£1.5 million placing & appointment of Joint Broker

ECR Minerals PLC

08 January 2026

 

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THIS ANNOUNCEMENT CONTAINS INSIDE INFORMATION FOR THE PURPOSES OF ARTICLE 7 OF EU REGULATION 596/2014 (WHICH FORMS PART OF DOMESTIC UK LAW PURSUANT TO THE EUROPEAN UNION (WITHDRAWAL) ACT 2018 ("EUWA")) ("UK MAR"). IN ADDITION, MARKET SOUNDINGS (AS DEFINED IN UK MAR) WERE TAKEN IN RESPECT OF CERTAIN OF THE MATTERS CONTAINED WITHIN THIS ANNOUNCEMENT, WITH THE RESULT THAT CERTAIN PERSONS BECAME AWARE OF INSIDE INFORMATION (AS DEFINED UNDER UK MAR). UPON THE PUBLICATION OF THIS ANNOUNCEMENT VIA A REGULATORY INFORMATION SERVICE, THOSE PERSONS WHO RECEIVED INSIDE INFORMATION IN A MARKET SOUNDING ARE NO LONGER IN POSSESSION OF SUCH INSIDE INFORMATION, WHICH IS NOW CONSIDERED TO BE IN THE PUBLIC DOMAIN.

8 January 2026

ECR MINERALS PLC

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

Placing to raise £1.5 million

and

Appointment of Joint Broker

Institutional support positions ECR for next stage of growth

ECR Minerals plc (LON: ECR), the gold exploration and development company focused on Australia, announces that it has conditionally raised £1.5 million (before expenses) by way of a placing with institutional and other investors (the "Fundraising") for a total of 576,923,068 new ordinary shares of 0.001 pence each in the Company ("Ordinary Shares") at a price of 0.26 pence per new Ordinary Share (the "Issue Price").

The Fundraising marks an important milestone for ECR, providing the Company with the capital strength to accelerate its production and exploration strategy across Queensland and Victoria. With initial gold production at Raglan expected this month and development underway at Blue Mountain, the Board considers that ECR is now positioned to transition into a multi-project gold producer and explorer.

The Directors intend that the majority of the net proceeds of the Fundraising will be used to advance ECR's projects in Queensland and Victoria, specifically:

·    Finalising preparations to bring the Blue Mountain gold project in Queensland, Australia (the "Blue Mountain Project") into production to generate revenue for the Company, including securing all necessary equipment for production (noting that ECR expects some sharing of resources, and therefore economies of operation, between its Blue Mountain Project and the Raglan alluvial gold project in Queensland (the "Raglan Project")

·    Targeted exploration at the Lolworth Project, North Queensland, Australia (the "Lolworth Project") where last year's maiden drilling campaign produced notable shallow intercepts of gold and silver.  At a 900 km² project area, the Lolworth Project is considered by the Board to represent a potentially significant multi-metal opportunity for ECR

·    Developing the Company's partnership with the Geological Survey of Queensland and James Cook University to further investigate the critical minerals potential at the Lolworth Project

·    Advancing ECR's projects in Victoria, primarily at the Bailieston Project area (the "Bailieston Project"), where previous drilling has indicated the presence of gold at shallow depth and potentially high grade antimony

The Directors also intend to apply the net proceeds of the Fundraising towards ECR's corporate and working capital purposes. Following completion of the Fundraising, and taking account of its forthcoming production plans at the Raglan and Blue Mountain Projects, the Board believes that ECR should be funded for all currently planned activities until very significantly beyond the end of 2026.

In the medium to longer term, the Directors believe that the cashflow potential from gold production from the Raglan Project, once that project is fully operational, has the potential to cover all of the Company's overheads and bringing Blue Mountain into production has the potential to support ECR's currently contemplated future exploration and development operations.

Details of the Fundraising

The Company has conditionally raised £1.5 million (before expenses) through the Fundraising for a total of 576,923,068 new Ordinary Shares at the Issue Price.  The new Ordinary Shares will be issued on a non-pre-emptive basis pursuant to the authorities granted to the Board at the Company's annual general meeting held on 23 April 2025.

