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ECR Minerals #ECR secures up to A$3 million exploration commitment for the Creswick Gold Project, Victoria
Binding conditional farm-in and joint venture agreements executed with Bold Gold
ECR Minerals plc (AIM: ECR), the gold exploration and development company focused on Australia, is pleased to announce that, further to its announcement of 18 September 2025 regarding the proposed joint venture with Bold Gold Resources Pty Ltd (“Bold Gold”) in respect of the Company’s Creswick Gold Project in Victoria, Australia (“Creswick” or the “Project”), legally binding conditional farm-in and joint venture agreements have now been executed by both parties (the “Agreements”).
The Agreements establish a pathway for Bold Gold to invest up to A$3 million into Creswick through an agreed staged earn-in structure, providing the potential for substantial third-party funding to advance one of ECR’s most prospective exploration assets within the Victorian goldfields.
The Board believes that the Agreements represent an important strategic milestone for the Company and further demonstrates ECR’s ability to unlock value across its expanded Australian gold portfolio, through a combination of production, development, exploration and strategic partnerships.
Highlights
- Legally binding conditional Agreements executed between ECR Minerals (Australia) Pty Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of ECR, and Bold Gold in respect of Creswick
- Bold Gold may invest up to A$3 million through an agreed staged earn-in structure to earn up to an 80% interest in Creswick
- Initial A$250,000 minimum exploration commitment by Bold Gold during the first 12 months of the Agreements
- Creswick regarded by ECR as one of the most prospective underexplored gold projects within the Victorian goldfields
- Third-party funding at Creswick would allow ECR to focus on simultaneously advancing its other multiple high-potential Australian assets, particularly its highly prospective Maddens Gold Project in northern Queensland
- ECR retains significant long-term exposure to exploration success at Creswick through its retained project interest and potential royalty pathway
Background to the Project
The Project is located within the highly prospective Victorian goldfields region, approximately 20 kilometres north of Ballarat, reported to be one of Australia’s most historically productive gold districts.
The Project hosts a significant portion of the Dimocks Main Shale (“DMS”), a gold-bearing geological structure extending for approximately 15 kilometres. The DMS is situated between major historical third-party goldfields estimated to have collectively produced approximately 15 million ounces of gold and is regarded by the Board as one of the most prospective underexplored gold trends within ECR’s Victorian portfolio.
Previous drilling programmes at Creswick completed by ECR have successfully intersected high-grade gold mineralisation within the DMS corridor, including results exceeding 20 grams per tonne (“g/t”) gold, indicating the presence of a fertile gold system. Despite these encouraging results, only a limited proportion of the broader target corridor has been systematically tested by modern exploration techniques.
The Board believes that Creswick retains substantial exploration upside potential and considers the Project to be highly prospective for further gold discoveries through, inter alia, continued geological targeting, drilling and systematic exploration programmes.
Background on Bold Gold
Bold Gold is an Australian exploration company focused on the acquisition and advancement of prospective gold opportunities.
The Company believes that Bold Gold brings additional technical expertise, operational capability and funding capacity which can help accelerate exploration activity at Creswick.
The execution of the Agreements allows both parties to move forward with exploration planning and programme development across the Project area.
Farm-in expenditure commitments
Under the terms of the Farm-in agreement, Bold Gold has committed to a minimum exploration expenditure of A$250,000 during an initial 12-month option period.
Following completion of the option period, Bold Gold may elect to earn a 51% interest in Creswick by sole-funding a further A$1.0 million in exploration expenditure over the following two years, bringing Bold Gold’s total expenditure to A$1.25 million.
Thereafter, Bold Gold may elect to earn an additional 29% interest, taking its total interest to 80%, by sole-funding a further A$1.75 million in exploration expenditure within two years of the end of the initial option period, bringing total expenditure to A$3 million.
Should certain licence renewal and retention licence milestones be achieved, Bold Gold’s final expenditure requirement may reduce to A$2.75 million. The Farm-in agreement is conditional on the renewal of EL006907 and EL006184 which form part of the Creswick licence area, both of which expire this year, and the parties will work together in good faith to secure these renewals. Bold Gold will pay all reasonable third-party costs incurred in applying for and obtaining those renewals. The Company will make a further announcement in due course in respect of these licence renewals and the Farm-in agreement becoming unconditional.
No interest in the Project will be earned by Bold Gold until the minimum A$1.25 million expenditure threshold has been achieved.
Strategic importance
The Board believes that the Agreements are strategically important as they provide a pathway for significant third-party investment into a highly prospective Victorian gold asset, while allowing ECR to maintain focus on advancing its broader Australian portfolio.
The arrangement complements ECR’s strategy of progressing multiple projects simultaneously across Australia, combining near-term production and development opportunities in Queensland with longer-term exploration growth.
The Company retains significant exposure to any future exploration success at Creswick through its retained project interest and, under certain circumstances, a potential royalty pathway.
ECR Chairman Nick Tulloch commented: “We are delighted that the legally binding Agreements have now been agreed and executed, marking an important milestone both for the Project and for ECR shareholders.
“Since announcing the proposed joint venture concept last year, we have worked closely with the Bold Gold team to finalise documentation that provides a clear pathway for substantial exploration investment at Creswick. We are pleased to have now reached this point and we look forward to seeing activity commence on the ground.
“Creswick remains one of the most exciting exploration assets within ECR’s Victoria portfolio. Located within the highly prospective Victorian Goldfields and hosting the underexplored Dimocks Main Shale corridor, we believe that the project has the potential to deliver significant exploration success through a systematic and well-funded exploration programme.
“Importantly, Creswick is not an early-stage conceptual target. ECR’s drilling has already demonstrated the presence of high-grade gold mineralisation, including results exceeding 20 g/t gold, and we believe that the combination of a highly prospective geological setting and a funded proposed exploration programme create an exciting opportunity to potentially unlock further value for shareholders.
“The agreed expenditure stages of up to A$3 million provide a pathway for substantial exploration activity at Creswick without placing additional funding pressure on ECR itself.
“This partnership allows ECR to continue executing its broader Australian strategy on multiple fronts. While Bold Gold advances Creswick through a well-funded exploration potential programme, ECR remains focused on progressing its Queensland portfolio towards production and development outcomes, particularly at Maddens and Blue Mountain, while also advancing exploration opportunities across Victoria, South Australia and Western Australia.
