Acceleration of Maddens development
Summary by AI BETAClose X
28 July 2026
ECR MINERALS PLC
("ECR Minerals", "ECR" or the "Company")
Acceleration of Maddens development through trial alluvial operations at the Brothers mining lease
Operational resources to be redeployed from Raglan to Maddens as ECR prioritises higher-grade development opportunities across its expanded Australian gold portfolio
ECR Minerals plc (AIM: ECR), the gold exploration and development company focused on Australia, is pleased to provide further details on its Queensland mining activities following on from a portfolio review undertaken as part of the Company's ongoing transition towards becoming a diversified Australian gold producer.
The Board has approved the reallocation of operational personnel and a mobile wash plant from Raglan to what the Board considers to be the Company's highest-priority development opportunity, the Maddens Gold Project in North Queensland, where trial alluvial mining activities are expected to commence shortly on the Brothers mining lease.
The Board believes this represents the most effective allocation of the Company's financial and operational resources and is consistent with ECR's stated strategy of building a diversified Australian gold company capable of generating both nearer-term revenues and long-term shareholder value.
Highlights
· Surface prospecting at Brothers has indicated a potentially high-grade alluvial mining opportunity within the existing mining lease.
· ECR team estimates that there may be around 100,000 cubic metres of minable material in place.
· Operational personnel and equipment to be redeployed from Raglan to commence trial alluvial mining at the Maddens' Brothers mining lease.
· Existing mining leases, established underground development and multiple historic mining areas position Maddens as one of ECR's highest-priority development assets.
· Increased technical and operational focus to be directed towards Maddens, Salt Bush and the Company's expanded Queensland exploration portfolio.
· Mining operations at Raglan will transition to geological evaluation and mine-planning, pending the outcome of the test work at the Brothers mine.
· Raglan remains an important component of ECR's Australian gold portfolio, pending restart of production operations.
· Recent exploration success at Lolworth continues to reinforce its potential as a district-scale gold system, including the recently announced 200-metre drill-ready gold corridor at Butterfly Creek.
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Surface gold recoveries in gullies draining from structures crossing the Brothers Mining Lease
Strategic development of project portfolio
Over the past twelve months, ECR has deliberately repositioned itself from a traditional exploration company into a diversified Australian gold company with multiple production and exploration opportunities across four Australian states. That strategy has significantly expanded both the scale of the Company's portfolio and the number of projects potentially capable of contributing to future shareholder value.
As the portfolio has evolved, the Board has undertaken regular reviews to ensure that the Company's capital, personnel and operational expertise remain focused on those assets capable of delivering the strongest long-term returns.
The review concluded that the Company's highest-priority opportunities now lie within its expanded hard rock portfolio, led by Maddens in northern Queensland, supported by the future development potential at Salt Bush and Lolworth, which the Board considers has district-scale exploration potential.
Maddens is considered to provide exposure to a high-grade gold mining opportunity with existing mining leases, established underground workings and multiple additional mining opportunities across the broader project area. More recently, the on site team have developed an alluvial prospect within the Brothers mining lease. Surface samples have been very encouraging and the team estimates that there may be around 100,000 cubic metres of minable material.
Initial trial alluvial mining is expected to commence at the Brothers mining lease within the Maddens project area using the recently mobilised ECR test processing plant. Results from this programme will establish an operational baseline and assist the Company in determining future development plans, including the potential deployment of larger-scale processing equipment.
Recent underground surveying and LiDAR work has also significantly improved the Company's geological understanding of the Maddens project and is expected to assist in prioritising future mining and exploration activities across the wider licence area.
Overview of the Brothers mine
Geological mapping indicates that the Brothers mining area lies within a structurally complex and strongly sheared mineralised zone. Historic underground development identified a steeply dipping mineralised shoot, while recent surface prospecting has recovered water-worn nuggety gold from gullies north and south of the historic workings. The Board believes these observations warrant immediate trial alluvial mining and further investigation of both the alluvial material and its potential hard-rock source.
The Brothers mine
Raglan
The initial operational phase at Raglan has provided the Company with valuable mining and processing experience, together with a significantly improved understanding of the project's geological characteristics.
As work has progressed, management has identified opportunities for further geological interpretation, mine planning and technical evaluation to better define the most prospective mining areas before additional operational resources are committed.
Accordingly, operational personnel and a mobile wash plant will now be redeployed from Raglan to support trial mining activities at Maddens whilst technical analysis continues at Raglan. Active mining at Raglan will temporarily cease and the project will transition into a geological evaluation and mine-planning phase, while operational personnel and mobile processing equipment are redeployed to undertake trial alluvial mining at Brothers. Subject to the success of the Brothers trial alluvial mine, further Raglan equipment (including the 60 tonne/hour wash plant) could potentially be deployed at Maddens, as ECR seeks the highest return on capital.
The Board believes that this strategy represents the most prudent allocation of the Company's available capital and operational capacity at the present time.
Raglan remains an important component of ECR's Australian gold portfolio, and the Company intends to continue advancing its understanding of the project as part of its broader production pipeline. As part of the final Raglan clean up operations, the Company will gather all concentrated sands from the wash plant for processing, potentially in the mill at Maddens. Recovered gold from this concentrate will be added to gold nuggets and fines already recovered from Raglan and the aggregate quantity will be delivered to the offtaker for sale.
Queensland Growth Strategy
Alongside trial production-focused activities, ECR continues to advance its wider Queensland exploration strategy.