The new Ordinary Shares, when issued and fully paid, will rank pari passu in all respects with the existing Ordinary Shares in issue and therefore will rank equally for all dividends or other distributions declared, made or paid after the issue of the new Ordinary Shares.

The Issue Price represents a discount of approximately 22 per cent. to the closing middle market price of 0.335 pence per Ordinary Share on 7 January 2026, being the latest business day prior to the announcement of the Fundraising.

OAK Securities ("OAK Securities") acted as the Company's broker in connection with the Fundraising.

Joint Broker Appointment and Broker Warrants

The Company is also pleased to announce that OAK Securities has been appointed as a Joint Broker to the Company with immediate effect. OAK Securities has agreed that its fees for the first year of its appointment as Joint Broker will be payable by the Company in 23,076,923 new Ordinary Shares at the Issue Price, which are to be issued upon Admission (as defined below).

In connection with the Fundraising, the Company will issue, on completion of the Fundraise, 42,307,692 warrants to OAK Securities (the "Broker Warrants"). Each Broker Warrant entitles the holder to acquire one new Ordinary Share exercisable at the Issue Price. OAK Securities has agreed that the Broker Warrants will not be exercised for at least six months. Thereafter the Broker Warrants are exercisable at any time until the third year anniversary of Admission. The Broker Warrants will not be tradeable, transferable nor CREST-enabled.

Admission and Total Voting Rights

An application will be made to London Stock Exchange plc ("London Stock Exchange") for the 599,999,991 new Ordinary Shares to be admitted to trading on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange ("Admission") and it is currently anticipated that Admission will become effective, and that dealings in the new Ordinary Shares will commence on AIM, at 8.00 a.m. on or around 15 January 2026. Completion of the Fundraising is conditional on Admission.

Upon Admission, the Company's issued ordinary share capital will consist of 3,290,888,016 Ordinary Shares with one voting right each. The Company does not hold any Ordinary Shares in treasury. Therefore, from Admission the total number of Ordinary Shares and voting rights in the Company will be 3,290,888,016. With effect from Admission, this figure may be used by shareholders in the Company as the denominator for the calculations by which they will determine if they are required to notify their interest in, or a change to their interest in, the Company under the FCA's Disclosure Guidance and Transparency Rules.

Nick Tulloch, ECR's Chairman, commented: "Today's £1.5 million Fundraising is a major step forward for ECR and we are delighted by the backing received from institutional investors. This support reflects confidence in both our strategy and our progress as we establish ECR as a multi-site gold company.

"Our immediate focus is on near-term production. At the Raglan Project, with an operating team now secured, the Board expects initial gold this month. The Blue Mountain Project, which represents a significantly larger opportunity, continues to validate its commercial potential following last year's drilling and wash-plant work, and we are advancing our preparations for development.

"At the same time, we remain committed to unlocking the considerable exploration upside across our broader portfolio - including at the Lolworth Project, which we consider has significant multi-metal potential, and our Victorian projects where our work to date indicates shallow gold and high-grade antimony mineralisation offering further opportunities.

"With this Fundraising, our strong project pipeline and A$76 million of tax losses available to offset future production profits, we consider that ECR is now well-capitalised and positioned to develop into a significant mining and exploration company in 2026 and beyond."

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:

ECR Minerals Plc	Tel: [phone]
Nick Tulloch, Chairman Andrew Scott, Director	[e-mail]
Website: www.ecrminerals.com
Allenby Capital Limited	Tel: [phone]
Nominated Adviser and Joint Broker Alex Brearley / Nick Naylor / Vivek Bhardwaj (Corporate Finance) Kelly Gardiner (Sales and Corporate Broking)	[e-mail]
OAK Securities	Tel: [phone]
Joint Broker
Jerry Keen / Robert Bell
Axis Capital Markets Limited	Tel: [phone]
Joint Broker
Lewis Jones
SI Capital Ltd	Tel: [phone]
Joint Broker
Nick Emerson
Brand Communications	Tel: [phone]
Public & Investor Relations
Alan Green

ABOUT ECR MINERALS PLC

ECR Minerals is a mineral exploration and development company operating through three wholly owned Australian subsidiaries ECR Minerals (Australia) Pty Ltd ("ECR Australia"), ECR Minerals (Queensland) Pty Ltd ("ECR Queensland") and Raglan Resources Pty Ltd ("Raglan Resources").