“We believe that this is a highly complementary arrangement. It enables a prospective Victorian gold asset to move forward with dedicated funding while preserving capital and management focus for the Company’s wider portfolio.
“With production and development activities advancing in Queensland, exploration programmes progressing elsewhere across the portfolio and gold market fundamentals strengthening again, we believe ECR is exceptionally well positioned as we continue building a diversified Australian gold company.”
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:
| ECR Minerals plc | Tel: +44 (0) 20 8080 8176 | ||
| Nick Tulloch, Chairman
Andrew Scott, Director |
info@ecrminerals.com | ||
| Website: www.ecrminerals.com | |||
| Allenby Capital Limited | Tel: +44 (0) 20 3328 5656 | ||
| Nominated Adviser and Joint Broker
Alex Brearley / Vivek Bhardwaj / Nick Naylor (Corporate Finance) Kelly Gardiner (Sales and Corporate Broking)
|
info@allenbycapital.com
|
||
| OAK Securities
Joint Broker Jerry Keen / Robert Bell
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Tel: +44 (0) 20 3973 3678 | ||
| Axis Capital Markets Limited | Tel: +44 (0) 20 3026 0320 | ||
| Joint Broker | |||
| Lewis Jones | |||
| SI Capital Ltd | Tel: +44 (0) 1483 413500 | ||
| Joint Broker | |||
| Nick Emerson / Keith Swann
|
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| Brand Communications | Tel: +44 (0) 7976 431608 | ||
| Public & Investor Relations | |||
| Alan Green | |||
ECR Minerals #ECR – Institutional investor increases participation with additional £0.25m investment
ECR Minerals plc (LON: ECR), the gold exploration and development company focused on Australia, announces that further to its announcement on 10 August 2026 regarding ECR’s placing to raise £636,250 (the “Fundraising”), the Company has received further interest from an institutional investor to participate in the Fundraising on the same terms.
As such, the Company is pleased to announce that it has conditionally raised a further £250,000, through the issue of an additional 142,857,142 new ordinary shares of 0.001 pence each (the “Additional Placing Shares”). The Additional Placing Shares will, when issued and fully paid, rank pari passu in all respects with the existing ordinary shares of 0.001 pence each in issue (“Ordinary Shares”) and therefore will rank equally for all dividends or other distributions declared, made or paid after the issue of the Additional Placing Shares.
The net proceeds raised from the issue of the Additional Placing Shares will be used for the same purposes as the net proceeds raised from the Fundraising as set out in the Company’s announcement of 10 August 2026.
Accordingly, a total of 506,428,572 new Ordinary Shares will now be issued pursuant to the Fundraising, raising total gross proceeds of £886,250.00.
Investor warrants and broker warrants
An additional 142,857,142 warrants have been issued to the subscriber, exercisable on the same terms as the warrants issued pursuant to the Fundraising. In aggregate 506,428,572 warrants have been issued pursuant to the Fundraising.
In connection with the Additional Placing Shares, the Company has also issued 2,857,142 Broker Warrants (as defined in the announcement on 10 August 2026). In aggregate 10,128,570 Broker Warrants have been issued pursuant to the Fundraising.
Admission and Total Voting Rights
An application has been made to London Stock Exchange plc (“London Stock Exchange”) for the 506,428,572 new Ordinary Shares to be admitted to trading on AIM, a market operated by the London Stock Exchange (“Admission”) and it is currently anticipated that Admission will become effective, and that dealings in the new Ordinary Shares will commence on AIM, at 8.00 a.m. on or around 14 August 2026. Completion of the Fundraising is conditional on Admission.
Upon Admission, the Company’s issued ordinary share capital will consist of 4,107,918,966 Ordinary Shares with one voting right each. The Company does not hold any Ordinary Shares in treasury. Therefore, from Admission the total number of Ordinary Shares and voting rights in the Company will be 4,107,918,966. With effect from Admission, this figure may be used by shareholders in the Company as the denominator for the calculations by which they will determine if they are required to notify their interest in, or a change to their interest in, the Company under the FCA’s Disclosure Guidance and Transparency Rules.
Nick Tulloch, ECR’s Chairman, commented: “We are delighted to have received this additional support from an institutional investor, increasing the size of the Fundraising to £886,250. We believe this further investment reflects growing confidence in both the progress that we are making at the Maddens Gold Project and our strategy of building a diversified Australian gold company centred on near-term production.
“Our strengthened balance sheet allows us to further accelerate underground development at Maddens, advance trial mining at Brothers and continue exploring what we believe is a highly prospective and underexplored goldfield. With production expected to commence later this year and a strong pipeline of operational milestones ahead, we are entering a particularly exciting period for ECR and we look forward to keeping shareholders updated as we continue to deliver on our strategy.”
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:
| ECR Minerals plc | Tel: +44 (0) 20 8080 8176 | ||
| Nick Tulloch, Chairman
Andrew Scott, Director |
info@ecrminerals.com | ||
| Website: www.ecrminerals.com | |||
| Allenby Capital Limited | Tel: +44 (0) 20 3328 5656 | ||
| Nominated Adviser and Joint Broker
Alex Brearley / Vivek Bhardwaj / Nick Naylor (Corporate Finance) Kelly Gardiner (Sales and Corporate Broking)
|
info@allenbycapital.com
|
||
| OAK Securities
Joint Broker Jerry Keen / Robert Bell
|
Tel: +44 (0) 20 3973 3678 | ||
| Axis Capital Markets Limited | Tel: +44 (0) 20 3026 0320 | ||
| Joint Broker | |||
| Lewis Jones | |||
| SI Capital Ltd | Tel: +44 (0) 1483 413500 | ||
| Joint Broker | |||
| Nick Emerson / Keith Swann
|
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| Brand Communications | Tel: +44 (0) 7976 431608 | ||
| Public & Investor Relations | |||
| Alan Green | |||
ECR Minerals #ECR – Placing to raise c. £0.6 million to accelerate Maddens Gold Project towards production
Visible gold, underground development and trial mining programme underpins next phase of operations
ECR Minerals plc (LON: ECR), the gold exploration and development company focused on Australia, announces that it has conditionally raised £636,250 (before expenses) by way of a placing with existing shareholders and other investors (the “Fundraising”) of a total of 363,571,430 new ordinary shares of 0.001 pence each in the Company (“Ordinary Shares”) at a price of 0.175 pence per new Ordinary Share (the “Issue Price”).
