Raglan Operations Update
Summary by AI BETAClose X
10 June 2026
ECR MINERALS PLC
("ECR Minerals", "ECR" or the "Company")
Raglan Operations Update
Independent Review Supports Pathway Towards Increased Recovery Potential
Lidar Survey Completed and Queensland Technical Team Expansion Underway
ECR Minerals plc (AIM: ECR), the gold exploration and development company focused on Australia, is pleased to provide an operational update on activities at its Raglan Gold Project in Queensland, Australia. The Company has completed several initiatives in recent weeks which gives it confidence that more consistent gold production and recovery outcomes can be achieved from the project.
Highlights
• Drone Lidar survey completed across the Raglan Project area, with data analysis and interpretation now underway to support mine planning, identify additional palaeochannel targets and seeking to enhance future production activities
• Independent alluvial gold specialist with more than 30 years' industry experience engaged to review mining and processing operations at Raglan
• Plant optimisation programme now in place to enhance gold recovery and operational efficiency
• Recruitment process underway for a consulting geologist to support exploration, development and production activities across ECR's wider Queensland gold portfolio
• Further operational updates expected as optimisation activities progress
Lidar Survey Completed
The Company is pleased to confirm that a drone Lidar (Light Detection and Ranging) survey was completed by Victorian Geology and Survey Solutions across the Raglan Project area during May 2026. Processing and interpretation of the survey data is currently underway.
The Board believes that the survey has the potential to significantly improve ECR's understanding of historical drainage systems, palaeochannels and mining targets across the project area. The interpreted data is expected to assist future mine planning, identify additional mining opportunities and support production scheduling activities.
Mining operations to date have already identified areas with potentially higher gold grades, specifically gullies into the main stream which can act as traps for alluvial gold. The survey therefore forms an important component of the Company's ongoing efforts to optimise mining operations and maximise the broader potential of the Raglan Project.
Operations Update
Since acquiring the Raglan Project, the Company has focused on operating the processing plant and mobile mining fleet, establishing mining operations and developing a detailed understanding of the alluvial system. Alluvial mining is fundamentally about processing large volumes of material where small alterations to technique can have a significant effect on results.
As part of this process, ECR recently engaged an independent alluvial gold specialist with more than 30 years of operational experience in the alluvial mining sector in Australia to undertake a comprehensive review of both Raglan's processing plant and mining methodology.
The review identified several adjustments to optimise gold recovery across the processing circuit. These included improvements to gravity recovery systems, water management, jig performance and overall plant calibration. Based on initial analysis, the Board believes that this optimisation programme can increase the recovery potential at the Raglan Project.
Mining Development
The independent review also included a detailed assessment of mining operations and interpretation of the alluvial system. Priority target areas have been identified within ECR's existing phase 1 mining plan and activities are now being directed towards these zones which, based on ground analysis, are believed to represent favourable sections of the historical river channel system. In time, the findings from the Lidar data will also be integrated, with a view to further enhancing the operation's efficiency.
Queensland Growth Strategy
As part of its broader Queensland growth strategy, ECR has commenced the process of appointing a consulting geologist to support its development, exploration and production activities across its Queensland gold portfolio. This is particularly in the context of ECR completing its acquisition of Paleogold Limited and associated transactions, as announced on 18 May 2026.
The successful candidate will work alongside the Company's current operational team and will provide geological oversight across multiple projects, including Raglan, Blue Mountain, Lolworth, Maddens and other new potential development opportunities for the Company's portfolio.
The role is expected to support mine planning, production optimisation, exploration targeting and development activities as ECR continues to expand its Queensland operations.
The Company believes that the addition of specialist geological expertise, together with its recent operational improvements and the completion of the Lidar survey, will further strengthen its ability to advance multiple Queensland assets simultaneously.
ECR Chairman Nick Tulloch commented: "We recognise that shareholders have been waiting for an update on Raglan. We bought the project as a turnkey operation and it has delivered on that - plant and equipment with a like-for-like replacement value in excess of the acquisition price and a mining lease that is showing very promising opportunities.
"Put simply, alluvial gold production is about mining in the right locations, processing the right material and ensuring the plant settings are optimised for that material. Fairly small changes can produce significant results. There has inevitably been some operational learning on site over these early months, but Raglan is now beginning to demonstrate the characteristics we expected when we acquired the project.
"The independent review has proven extremely valuable and has provided a significantly improved understanding of both the processing plant and mining operations. Importantly, we now have a plan in place to maximise gold recovery across the plant and a clearer pathway towards establishing consistent gold production.
"Completion of the Lidar survey will complement existing geological analysis as we continue to both refine our phase 1 mining plan and identify new areas.
"Raglan is a key component of ECR's strategy to build a meaningful Queensland gold business. It was never expected to be our biggest project, but it is our first operational project, giving us initial gold production as we expand into bigger operations in Queensland and elsewhere in Australia.
"The work undertaken over recent weeks has given us considerably greater confidence in the broader mining opportunity at Raglan. While optimisation work remains ongoing, we believe that the project is moving into a stronger operational position and we look forward to updating shareholders as these improvements support more consistent gold production and recovery outcomes."
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 Paleogold Ltd ("Paleogold").
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. 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. The Raglan project is in an initial production phase and 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.
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