EXPLORATION & DEVELOPMENT

Junior floats new Victorian gold fields hope

A LONDON-listed company says it has mapped out a “potentially large gold system” near the Australian gold rush towns of Ballarat and Creswick.

Staff reporter
ECR says Ballarat's gold history points to more resources in the ground. PICTURE: Visit Ballarat

ECR says Ballarat's gold history points to more resources in the ground. PICTURE: Visit Ballarat

AIM-listed ECR Minerals holds tenements covering 7km of what it calls the Dimocks Main Shale (DMS), which hosts strata-bound auriferous quartz veins.

The central goldfields region, along with Bendigo, drove the Victorian gold rush of the mid-19th century.

ECR was handed the two licences by geologist Rodney Boucher after another company gave up the rights.

The formerly-Philippines focused company said it had counted around 300 historic shafts along the DMS' 15km length, and believed the shale was a "potential contributing source" to the alluvial gold mined up until the early 20th century.

There is still an underground operation in the centre of Ballarat, producing around 40,000 ounces per annum.

CEO Craig Brown was bullish about the DMS's potential despite only doing mapping so far.

"We are excited by this discovery of a potentially large gold system at Creswick which has been identified by our technical team, led by Dr Rodney Boucher, and is the outcome of many years of detailed study," he said.

"The confirmation of a system which potentially feeds into two established gold producing areas is very exciting for the team; and an area of targeted future exploration.

"Further work is required to substantiate our findings and quantify the extent of gold mineralisation, but without doubt, the Creswick licences are now a key project for the company."

London investors were interested enough to send ECR's share price up 30% to 1.04p.

A growing series of reports, each focused on a key discussion point for the mining sector, brought to you by the Mining News Intelligence team.

A growing series of reports, each focused on a key discussion point for the mining sector, brought to you by the Mining News Intelligence team.

editions

MiningNews.net Research Report 2024

Access a multi-pronged tool to identify critical risks and opportunities in Australia’s mining industry.

editions

Mining Journal Intelligence Investor Sentiment Report 2024

Survey revealing the plans, priorities, and preferences of 120+ mining investors and their expectations for the sector in 2024.

editions

Mining Journal Intelligence Mining Equities Report 2023

Access an exclusive, inside look on the quarterly mining IPOs and secondary raisings data and mining equities performance tables with an annual Stock Exchange Comparisons supplement.

editions

Mining Journal Intelligence World Risk Report 2023 (feat. MineHutte ratings)

A detailed analysis of mining investment risks across 121 jurisdictions globally, built on 11 ‘hard risk’ metrics and an industrywide survey.