The Directors intend that the majority of the net proceeds of the Fundraising will be used to advance ECR’s Maddens gold project in Northern Queensland (the “Maddens Gold Project”). ECR has a 50% interest in the Maddens Gold Project. As previously announced by ECR, the Company has advanced several operational and technical workstreams for the development of the Maddens Gold Project, which the Board considers to be ECR’s highest-priority gold production opportunity. These activities span underground mine development (the “Maddens Underground Mine”), geological evaluation, processing plant enhancements and preparations for trial alluvial mining, reflecting ECR’s strategy of establishing multiple gold production opportunities from a single operating hub.
Specifically the net proceeds of the Fundraising will be applied to:
- ongoing development of the Maddens Underground Mine, where an additional mineralised quartz vein containing visible gold has been identified;
- supporting production of gold extracted from the Maddens Underground Mine, with ore already being stockpiled on the run-of-mine (“ROM”) pad ahead of future processing;
- trial alluvial mining within the Brothers Mining Lease area, an area which has already shown encouraging prospecting results, following the redeployment of equipment from Raglan; and
- further exploration work over the Maddens Gold Project, following the recently completed Light Detection and Ranging (“LiDAR”) survey, with preliminary interpretation indicating potential extensions of the Maddens mineralised system towards the historic Sisters Mine.
The Directors also intend to apply a portion of the net proceeds of the Fundraising towards ECR’s general corporate and working capital requirements. Following completion of the Fundraising, the Board believes the Company will be well funded to execute its planned operational programmes for this year, including advancing the Maddens Gold Project towards production during 2026, while retaining flexibility to pursue additional opportunities as they arise.
Over the medium term, the Directors believe that if there is successful gold production from the Maddens Gold Project, this has the potential to fund a significant proportion of the Company’s corporate overheads while supporting further exploration and development across ECR’s wider Australian portfolio.
The Fundraising follows a series of recent operational milestones at the Maddens Gold Project, including continued underground mine development, identification of a second mineralised quartz vein containing visible gold, stockpiling of ore ahead of processing and completion of a LiDAR survey that has highlighted further exploration potential across the project area. The Board believes these developments provide a strong platform as the Company advances towards production at the Maddens Underground Mine.
Details of the Fundraising
The Company has conditionally raised £636,250 (before expenses) through the Fundraising through the issue of 363,571,430 new Ordinary Shares at the Issue Price. The new Ordinary Shares will be issued on a non-pre-emptive basis pursuant to the authorities granted to the Board at the Company’s annual general meeting held on 27 March 2026.
The new Ordinary Shares, when issued and fully paid, will rank pari passu in all respects with the existing Ordinary Shares in issue and therefore will rank equally for all dividends or other distributions declared, made or paid after the issue of the new Ordinary Shares.
The Issue Price represents a discount of 12.5 per cent. to the closing middle market price of 0.20 pence per Ordinary Share on 7 August 2026, being the latest business day prior to the announcement of the Fundraising.
SI Capital Limited (“SI Capital”) acted as the Company’s broker in connection with the Fundraising.
Investor warrants and broker warrants
For every new Ordinary Share issued pursuant to the Fundraising, subscribers will receive one warrant allowing the holder to subscribe for an additional new Ordinary Share in the Company at an exercise price of 0.30 pence per Ordinary Share, exercisable within three years of Admission. In aggregate 363,571,430 warrants have been issued pursuant to the Fundraising. The warrants will not be tradeable, nor transferable or CREST-enabled.
In connection with the Fundraising, the Company will issue, on completion of the Fundraising, 7,271,428 warrants to SI Capital (the “Broker Warrants”). Each Broker Warrant entitles SI Capital to acquire one new Ordinary Share exercisable at the Issue Price. The Broker Warrants are exercisable at any time until the third year anniversary of Admission. The Broker Warrants will not be tradeable, nor transferable or CREST-enabled.
Admission and Total Voting Rights
An application will be made to London Stock Exchange plc (“London Stock Exchange”) for the 363,571,430 new Ordinary Shares to be admitted to trading on AIM, a market operated by the London Stock Exchange (“Admission”) and it is currently anticipated that Admission will become effective, and that dealings in the new Ordinary Shares will commence on AIM, at 8.00 a.m. on or around 14 August 2026. Completion of the Fundraising is conditional on Admission.
Upon Admission, the Company’s issued ordinary share capital will consist of 3,965,061,824 Ordinary Shares with one voting right each. The Company does not hold any Ordinary Shares in treasury. Therefore, from Admission the total number of Ordinary Shares and voting rights in the Company will be 3,965,061,824. With effect from Admission, this figure may be used by shareholders in the Company as the denominator for the calculations by which they will determine if they are required to notify their interest in, or a change to their interest in, the Company under the FCA’s Disclosure Guidance and Transparency Rules.
Nick Tulloch, ECR’s Chairman, commented: “Since ECR’s acquisition of Paleogold in May this year, it has become increasingly apparent that the Maddens Gold Project represents the most exciting prospect in ECR’s portfolio. With visible gold now apparent in the Maddens Underground Mine, we are expecting production to commence later this year. With the Maddens Underground Mine having historically produced at grades of up to 25g/tonne, there is every reason to be optimistic about how this could be transformational for ECR.
“The Board is always sensitive to shareholder dilution but the potential opportunities at the Maddens Gold Project are too significant to not advance. The additional capital at our disposal will support both production plans at the Maddens Underground Mine and trial alluvial mining at the Brothers Mining Lease area, as well as continuing our exploration of the wider area. To date there has been no systematic exploration across the tenement, and as such, we consider that there is significant upside potential across the Maddens Gold Project beyond the production opportunities already identified.”