The Company recently announced the identification of a new 200-metre drill-ready gold corridor at the Butterfly Creek Prospect within its 946 km² Lolworth Project, where laboratory assays returned peak soil values of 3.51 g/t gold. Together with previous discoveries at Uncle Terry and Gorge Creek West, these results continue to reinforce management's view that Lolworth has the potential to evolve into a significant district-scale gold system.
The Company also continues to make progress at Blue Mountain, with the mining lease application lodged, maintaining its objective of developing a diversified Australian gold portfolio comprising both near-term production assets and longer-term discovery opportunities.
Next steps
· Mobilisation and commissioning of the mobile wash plant and personnel to the Brothers mining lease.
· Initial trial alluvial mining and bulk processing.
· Reporting of recovered grades, throughput and recovery performance.
· Assessment of whether larger-scale processing equipment should be deployed to the Brothers mine area.
· Continued underground development planning at Maddens.
· LiDAR interpretation and exploration strategies to maximise potential at Maddens.
· Geological evaluation and mine planning at Raglan.
· Further updates on the Blue Mountain mining lease and Lolworth work programme.
Nick Tulloch, Chairman, commented: "Over the past year we have deliberately repositioned ECR from a traditional explorer into a diversified Australian gold company with a growing portfolio of potential production and exploration opportunities.
"As that portfolio has expanded, it has become increasingly important that we allocate our people, capital and equipment towards those projects capable of delivering the greatest long-term value for shareholders.
"Raglan has taken longer than anticipated to demonstrate consistent recoveries. The decision to redeploy resources is therefore a disciplined allocation of capital and resources. However, it is important to emphasise that this is not the end of the Raglan project and we will continue the geological evaluation and mine planning required to determine Raglan's next operational phase, while directing our operating capability towards an alluvial opportunity at the Brothers mine area that warrants immediate trial work."
"We believe that this strategic realignment reflects disciplined capital allocation and represents the next stage in ECR's evolution into becoming a diversified Australian gold producer."
Technical Director, Mike Parker, added: "One of the things that immediately attracted us to Maddens was that it is fundamentally different from many development-stage gold projects. It already benefits from an existing mining lease, established underground development and multiple historical mining areas, allowing us to move into production test work in the shorter-term.
"Importantly, Maddens is much more than a single mining opportunity. Alongside the Maddens mine itself, the wider project includes the Brothers, Sisters and You Can Tell Us mining areas, each offering additional development potential as our understanding of the project continues to grow. Brothers in particular is showing significant promise as an alluvial opportunity and, based on surface recoveries, it is important that we take the time to investigate what we believe could be a significant addition to the wider Maddens development plan.
"The technical work completed over recent months, including underground surveys and the LiDAR programme, has significantly improved our understanding of the structural geology across the project. Combined with the upcoming trial alluvial mining programme, we believe that Maddens has the potential to become one of the defining assets within ECR's Australian gold portfolio."
Review of Announcement by Qualified Person
This announcement has been reviewed by Michael Parker, Non-Executive Director of ECR Minerals Plc. Michael Parker has a BSc. In Mining Geology and is a professional geologist and is a Fellow of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (FAusIMM). 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:
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ECR Minerals Plc |
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Tel: +44 (0) 20 8080 8176 |
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Nick Tulloch, Chairman Andrew Scott, Director |
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Website: www.ecrminerals.com |
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Allenby Capital Limited |
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Tel: +44 (0) 20 3328 5656 |
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Nominated Adviser and Joint Broker Alex Brearley / Nick Naylor / Vivek Bhardwaj (Corporate Finance) Kelly Gardiner (Sales and Corporate Broking)
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OAK Securities Joint Broker Jerry Keen / Robert Bell
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Tel: +44 (0) 20 3973 3678 |
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Axis Capital Markets Limited |
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Tel: +44 (0) 20 3026 0320 |
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Joint Broker |
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Lewis Jones |
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SI Capital Ltd |
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Tel: +44 (0) 1483 413500 |
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Joint Broker |
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Nick Emerson
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Brand Communications |
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Tel: +44 (0) 7976 431608 |
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Public & Investor Relations |
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Alan Green |
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ABOUT ECR MINERALS PLC
ECR Minerals is a mineral exploration and development company operating through four wholly owned Australian subsidiaries ECR Minerals (Australia) Pty Ltd ("ECR Australia"), ECR Minerals (Queensland) Pty Ltd ("ECR Queensland"), ECR Minerals (Raglan) Pty Ltd ("ECR Raglan") and ECR Minerals (Paleogold) Ltd ("ECR Paleogold").
ECR Paleogold has a 50% interest in the Maddens hard rock mining project in Northern Queensland where work is underway for production this year. It also has a 20% interest in the Salt Bush shallow open cut mining project in South Australia where preparations are underway for production which is expected to commence around mid-2027. ECR Paleogold also owns 80% of the Tuckanarra exploration project in Western Australia.
ECR Australia owns the Bailieston and Creswick gold projects in central Victoria, Australia as well as the Tambo gold project in eastern Victoria.
ECR Raglan 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 the Blue Mountain alluvial gold project 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$77 million of unutilised tax losses incurred during previous operations.
Glossary
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g: |
Grammes (Metric) |
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g/t: |
Grammes per tonne |
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km: |
Kilometres (Metric) |
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km²: |
Kilometre squared (Metric) |
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LiDAR: |
Light Detection and Ranging |
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