ECR Minerals (ECR ) is to initiate trial alluvial mining activities on the Brothers mining lease at the Maddens gold project in Queensland.
Surface prospecting at Brothers has indicated a potentially high-grade alluvial mining opportunity within the existing mining lease.
Specifically, 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 ECR team estimates that there may be around 100,000 cubic metres of minable material in place.
Accordingly, operational personnel and equipment will be redeployed from Raglan to commence trial alluvial mining at Brothers.
At the same time, mining operations at Raglan will transition to geological evaluation and mine-planning, pending the outcome of the test work at the Brothers mine.
A return to production at Raglan is expected in due course.
Meanwhile, recent exploration success at Lolworth has once again highlighted its potential as a district-scale gold system. In particular, the company recently showcased a 200-metre drill-ready gold corridor at Butterfly Creek.
The Board believes these observations warrant immediate trial alluvial mining and further investigation of both the alluvial material and its potential hard-rock source.
"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,” said Nick Tulloch, ECR’s chairman.
"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."
View from Vox
Over the past twelve months, ECR has deliberately transformed 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. Maddens is the immediate focus, with production there expected from both hard rock and alluvial operations now expected soon.