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:
| ECR Minerals plc | Tel: +44 (0) 20 8080 8176 | ||
| Nick Tulloch, Chairman
Andrew Scott, Director |
info@ecrminerals.com | ||
| Website: www.ecrminerals.com | |||
| Allenby Capital Limited | Tel: +44 (0) 20 3328 5656 | ||
| Nominated Adviser and Joint Broker
Alex Brearley / Vivek Bhardwaj / Nick Naylor (Corporate Finance) Kelly Gardiner (Sales and Corporate Broking)
|
info@allenbycapital.com
|
||
| OAK Securities
Joint Broker Jerry Keen / Robert Bell
|
Tel: +44 (0) 20 3973 3678 | ||
| Axis Capital Markets Limited | Tel: +44 (0) 20 3026 0320 | ||
| Joint Broker | |||
| Lewis Jones | |||
| SI Capital Ltd | Tel: +44 (0) 1483 413500 | ||
| Joint Broker | |||
| Nick Emerson / Keith Swann
|
|||
| Brand Communications | Tel: +44 (0) 7976 431608 | ||
| Public & Investor Relations | |||
| Alan Green | |||
ECR Minerals #ECR advances development of Maddens and Brothers towards gold production
ECR Minerals plc (AIM: ECR), the Australian gold exploration and development company, is pleased to provide an operational update on development and upcoming production-related activities across the Maddens and Brothers mining operations within the Maddens Gold Project at the Maddens Flat Group of Mines in Queensland. ECR has a 50% interest in the Maddens Gold Project.
The Company has advanced several operational and technical workstreams for the development of the Maddens Gold Project, which the Board considers to be one of ECR’s highest-priority gold production opportunities. These activities span underground mine development, geological evaluation, processing plant enhancements and preparations for trial alluvial mining, reflecting ECR’s strategy of establishing multiple gold production opportunities from a single operating hub.
Highlights
· Underground development at the Maddens Underground Mine has identified an additional mineralised quartz vein containing visible gold, with ore now being stockpiled on the Run-of-Mine (“ROM”) pad ahead of future processing.
· Development of the Maddens Underground Mine continues to advance, with the next phase of the development of the decline (the downwards tunnel to access the ore body) expected to commence shortly.
· Installation of a Knelson gravity concentrator expected in the coming weeks, supporting enhanced gravity gold recovery as the Maddens Gold Project progresses towards production.
· Operational personnel and equipment continue to be mobilised to the Brothers Mining Lease area following the strategic redeployment from Raglan, with encouraging prospecting results supporting the planned trial alluvial mining programme.
· Recently completed LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) survey enhances geological understanding of the Maddens Gold Project, with preliminary interpretation indicating potential extensions of the Maddens mineralised system towards the historic Sisters Mine.
· Multiple operational, geological and processing workstreams advancing in parallel as ECR progresses the leading areas within the Maddens Gold Project towards gold production.
Advancing the Maddens Gold Project
When ECR completed the acquisition of the Paleogold assets earlier this year, the Board identified the Maddens Gold Project as one of the Company’s highest-priority development opportunities.
The Maddens Gold Project comprises the historic Maddens Flat Group of Mines, including the Maddens and Brothers mining operations, which form part of a group of seven mining leases, including processing infrastructure and significant exploration upside across the wider project areas. The Board believes that the combination of established infrastructure, multiple historic mining centres and nearer-term production opportunities provides ECR with a strong platform from which to develop a long-term gold production business in North Queensland.
Following the strategic decision announced in July 2026 to redeploy operational personnel and equipment from Raglan to Brothers, the Company has focused its efforts on advancing both the Maddens underground mine and the proposed Brothers alluvial operation, through a coordinated programme of mine development, geological evaluation, processing plant preparation and operational mobilisation.
ECR is advancing multiple workstreams simultaneously, ensuring underground mine development at the Maddens Underground Mine, processing plant readiness and trial mining preparations continue in parallel as the Company moves towards gold production.
Underground Development at Maddens
Underground development continues to progress at the Maddens Underground Mine, with preparations well advanced for the commencement of the next phase of the development of the decline (the downwards tunnel to access the ore body), which is expected to begin shortly.
As development has progressed, the Company’s technical team has intersected a separate mineralised quartz vein containing visible gold. Initial geological interpretation indicates that the structure may represent a distinct mineralised vein separate from the main Maddens Reef and will form part of the Company’s ongoing geological evaluation programme.
Importantly, underground development is now generating ore, with material currently being stockpiled on the Company’s ROM pad ahead of processing.
The Board believes that this represents an important milestone in the Company’s progression from mine development towards gold production, while simultaneously providing additional geological information that continues to improve understanding of the broader mineralised system underlying the Maddens Gold Project.
Geological Evaluation Strengthens Confidence
Alongside underground development, ECR has continued to enhance its understanding of the broader Maddens Gold Project through the application of modern geological techniques.
The recently completed LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) survey has now been received by the Company’s technical team and is being incorporated into ongoing geological interpretation and mine planning. Preliminary assessment has identified features considered prospective for potential extensions of the Maddens Underground Mine’s mineralised system towards the historic Sisters Mine.
These observations will be evaluated alongside geological information being generated through underground development and structural mapping, providing an increasingly detailed understanding of the Maddens Gold Project’s overall mineralised architecture.
The Board believes that the combination of modern geological interpretation and historical mining data continues to strengthen confidence in the broader prospectivity of the Maddens Gold Project and supports the Company’s long-term development strategy.
Brothers Development Programme
Preparations continue to advance trial alluvial operations at the Brothers Mining Lease following the strategic decision announced in July 2026 to redeploy operational personnel and processing equipment from Raglan.
The Board believes that parts of the Brothers Mining Lease area represent an attractive near-term alluvial gold production opportunity that complements the underground development programme at the Maddens Underground Mine and will form an integral part of the development potential at the wider Maddens Gold Project.
Operational personnel continue to be mobilised to site while preparations for trial alluvial mining progress. At the same time, ongoing prospecting has continued to produce encouraging results around the Brothers Mining Lease area, reinforcing management’s confidence in both the alluvial opportunity and the potential for additional hard-rock mineralisation associated with the historic workings.
The Company believes that the parallel advancement of the Maddens Underground Mine and the opportunities at the Brothers Mining Lease area provides the potential to establish complementary underground and alluvial production streams supported by common infrastructure and operational expertise.
