Bailieston, Creswick,
Moormbool and Timor gold exploration licences in central Victoria,
Australia and the Windidda Gold Project in the Yilgarn Region,
Western Australia.
ECR has earned a 25% interest in the Danglay epithermal gold
project, an advanced exploration project located in a prolific gold
and copper mining district in the north of the Philippines. An
NI43-101 technical report was completed in respect of the Danglay
project in December 2015 and is available for download from ECR's
website.
ECR's wholly owned Argentine subsidiary Ochre Mining has 100%
ownership of the SLM gold project in La Rioja, Argentina.
Exploration at SLM has focused on identifying small tonnage
mesothermal gold deposits which may be suitable for relatively
near-term production.
View source version on businesswire.com:
https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190827005382/en/
This information is provided by Business Wire
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
August 27, 2019 05:33 ET (09:33 GMT)
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