ECR Australia owns the Bailieston and Creswick gold projects in central Victoria, Australia as well as the Tambo gold project in eastern Victoria.

Raglan Resources has a mining lease at the Raglan alluvial gold project in central Queensland, Australia and ECR Queensland has two approved exploration permits over the nearby Blue Mountain alluvial gold project.  ECR is currently working to bring both projects into production.  ECR Queensland also has three approved exploration permits covering 946 km² over a relatively unexplored area in Lolworth Range in northern Queensland. Furthermore, it has also submitted a licence 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), ECR Australia has the right to receive up to A$2 million in payments subject to future resource estimation or production from these projects. 

ECR Australia also has approximately A$76 million of unutilised tax losses incurred during previous operations.

This announcement is made in accordance with the Company's obligations under Article 17 of UK MAR and the person responsible for arranging for the release of this announcement on behalf of ECR is Nick Tulloch, Chairman.   

IMPORTANT NOTICES

Forward Looking Statements

This announcement includes statements that are, or may be deemed to be, "forward-looking statements". These forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology, including the terms "believes", "estimates", "plans", "anticipates", "targets", "aims", "continues", "expects", "intends", "hopes", "may", "will", "would", "could" or "should" or, in each case, their negative or other variations or comparable terminology. These forward-looking statements include matters that are not facts. They appear in a number of places throughout this announcement and include statements regarding the Directors' beliefs or current expectations. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve risk and uncertainty because they relate to future events and circumstances. Investors should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this announcement.

Notice to overseas persons

This announcement does not constitute, or form part of, a prospectus relating to the Company, nor does it constitute or contain any invitation or offer to any person, or any public offer, to subscribe for, purchase or otherwise acquire any shares in the Company or advise persons to do so in any jurisdiction, nor shall it, or any part of it form the basis of or be relied on in connection with any contract or as an inducement to enter into any contract or commitment with the Company.

This announcement is not for release, publication or distribution, in whole or in part, directly or indirectly, in or into Australia, Canada, Japan or the Republic of South Africa or any jurisdiction into which the publication or distribution would be unlawful. This announcement is for information purposes only and does not constitute an offer to sell or issue or the solicitation of an offer to buy or acquire shares in the capital of the Company in Australia, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, the Republic of South Africa or any jurisdiction in which such offer or solicitation would be unlawful or require preparation of any prospectus or other offer documentation or would be unlawful prior to registration, exemption from registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such jurisdiction.  Persons into whose possession this announcement comes are required by the Company to inform themselves about, and to observe, such restrictions.

This announcement is not for publication or distribution, directly or indirectly, in or into the United States of America.  This announcement is not an offer of securities for sale into the United States.  The securities referred to herein have not been and will not be registered under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and may not be offered or sold in the United States, except pursuant to an applicable exemption from registration.  No public offering of securities is being made in the United States.

General

Neither the content of the Company's website (or any other website) nor the content of any website accessible from hyperlinks on the Company's website (or any other website) or any previous announcement made by the Company is incorporated into, or forms part of, this announcement.

Allenby Capital, which is authorised and regulated by the FCA in the United Kingdom, is acting as nominated adviser to the Company in connection with the Fundraising. Allenby Capital will not be responsible to any person other than the Company for providing the protections afforded to clients of Allenby Capital or for providing advice to any other person in connection with the Fundraising.  Allenby Capital has not authorised the contents of, or any part of, this announcement, and no liability whatsoever is accepted by Allenby Capital for the accuracy of any information or opinions contained in this announcement or for the omission of any material information.

OAK Securities (a trading name of Merlin Partners LLP) which is authorised and regulated by the FCA in the United Kingdom, is acting as broker to the Company in connection with the Fundraising. OAK Securities will not be responsible to any person other than the Company for providing the protections afforded to clients of OAK Securities or for providing advice to any other person in connection with the Fundraising. OAK Securities has not authorised the contents of, or any part of, this announcement, and no liability whatsoever is accepted by OAK Securities for the accuracy of any information or opinions contained in this announcement or for the omission of any material information.

 

END