Processing Plant Preparation
Alongside mine development activities, ECR continues preparations to enhance processing capability at the Maddens Gold Project.
A Knelson gravity concentrator is expected to arrive on site in the coming weeks and will be installed by the Company’s technical team to improve gravity gold recovery from future processing campaigns. The processing plant upgrade complements the Company’s operational progress at the Maddens Underground Mine, where ore generated during development is now being stockpiled on the ROM pad ahead of processing.
By progressing mine development and processing plant readiness simultaneously, the Company continues to advance the key parts of the Maddens Gold Project towards operational readiness.
Operational Priorities
During the third quarter of 2026, ECR expects to continue progressing a number of important operational milestones across the Maddens Gold Project, including:
· Commencement of the next phase of decline development at Maddens.
· Installation and commissioning of the Knelson gravity concentrator.
· Commencement of processing of ore generated during underground development.
· Continued geological assessment of the newly identified mineralised quartz vein.
· Ongoing interpretation of the LiDAR survey and assessment of potential extensions to the Maddens mineralised system.
· Continued operational mobilisation and commencement of trial alluvial mining activities at Brothers.
Mike Parker, Non-Executive Director, commented: “One of the most exciting aspects of our recent work is seeing the geological model continue to evolve as underground development progresses. Every metre of development not only moves us closer to production but may also provide valuable geological information that improves our understanding of the overall Maddens Gold Project.
“The identification of a separate mineralised quartz vein during development, together with the early interpretation of our recently completed LiDAR survey, suggests that there is still considerable potential to expand our understanding of the mineralised system beyond the historically mined areas. While further work is required, these are exactly the types of observations we had hoped to see as we systematically develop the project.
“Perhaps, most importantly, our focus is now firmly on execution. Underground development is generating ore for future processing, preparations for the next phase of decline development are well advanced and upgrades to the processing plant continue. Collectively, these activities represent important steps towards bringing the Maddens Gold Project into production.”
Nick Tulloch, ECR Chairman, added: “When we completed the Paleogold acquisition, we made it clear that the Maddens Gold Project would become one of ECR’s highest strategic priorities. Today’s update demonstrates our focus on delivering on that commitment.
“Over recent months we have deliberately redirected people, equipment and technical expertise towards Maddens and Brothers because we believe these assets represent some of the most compelling nearer-term development opportunities within our portfolio. Importantly, investors can now see multiple workstreams progressing simultaneously – from underground mine development and geological evaluation through to processing plant upgrades and preparations for trial alluvial mining.
“This is exactly how we intend to build ECR. Through disciplined execution, sensible capital allocation and a clear focus on projects that we believe are ultimately capable of delivering meaningful shareholder value. There remains much work ahead, but the progress being made across the Maddens Gold Project gives the Board increasing confidence in its potential to become a significant cornerstone asset 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 |
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 |
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 |
Tel: +44 (0) 1483 413500 |
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Joint 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 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 Gold Project in Northern Queensland, which includes the Underground Mine 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. 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 120 km2 in area and located within the Hodgkinson Gold Province, 80 km 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.
ECR Minerals #ECR – ECR to advance Tuckanarra exploration through major reconnaissance programme. Large-scale campaign expected to accelerate target generation, with first phase at no additional direct cost to ECR
ECR Minerals plc (AIM: ECR), the Australian-focused gold exploration and development company, is pleased to announce the commencement of a major multi-phase reconnaissance mapping and target-generation programme across its 80%-owned Tuckanarra Gold Project in Western Australia (the “Tuckanarra Project”).
Located adjacent to Odyssey Gold Ltd’s reported 407,000-ounce JORC gold resource, the Board considers that Tuckanarra represents one of the Company’s most prospective exploration assets, with potential for both primary gold mineralisation and paleochannel-hosted gold discoveries.
The programme will be undertaken in collaboration with the Australian Prospectors and Leaseholders Association (“APLA”), with members conducting systematic reconnaissance across the project. The programme is expected to generate extensive geological observations and exploration data, with the first phase being undertaken at no additional direct cost to the Company.
Highlights
- One of the largest reconnaissance mapping and target-generation programmes ever undertaken at the Tuckanarra Project.
- Initial two-week field programme commencing later this month, involving approximately eight experienced exploration field personnel, following up on earlier work that has already identified multiple priority target areas, including one location where more than 100 small gold nuggets have been previously recovered in close proximity to a historic mine shaft.
- A significantly expanded second phase is planned for March 2027, with up to 80 experienced field personnel expected to undertake a systematic two-week reconnaissance programme across the Project.
- Programme expected to accelerate target generation and geological understanding across this highly prospective goldfield.
- Complements ECR’s ongoing geological mapping and Deep Ground Penetrating Radar (“DGPR”) exploration programme at the Tuckanarra Project.
- First phase of initiative to be undertaken at no additional direct cost to ECR.
This initiative represents one of the largest reconnaissance mapping and target-generation programmes ever undertaken across the Tuckanarra Project area. By leveraging the experience and field expertise of members of the Australian Prospectors and Leaseholders Association, ECR expects to rapidly accelerate its geological understanding and identify new exploration targets across this highly prospective yet underexplored goldfield, with the first phase of the programme being undertaken at no additional direct cost to the Company.
Programme overview
The reconnaissance operation will commence with an initial field campaign during August 2026, followed by a significantly expanded second phase programme scheduled for March 2027.
The March 2027 programme is expected to involve up to 80 experienced field personnel undertaking systematic reconnaissance across the Tuckanarra Project over a two-week period.
The programme has been designed to maximise geological coverage across the Tuckanarra Project and is expected to include:
- Systematic geological mapping;
- Identification and recording of historical mine workings and mineralised outcrop;
- GPS recording of significant geological features;
- Reconnaissance sampling where appropriate;
- Detector reconnaissance in prospective areas; and
- Identification and prioritisation of new exploration targets for follow-up by ECR’s technical team.
The Company expects for the programme to generate a substantial volume of geological observations across the Tuckanarra Project, providing valuable data to refine geological models, improve understanding of mineralised trends and prioritise future exploration activities.
