Final Niobium and Tantalum Stream Results Extend Anomalous Footprint at Lolworth Range Project, Queensland

Final Niobium and Tantalum Stream Results Extend Anomalous Footprint at Lolworth Range Project, Queensland

ECR Minerals plc

 

ECR MINERALS plc

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

Final Niobium and Tantalum Stream Results Extend Anomalous Footprint at Lolworth Range Project, Queensland

ECR Minerals plc (LON: ECR), the exploration and development company focused on gold in Australia, is pleased to announce the final Niobium and Tantalum results from the stream sampling campaign at the Lolworth Range project, North Queensland, Australia.

ECR, through its wholly owned subsidiary, has 100% ownership of three exploration tenements (EPM27901, EPM27902 and EPM27903), which covers the Lolworth Range, located 120km west of the famous gold district of Charters Towers. The project is being explored under ECR’s Australian wholly owned subsidiary Lux Exploration Pty Ltd (“LUX”).

HIGHLIGHTS

  • 76 Lithium, Niobium and Tantalum (Li-Nb-Ta) results from the final batch of pan concentrate stream sediment samples now received.
  • Best results include Niobium up to 894 ppm and Tantalum up to 290 ppm.
  • These new results extend the anomalous Nb-Ta drainages 10km further west of the previously announced high Nb-Ta results (see announcement from Feb 1 2023 here).
  • Approximately 50 square kilometres of the Lolworth Project now showing signs of hosting a potential Li-Nb-Ta hardrock source.

ECR CEO Andrew Haythorpe commented: “Although ECR Minerals is currently in an early exploration phase at Lolworth, it is nonetheless gratifying to see the project take a significant step forward on the back of an extension to the potential drainage sources for Niobium and Tantalum. To already have a 50 sq km area indicating a potential combined resource for Lithium, Niobium and Tantalum at this phase of exploration is an exciting development by any standard. Whilst still at an early stage, these results together with the gold anomalies reported last week (see announcement from Feb 23 2023 here), adds further credence to the Board’s view that the Lolworth Project has great potential to develop into a multi mineral flagship project for the Company.”

“I look forward to reporting back on further developments.”

Summary plan of all anomalous Niobium and Tantalum areas identified from the 2022 stream sampling campaign at the Lolworth Project are shown in Figure 1 below:

Figure 1: https://www.ecrminerals.com/images/2023/Fig1_230331_Ta-Nb-Update.png

FINAL Li-Ta-Nb RESULTS

The last remaining multi-element results from the pan concentrate stream sampling campaign completed at the end of 2022 have now been received. Previous results have identified that several streams within the Lolworth Project are host to anomalous Gold, Lithium, Tantalum and Niobium, with Li-Ta-Nb sample results indicating that a 10km north-south ridgeline north of Gorge Creek is close to the possible source rocks. Details of this work are shown in Figure One above.

The final results are anomalous in Ta and Nb with over 10 of the 76 results greater than 300 ppm in Niobium and 9 greater than 150ppm in Tantalum. Although there were no traces of anomalous Lithium in these results, we have extended the search for potential host rocks for Ta-Nb to the centre of EPM27902.

NEXT STEPS

The 2023 field work campaign is anticipated to start next month (May 2023). The Board has already identified key areas to follow-up from last season’s work, targeting the sources for the gold anomalies, along with lithium, tantalum and niobium. Initial work will focus on soil sampling and rock chipping outcrops over the 10km north-south ridgeline where the most promising Ta-Nb source streams drain from. Pegmatites are known sources for Li-Ta and Nb and these are known to outcrop throughout the area.

The Board is enthused by the possibilities and nascent potential that is believed to exist at Lolworth. While our license tenements there represent virgin territory for lithium, tantalum and niobium exploration, given what has already been identified at such an early phase of exploration, we believe the Lolworth Project has great potential as a future, multi mineral flagship project for the Company.

REVIEW OF ANNOUNCEMENT BY QUALIFIED PERSON

This announcement has been reviewed by Adam Jones, Technical Director of Exploration 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.

ABOUT ECR MINERALS PLC

ECR Minerals is a mineral exploration and development company. ECR’s wholly owned Australian subsidiary Mercator Gold Australia Pty Ltd (“MGA”) 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). MGA is currently drilling at the Bailieston Blue Moon Project (EL5433) and undertaking geochemical exploration on the Creswick (EL6148) project and has an experienced exploration team with significant local knowledge in the Victoria Goldfields and wider region.

