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ECR Minerals granted work programme approval for 3 exploration permits in North Queensland

Published: 07:51 07 Jul 2021 BST

ECR Minerals PLC -

ECR Minerals PLC (LON:ECR) said work programmes for three exploration permits (EPM) at its Lolworth District licence territories in North Queensland, Australia have been approved by the Department of Resources and Environmental Authority.

The EPM licenses have yet to be approved, but now that the work programmes have been approved, the EPM’s will be advertised, following which there will be a four-month consultation period.

The company said it believes the licences should be granted in about six months.

Once approved, all three are valid for an initial period of five years to enable ECR to complete the planned exploration programme, with a right to apply for permit extensions for up to a total of 15 years.

ECR said it expected the work programmes and forecast expenditure for the licenses to total £1.8mln over five years. 

The exploration permits cover a total 900 km2.

“I am pleased to report that following our application for three strategic licenses in the Lolworth district announced on 27 May 2021, we have received work programme approval back in record time to complete the EPM application process,” said ECR chief executive Craig Brown.

“Historical data from the area shows that regional deposits, including Charters Towers have produced over 24m oz in total gold production over the years, so naturally our team are very keen to get on the ground and start work.

Our strong cash position has enabled us to maintain aggressive drilling programmes, operating two diamond drill rigs at the Bailieston and Creswick projects in Victoria. While our team at Bendigo continue to assess the core and drill data, under the leadership of Geologist Adam Jones, we now have the capacity to aggressively pursue and develop this new opportunity.

I am confident that our ongoing drilling operations across multiple high-profile gold targets will expose ECR to potential new gold discoveries,” he said.

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