Building on an established exploration strategy
The reconnaissance programme forms part of ECR’s broader exploration strategy for Tuckanarra and complements the Company’s previously announced exploration plans, including geological mapping, detector reconnaissance and Deep Ground Penetrating Radar investigations, targeting both primary gold mineralisation and buried paleochannel systems.
The Tuckanarra Project occupies a highly prospective position adjacent to Odyssey Gold Ltd’s reported 407,000-ounce JORC gold resource, with interpreted extensions of the same favourable geological sequence extending onto ECR’s tenure. Previous work has also identified significant potential for
The Company believes the addition of this large-scale reconnaissance programme will significantly enhance its understanding of the Tuckanarra Project while accelerating the identification of priority targets for future geophysical surveys, trenching and drill testing.
Next Steps
The initial reconnaissance programme is expected to commence during August 2026, with a larger field campaign planned for March 2027.
Following completion of each programme, geological observations and field data will be integrated with ECR’s existing exploration datasets, including DGPR results, to refine exploration models and prioritise follow-up work.
The Company believes that the programme represents a highly capital-efficient means of accelerating exploration across one of the most prospective assets within its Australian gold portfolio.
Nick Tulloch, Chairman of ECR Minerals, commented: “We consider the Tuckanarra Project to be one of the most exciting exploration assets within our expanded Australian gold portfolio. Located adjacent to a third-party substantial JORC gold resource and covering a highly prospective but comparatively underexplored geological setting, we believe the project has significant discovery potential.
“This initiative represents one of the largest reconnaissance mapping and target-generation programmes ever undertaken across the project. By working alongside members of the Australian Prospectors and Leaseholders Association, we expect to rapidly expand our geological understanding and identify new exploration opportunities across the licence area.
“Importantly, the first stage of this programme will be undertaken at no additional direct cost to ECR, allowing us to preserve the funds we raised last year for higher-value follow-up activities such as geophysics, trenching and drilling. It represents an innovative and highly capital-efficient approach to advancing one of the Company’s most prospective exploration assets.”
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:
| ECR Minerals Plc | Tel: +44 (0) 20 8080 8176 | ||
| Nick Tulloch, Chairman
Andrew Scott, Director |
info@ecrminerals.com | ||
| Website: www.ecrminerals.com | |||
| Allenby Capital Limited | Tel: +44 (0) 20 3328 5656 | ||
| Nominated Adviser and Joint Broker
Alex Brearley / Nick Naylor / Vivek Bhardwaj (Corporate Finance) Kelly Gardiner (Sales and Corporate Broking)
|
info@allenbycapital.com
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| OAK Securities
Joint Broker Jerry Keen / Robert Bell
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Tel: +44 (0) 20 3973 3678 | ||
| Axis Capital Markets Limited | Tel: +44 (0) 20 3026 0320 | ||
| Joint Broker | |||
| Lewis Jones | |||
| SI Capital Ltd | Tel: +44 (0) 1483 413500 | ||
| Joint Broker | |||
| Nick Emerson
|
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| Brand Communications | Tel: +44 (0) 7976 431608 | ||
| Public & Investor Relations | |||
| Alan Green | |||
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 (“Paleogold”).
Paleogold has a 50% interest in the Maddens hard rock mining project in Northern Queensland where work is underway for production this year at the Maddens underground mine. There is a further trial alluvial mining programme at the Brothers mine. 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. ECR is currently working to bring both projects 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.
ECR Minerals #ECR – Total Voting Rights
ECR Minerals plc (LON: ECR), the exploration and development company focused on gold in Australia, announces that the issued share capital of the Company as at the date of this announcement comprises 3,601,490,394 ordinary shares of 0.001 pence each with one voting right per share (“Ordinary Shares“). The Company does not hold any Ordinary Shares in treasury. Therefore, the total number of Ordinary Shares and voting rights in the Company is 3,601,490,394.
The above figure may be used by shareholders in the Company as the denominator for the calculations by which they determine if they are required to notify their interest in or a change to their interest in the share capital of the Company under the Disclosure Guidance and Transparency Rules of the UK Financial Conduct Authority.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:
|
ECR Minerals plc |
Tel: +44 (0) 20 8080 8176 |
|
Nick Tulloch, Chairman Andrew Scott, Director |
|
|
Website: www.ecrminerals.com |
|
|
Allenby Capital Limited |
Tel: +44 (0) 3328 5656 |
|
Nominated Adviser and Joint Broker Alex Brearley / Nick Naylor / Vivek Bhardwaj (Corporate Finance) Kelly Gardiner (Sales and Corporate Broking) |
|
|
OAK Securities Joint Broker Jerry Keen / Robert Bell
|
Tel: +44 (0) 3328 5656 |
|
Axis Capital Markets Limited |
Tel: +44 (0) 203 026 0320 |
|
Joint Broker |
|
|
Lewis Jones |
|
|
|
|
|
SI Capital Ltd |
Tel: +44 (0) 1483 413500 |
|
Joint Broker |
|
|
Nick Emerson |
|
|
Brand Communications |
Tel: +44 (0) 7976 431608 |
|
Public & Investor Relations |
|
|
Alan Green |
ECR Minerals #ECR – Acceleration of Maddens development through trial alluvial operations at the Brothers mining lease
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 |
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
|
Tel: +44 (0) 20 3973 3678 |
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Axis Capital Markets Limited |
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 |
Tel: +44 (0) 1483 413500 |
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Joint 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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ECR Minerals #ECR – Issue of Equity, Grant of Options, TVR & PDMR dealings
ECR Minerals plc (LON: ECR), the exploration and development company focused on gold in Australia, announces the issue of new ordinary shares of 0.001 pence each in ECR (the “Ordinary Shares”) in respect of the board of directors of ECR’s (the “Board” or the Directors”) ongoing remuneration policy, whereby each Director and certain advisers to the Company are remunerated predominantly through the issue of new Ordinary Shares.
Nick Tulloch, Chairman, will receive 14,218,009 new Ordinary Shares, as payment in lieu of £30,000 of his accrued remuneration for the period from 1 April 2026 to 30 June 2026. Andrew Scott, Non-Executive Director, will receive 6,516,587 new Ordinary Shares, as payment in lieu of £13,750 of his accrued remuneration for the same period. Mike Parker, Non-Executive Director, will receive 4,857,819 new Ordinary Shares, as payment in lieu of £10,250 of his accrued remuneration for the same period. Chris Gibbs, Non-Executive Director, will receive 2,843,601 new Ordinary Shares, as payment in lieu of £6,000 of his accrued remuneration for the same period.