ECR also owns 100% of an Australian subsidiary LUX Exploration Pty Ltd (“LUX”) which has three approved exploration permits covering 946 km2 over a relatively unexplored area in Queensland, Australia.

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), Mercator Gold Australia Pty Limited 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 holds a 90% 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, which has a 43-101 compliant resource. ECR also holds a royalty on the SLM gold project in La Rioja Province, Argentina and can potentially receive up to US$2.7 million in aggregate across all licences.

APPENDIX ONE

TABLE ONE: All Li-Ni-Ta results from the remaining 76 stream samples, Lolworth Range Project. (Locations reported as GDA94-Zone 55 grid).

SAMPLEID

EASTING

NORTHING

Lithium (ppm)

Niobium (ppm)

Tantalum (ppm)

LWSS152

314342

7749643

10

26

10

LWSS201

311180

7748656

30

9

10

LWSS202

310602

7749015

30

20

10

LWSS203

311113

7748916

20

6

10

LWSS301

313505

7752290

10

27

10

LWSS305

313302

7754719

10

110

20

LWSS307

313709

7753194

10

424

110

LWSS308

310995

7751833

10

6

10

LWSS309

309549

7750825

10

9

10

LWSS312

308468

7755458

10

344

150

LWSS313

307690

7753774

10

84

10

LWSS314

310197

7753918

10

40

10

LWSS315

310983

7752585

10

8

10

LWSS316

310476

7751531

10

14

10

LWSS317

307360

7752660

10

37

10

LWSS318

304761

7751530

20

137

70

LWSS319

303817

7750821

20

49

20

LWSS320

303513

7749908

10

52

30

LWSS321

304329

7749453

10

83

40

LWSS322

303733

7748970

10

375

360

LWSS323

302222

7751634

20

11

10

LWSS324

301408

7750191

20

17

10

LWSS325

301118

7750266

20

7

10

LWSS326

299529

7750758

10

8

10

LWSS327

298851

7753698

10

70

10

LWSS328

298118

7752914

10

63

20

LWSS329

297786

7752803

10

164

60

LWSS330

297542

7752332

10

130

40

LWSS331

297859

7751589

10

235

70

LWSS332

297743

7751392

10

51

10

LWSS333

293758

7754499

20

22

10

LWSS335

291417

7756638

10

18

10

LWSS336

293662

7758117

10

35

20

LWSS337

293239

7758862

10

107

30

LWSS338

291660

7758838

10

36

10

LWSS339

291835

7759016

10

335

60

LWSS340

291528

7759047

10

34

10

LWSS341

291878

7759967

10

26

10

LWSS342

300649

7755309

10

170

50

LWSS343

300697

7756249

10

712

340

LWSS344

301040

7756293

20

40

10

LWSS345

303230

7756616

10

217

50

LWSS346

303005

7755876

10

16

10

LWSS347

302894

7755034

10

25

10

LWSS348

303560

7754928

10

20

10

LWSS349

303118

7754758

10

176

70

LWSS350

302526

7754269

10

65

10

LWSS351

302462

7753891

10

39

20

LWSS352

302689

7753860

20

73

70

LWSS353

303659

7754034

20

51

20

LWSS354

304643

7757176

10

528

190

LWSS355

304398

7757534

10

579

230

LWSS356

305095

7757449

10

321

80

LWSS357

306860

7757553

10

695

210

LWSS358

306999

7756369

10

118

40

LWSS359

307628

7757575

10

186

70

LWSS360

307631

7757707

10

288

60

LWSS361

308082

7757860

10

66

10

LWSS362

310752

7758027

10

73

10

LWSS363

310768

7757374

10

234

50

LWSS387

315175

7747119

20

9

10

LWSS388

314838

7746642

20

19

10

LWSS389

314882

7746209

10

6

10

LWSS390

315960

7746391

30

8

10

LWSS391

316127

7746489

20

6

10

LWSS392

303396

7763735

10

222

130

LWSS393

302950

7763679

10

77

20

LWSS394

303018

7763551

10

136

30

LWSS395

303268

7763015

10

151

40

LWSS396

301531

7762367

10

37

10

LWSS397

301495

7761879

10

5

10

LWSS398

302744

7761951

10

70

10

LWSS399

302960

7761777

10

59

10

LWSS400

305221

7762763

10

397

110

LWSS401

305347

7762407

10

164

30

LWSS402

312624

7757384

10

894

290

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:

ECR Minerals plc
David Tang, Non-Executive Chairman
Andrew Haythorpe, CEO
Email: info@ecrminerals.com
Website: www.ecrminerals.com
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7929 1010

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