Tambo Gold Project, Eastern Victoria, Australia

LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- 

24 September 2020

ECR MINERALS plc
(“ECR Minerals”, “ECR” or the “Company”)

TAMBO GOLD PROJECT
EASTERN VICTORIA, AUSTRALIA

ECR Minerals plc (LON: ECR), the gold exploration and development company focussed on Australia, is pleased to announce that its wholly owned Australian subsidiary Mercator Gold Australia Pty Ltd (“MGA”) has applied for two new exploration licences in eastern Victoria, Australia. The licences, which are contiguous, will comprise the Tambo gold project.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Two new exploration licence applications lodged in eastern Victoria: EL007484 (410 sq. km) and EL007486 (318 sq. km), to comprise the Tambo gold project;
• Applications cover portions of the historic Swifts Creek/Omeo and Haunted Stream goldfields that have recorded historical gold production of 205,000 and 25,000 oz respectively, according to figures published by the Geological Survey of Victoria;
• Project area prospective for orogenic reef gold and additionally for intrusion-related gold & base metal systems.

Craig Brown, Chief Executive Officer of ECR, commented:
“Good quality exploration ground available for direct application is very difficult to find in Victoria, so we are very pleased to have identified and applied for the Tambo project, which covers a sizeable area of prospective geology near historic goldfields and has received little contemporary exploration.

Our principal geologist, Dr Rod Boucher, was born and raised nearby in Bruthen. He grew up gold prospecting with his father throughout the application areas and has an in-depth knowledge of the gold potential in the small streams and gullies. He is a descendant of gold miners from a locality once known as Boucher Town between Cassilis and Swifts Creek and completed his third-year undergraduate thesis on the geology of the Tambo Crossing area.”

ABOUT THE TAMBO PROJECT AREA

A map of the Tambo project area showing the location of the applications (Fig. 1a) and their geological setting (Fig. 2a) can be viewed at:

https://www.ecrminerals.com/images/2020/09/21/tambo_ela_f1_location_goldfields.jpg

https://www.ecrminerals.com/images/2020/09/21/tambo_ela_f2_geology.jpg

Geologically, the majority of the project area has exposed prospective basement including granites (Fig. 2a). In the past, the area has been mostly explored by smaller companies and individuals and has not received thorough exploration with modern techniques.

The project area falls within the area of a large airborne gravity survey which the Victorian State Government plans to commence in late 2020. The data from this survey, when published, is expected to generate new insight into the geology of eastern Victoria, including the Tambo project area.

The application areas are mostly covered by private land (EL007484) and Crown land (EL007486) respectively. Good access to the application areas is possible via tracks off the Omeo Highway that runs the length of the project area.

EL007484
The application area includes a portion of the historic Swifts Creek/Omeo goldfield that includes gold production centres at Omeo, Cassilis and Brookville. The goldfield has recorded total historical production of 205,000oz (see source below), approximately half of which was primary gold. Primary mineralisation at Cassilis is orogenic reef gold and MGA intends to explore for this style of mineralisation along the Ensay and Cassilis shear zones that cross the application area.

EL007486
Much of the application area is depicted to be covered by the historic Haunted Stream goldfield that has recorded historical production of 25,000oz gold (see source below). The small production from the tenement area is mostly from remnant patches of gold-bearing alluvial terraces, some of which have continued to be mined in recent decades. The source of the alluvial gold may be from the Stirling area, although there is potential for reef sources either at surface or at shallow depths within the tenement area.

The application covers the Mount Elizabeth caldera and accompanying intrusives. This region is prospective for mineralisation above the deeper intrusion and associated with the ring faults (Fig. 2b). Similarly, roof pendants in the Tambo Crossing granodiorite/tonalite indicate it has not been deeply exhumed. In contrast, Victoria’s intrusive systems are typically eroded to deeper levels so the opportunities to explore for deposits near the tops of these systems do not usually exist. There is great variability in the timing and chemistry of the granites in the Mt. Elizabeth area resulting in highly prospective mineralising host rocks.

Figures for historical gold production referred to in this announcement are from the following source: Willman, C. E., Morand, V. J., Hendrickx, M. A., VandenBerg, A. H. M., Haydon. S. J. & Carney, C., 1999. Omeo 1:100,000 map area geological report. Geological Survey of Victoria. Report 118, p253.

Review of Announcement by Qualified Person
This announcement has been reviewed 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 is a Qualified Person as that term is defined by the AIM Note for Mining, Oil and Gas Companies.

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:

ABOUT ECR MINERALS PLC
ECR is a mineral exploration and development company. ECR’s wholly owned Australian subsidiary Mercator Gold Australia Pty Ltd has 100% ownership of the Bailieston and Creswick gold projects in central Victoria, Australia.

Following the sale of the Avoca, Moormbool and Timor gold projects in Victoria, Australia to Fosterville South Exploration Ltd (TSX-V: FSX), ECR has the right to receive up to A$2 million in payments subject to future resource estimation or production at those projects.

ECR has earned a 25% interest in the Danglay gold project, an advanced exploration project located in a prolific gold and copper mining district in the north of the Philippines, and holds a royalty on the SLM gold project in La Rioja Province, Argentina.