Certain consultants and professional advisers will receive in aggregate 4,302,583 new Ordinary Shares, as payment in lieu of an aggregate of approximately £9,078 of their accrued remuneration and fees for the period from 1 April 2026 to 30 June 2026.
All of the new Ordinary Shares are to be issued at a price of 0.211 pence per new Ordinary Share, which was the volume weighted average share price for Ordinary Shares over the previous 14 days to 30 June 2026.
In line with the Directors Remuneration Report outlined in the Company’s annual report and accounts for the year ended 30 September 2025, ECR has also granted options (“Options”) to Chris Gibbs, Non-Executive Director, to subscribe for 5,456,065 new Ordinary Shares as payment in lieu of £7,750 of his accrued consultancy fees for providing management services for ECR’s Australian operations during the same period. Each Option may be exercised at 0.211 pence per new Ordinary Share over 5 years from the date of grant.
In addition to the above, ECR has issued 25,000,000 new Ordinary Shares to Slievemara Consulting Limited, the intermediary who introduced the Company to Paleogold Limited (now renamed ECR Minerals (Paleogold) Ltd) prior to the acquisition which was announced on 20 April 2026. Those new Ordinary Shares are to be issued at a price of 0.26 pence per new Ordinary Share, which was the price at which consideration shares were issued for that transaction.
PDMR dealings
Pursuant to the arrangements set out above, a total of 57,738,599 new Ordinary Shares will be issued by the Company. Following this issuance, the total numbers of Ordinary Shares that will be held following Admission (as defined below) by the Directors, as Persons Discharging Managerial Responsibility (“PDMRs”) of the Company as at the date of this announcement, are as follows:
|
Name |
New Ordinary Shares to be issued |
Total Ordinary Shares held in the Company following Admission |
As a percentage of the Company’s enlarged issued ordinary share capital following Admission |
Options held in the Company |
|
Nick Tulloch |
14,218,009 |
112,213,086 |
3.12% |
70,000,000 |
|
Andrew Scott |
6,516,587 |
41,654,989 |
1.16% |
40,000,000 |
|
Mike Parker |
4,857,819 |
20,958,362 |
0.58% |
– |
|
Chris Gibbs |
2,843,601 |
8,147,383 |
0.23% |
8,408,126 |
|
Total |
28,436,016 |
The FCA notification in respect of these PDMR dealings and grant of Options, made in accordance with the requirements of the UK Market Abuse Regulation, is appended further below.
Admission and Total Voting Rights
Application will be made for 57,738,599 new Ordinary Shares to be admitted to trading on AIM (“Admission”) and it is expected that Admission will become effective on or around 20 July 2026. The 57,738,599 new Ordinary Shares will rank pari passu with the existing Ordinary Shares. Upon Admission, ECR’s issued ordinary share capital will comprise 3,601,490,394 Ordinary Shares. This number will represent the total voting rights in the Company, and, following Admission may be used by shareholders as the denominator for the calculation by which they can determine if they are required to notify their interest in, or a change to their interest in, the Company under the Financial Conduct Authority’s Disclosure Guidance and Transparency Rules.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:
|
ECR Minerals plc |
Tel: +44 (0) 20 8080 8176 |
|
Nick Tulloch, Chairman Andrew Scott, Director |
|
|
Website: www.ecrminerals.com |
|
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Allenby Capital Limited |
Tel: +44 (0) 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) |
|
|
OAK Securities Joint Broker Jerry Keen / Robert Bell
|
Tel: +44 (0) 3328 5656 |
|
Axis Capital Markets Limited |
Tel: +44 (0) 203 026 0320 |
|
Joint Broker |
|
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Lewis Jones |
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|
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SI Capital Ltd |
Tel: +44 (0) 1483 413500 |
|
Joint 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 |
ECR Minerals #ECR – New drill target identified at Lolworth. Laboratory Gold Assays reveal new 200-Metre drill-ready gold corridor at Butterfly Creek
ECR Minerals plc (AIM: ECR), the gold exploration and development company focused on Australia, is pleased to announce that laboratory gold assay results from the Butterfly Creek Prospect have identified a compelling new drill-ready gold target within its 100% owned Lolworth Project in North Queensland.
Highlights
- New drill-ready gold target identified at the Butterfly Creek Prospect within ECR’s 100%- owned Lolworth Project
- Laboratory gold assays delineate a well-defined 200-metre north-northeast trending gold corridor
- Peak soil assay of 3,510 ppb Au
- Sixteen soil samples returned greater than 100 ppb Au, outlining a well-defined mineralised
system - Gold anomaly branches into a second northeast-trending structure associated with quartz
outcrop - Results define a compelling follow-up drill target at Butterfly Creek
The first complete laboratory dataset from Butterfly Creek has delineated a well-defined north- northeast trending gold corridor extending over approximately 200 metres, with a peak soil assay of 3,510 ppb Au.
The gold anomaly was not detected during earlier portable X-Ray Fluorescence (“pXRF”) analysis, demonstrating the necessity of laboratory gold analysis as an additional exploration technique to identify gold mineralisation that may not be recognised through conventional pathfinder analysis techniques alone.
The Board considers that these results further demonstrate the extent of exploration opportunities within ECR’s Queensland gold portfolio, complementing the Company’s production-focused activities at Raglan, Maddens and Blue Mountain.
Background
The Lolworth Project covers approximately 946 km2 within the highly prospective Hodgkinson Gold Province of North Queensland and is ECR’s largest exploration asset.
In December 2025, the Company announced encouraging maiden drilling results from the Uncle Terry and Gorge Creek West Prospects, confirming a gold-silver system and demonstrating the significant exploration potential across the project.
Those discoveries originated from a systematic soil sampling programme undertaken between 2023 and 2024. Initial interpretation relied primarily on portable X-Ray Fluorescence (“pXRF”) analysis to identify pathfinder elements such as lead, arsenic and silver that could indicate nearby gold mineralisation.
