Blue Mountain drilling completed
Summary by AI BETAClose X
27 August 2025
ECR MINERALS PLC
("ECR Minerals", "ECR" or the "Company")
Blue Mountain drilling completed
and
Drilling to commence at Lolworth
ECR Minerals plc (LON: ECR), the exploration and development company focused on gold in Australia, provides an update on activities at the Blue Mountain gold project in Queensland, Australia (the "Blue Mountain Project") and the Company's upcoming drilling programme at the Lolworth gold and rare earths project in North Queensland, Australia (the "Lolworth Project").
HIGHLIGHTS
· Alluvial drilling completed at the Blue Mountain Project, with visible gold confirmed at the Lower Patterson, Windmill and Upper Kariboe Creek prospects.
· Coarse, heavy-textured gold identified for the first time at the Upper Kariboe Creek.
· Trial wash is planned on selected Blue Mountain Project samples to assess potential recovery rates and average grades.
· Drill rig en route to the Lolworth Project, with first holes targeting the Uncle Terry prospect next week.
Blue Mountain Project Drilling Programme
The recently completed alluvial drilling programme at the Blue Mountain Project confirmed visible gold across the Lower Patterson, Windmill and Upper Kariboe Creek prospects. Importantly, coarse and heavy-textured gold was visually identified at the Upper Kariboe Creek, the first time such gold has been seen at the Blue Mountain Project.
Trial wash testing of selected samples from the three prospects is planned to provide valuable data on potential recovery rates and average grades (see Figure 1).
Figure 1: Prospect Map, Blue Mountain Gold Project
Blue Mountain Project
The Blue Mountain Project, located in the historic North Queensland goldfields, hosts extensive alluvial gold workings along the Kariboe Creek and its tributaries, many of which have seen only limited historic testing. ECR has implemented a systematic drilling programme across these channels to evaluate their potential for modern recovery, complemented by on-site trial washing to seek to verify results. With substantial volumes of alluvial gravels and the capability to conduct in-house processing trials, the Board considers that the Blue Mountain Project offers strong near-term production potential together with significant longer-term exploration upside.
Lolworth Project Drilling Programme
The drilling rig is currently en route to the Lolworth Project and will undergo servicing at Charters Towers before being moved onto site, with arrival expected next week.
The first drilling target will be the Uncle Terry prospect, where previous rock chip sampling and mapping confirmed galena, sulphides and high-grade gold assays, including grades of up to 75.6 g/t Au. Drilling will test quartz blow outcrops and shear zones that remain open along strike (see Figures 2 and 3).
Figure 2: Rock Chip Results - Gorge Creek West
Figure 3: Rock Chip Results - Uncle Terry Drill Target Outcrop
Lolworth Project
The Lolworth Project, also in North Queensland, is a large-scale gold and critical minerals exploration project. Previous sampling has confirmed high-grade gold, silver-lead (galena) mineralisation and rare earth element anomalies across multiple targets. The Lolworth Project covers an extensive area of prospective geology that has seen limited modern exploration, despite its strong mineral potential. Drilling at the Uncle Terry prospect will represent the first systematic drill testing at the Lolworth Project and is expected to provide valuable insights into the scale and continuity of mineralisation across the wider project area.
ECR's Chief Geologist, Adam Jones, commented: "Our Queensland portfolio continues to stand out and deliver exciting results. At the Blue Mountain Project we have confirmed visible gold across several prospects, including coarse and heavy-textured gold at Upper Kariboe Creek, which we consider a significant milestone as we consider how to advance its near-term production potential. With the rig now moving to the Lolworth Project, we are due to drill some of the most prospective ground we have seen to date. Together, these projects are showing great promise and position ECR for an exciting period ahead."
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.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:
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ECR Minerals Plc |
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 |
Tel: +44 (0) 3328 5656 |
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Nominated Adviser Nick Naylor / Alex Brearley / Vivek Bhardwaj |
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Axis Capital Markets Limited |
Tel: +44 (0) 203 026 0320 |
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Broker |
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Lewis Jones |
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SI Capital Ltd |
Tel: +44 (0) 1483 413500 |
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Broker |
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Nick Emerson |
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Brand Communications |
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. ECR's wholly owned Australian subsidiary ECR Minerals (Australia) Pty Ltd ("ECR Australia") 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 ECR Minerals (Queensland) Pty Ltd 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 Australia also has approximately A$75 million of unutilised tax losses incurred during previous operations.
Glossary
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Gold |
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Grammes per Tonne (Metric) |
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Kilometres (Metric) |
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Kilometre squared (Metric) |
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Square (Metric) |
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