Whilst this approach successfully identified the mineralisation subsequently drilled at Uncle Terry and Gorge Creek West, pXRF technology cannot directly detect low concentrations of gold.
To further evaluate the wider exploration potential of Lolworth, ECR submitted approximately 1,500 soil samples for laboratory fire assay and Inductively Coupled Plasma (ICP) analysis at Onsite Laboratory Services (“OSLS”) in Bendigo, Victoria. The samples covered both the Butterfly Creek and Uncle Terry Prospects.
The Butterfly Creek results announced today represent the first complete laboratory dataset received from this programme.
Figure 1: Location of the Butterfly Creek Prospect within ECR’s 100% owned Lolworth Project
Butterfly Creek Results
A total of 500 soil samples were collected across Butterfly Creek on a systematic 25 metre by 25 metre grid, with selected areas around quartz outcrop infilled to 15 metre spacing.
Laboratory analysis has defined a coherent gold anomaly striking north-northeast over approximately 200 metres, which the Board considers represents a compelling new drill target.
The anomaly comprises sixteen soil samples returning greater than 100 ppb Au, including a peak soil assay of 3,510 ppb Au (3.51 ppm). Further details of the best gold-in-soil results from the Butterfly Creek Prospect can be found in Table 1 below.
Figure 2. Gold soil geochemistry at Butterfly Creek showing the north-northeast trending gold corridor defined by laboratory fire assay results
The gold anomaly forms a well-defined north-northeast trending corridor before branching into a second northeast-trending structure associated with a broad quartz outcrop, suggesting strong structural control on mineralisation.
Importantly, the anomalous gold values extend beyond the mapped quartz exposures, indicating the mineralised system has the potential to continue beneath shallow cover.
Unlike the Company’s previous discoveries at Uncle Terry and Gorge Creek West, the Butterfly Creek gold system displays little correlation with conventional pathfinder elements such as lead or silver. Consequently, the target was not recognised during earlier pXRF surveys and only became apparent following laboratory fire assay.
The Board believes that these results demonstrate that laboratory gold assays provide an important complementary exploration technique capable of identifying mineralised systems that may not be recognised through conventional pXRF pathfinder analysis alone.
Historical metal detector activity along the ridge has also recovered several rich gold-bearing quartz specimens directly above the newly defined gold corridor, providing additional confidence that the surface geochemistry should reflect an underlying bedrock gold system.
The Company has commenced planning follow-up exploration, including detailed geological mapping and an initial drill programme in due course to test the newly identified target.
Figure 3. High-grade gold-bearing quartz specimen recovered by historical prospecting along the Butterfly Creek ridge, coincident with the newly defined gold corridor
Adam Jones, ECR Chief Geologist, commented: “These are some of the most exciting soil results we’ve generated at Lolworth to date. Rather than isolated gold values, we’ve identified a well-defined mineralised corridor extending for around 200 metres, with gold values reaching 3.51 grams per tonne in soil samples.
“Perhaps just as importantly, this target was not identified using conventional pXRF pathfinder analysis. It only became apparent once the samples were analysed by laboratory fire assay. That validates the exploration model we wanted to test and demonstrates the value of laboratory gold analysis in identifying mineralisation that may otherwise remain undetected.
“Combined with our encouraging maiden drilling results at Uncle Terry and Gorge Creek West announced last year, these latest assays continue to reinforce our view that Lolworth is evolving into a district-scale gold system containing multiple independent exploration targets.”
ECR Chairman, Nick Tulloch, added: “Today’s announcement represents another important step forward for our Lolworth Project. We now have multiple prospects delivering encouraging exploration results, reinforcing our confidence in the scale and potential of this highly prospective Queensland gold project.
“As ECR continues to advance its strategy of becoming a diversified Australian gold company, Maddens, Raglan and Blue Mountain are focused on nearer-term production-related activities while Lolworth represents a significant longer-term discovery opportunity. Results such as these continue to reinforce our confidence in the quality and scale of our Australian gold portfolio.”
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.
Table 1: Best gold-in-soil results ≥ 100 ppb Au, Butterfly Creek Prospect
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:
| ECR Minerals Plc | Tel: +44 (0) 20 8080 8176 | ||
| Nick Tulloch, Chairman
Andrew Scott, Director |
info@ecrminerals.com | ||
| Website: www.ecrminerals.com | |||
| Allenby Capital Limited | Tel: +44 (0) 20 3328 5656 | ||
| Nominated Adviser and Joint Broker
Alex Brearley / Nick Naylor / Vivek Bhardwaj (Corporate Finance) Kelly Gardiner (Sales and Corporate Broking)
|
info@allenbycapital.com
|
||
| OAK Securities
Joint Broker Jerry Keen / Robert Bell
|
Tel: +44 (0) 20 3973 3678 | ||
| Axis Capital Markets Limited | Tel: +44 (0) 20 3026 0320 | ||
| Joint Broker | |||
| Lewis Jones | |||
| SI Capital Ltd | Tel: +44 (0) 1483 413500 | ||
| Joint Broker | |||
| Nick Emerson
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| Brand Communications | Tel: +44 (0) 7976 431608 | ||
| Public & Investor Relations | |||
| Alan Green | |||
Allenby Note – ECR Minerals #ECR Gold development potential radically advanced
ECR Minerals recent A$10.6m (£5.6m) acquisition of Paleogold Ltd has radically enhanced its near-term gold development and exploration potential in Australia. Interests have been acquired in three projects in Queensland, South Australia and Western Australia.
By early-2027 we would expect the Raglan and Blue Mountain alluvial projects in Queensland to be fully on stream. ECR gold production should be meaningful by early 2027.
A slower than expected production start-up at Raglan and Blue Mountain have burdened the stock of late. In the coming months we would expect the news flow on this front to turn positive with favourable implications for the stock.
Our new ECR corporate valuation is £19.25m or 0.55p/share based on 3,543,751,795 shares outstanding. This compares with £13.76m and 0.42p/share in our February 2026 Update report based on 3,290,888,016 shares outstanding. The variance reflects the impact of the Paleogold acquisition and our view on the valuation basis for the new projects.
On a fully diluted basis assuming ~4.29 bn shares the valuation would be ~45p/share. This however still reflects a sizeable premium to the mid-June share price of 23p/share.