www.ecrminerals.com
ECR Minerals (formerly Electrum Resources) plc is a diversified mining investment company with quality assets and the capability to undertake significant, value accretive transactions. ECR Minerals is dedicated to creating value for its shareholders through a process of finding value, adding value and realising value. In order to achieve this, Electrum Resources is able to access a pipeline of projects sourced from its global network and utilises the expertise of its directors and advisers.
ECR Minerals holds interests in the USA, Argentina, Indonesia, Thailand and Australia.
ECR shares up 100 pct as it unearths high grade gold samples at El Abra
Shares in ECR Minerals (LON:ECR) have doubled in value this morning after it unearthed high grade gold samples from the El Abra prospect in Argentina.
Since the group - formerly called Mercator Gold – finally sold the Copper Flat project to THEMAC (CVE:MAC) earlier this year, it has been focusing its attention on a group of new prospects in the La Rioja province of Argentina.
These prospects are found in the Sierra de las Minas district and notably they include the historic El Abra gold mine – where a previous owner sampled gold mineralisation at 84.6 grams per tonne.
This morning ECR confirmed this prospect’s high grade potential with the results of its own sampling programme. ECR said that it has now identified a total of 900 metres of outcropping gold-bearing quartz at El Abra.
The programme found numerous high grade gold samples, grades reached as high as 80.78 grams per tonne (g/t), other notable samples had 44.98 g/t and 39.74 g/t. ECR said that high grades were broadly distributed across the identified veins.
ECR took 89 channel samples from 19 sites across the prospect. In total, seven samples had grades between 1 and 5 grams per tonne and another seven had grades between 5 and 10 g/t. There were six samples between 10 and 50 g/t and one sampling had grades in excess of 50 g/t.
By 11:00 on AIM ECR shares were changing hands at 2 pence per share, up a penny or 100 percent.
"I am pleased to report that the El Abra gold prospect has delivered the high grade geochemical sampling results we expected from this initial phase of exploration,” managing director Patrick Harford said.
“The next task is to ascertain through drilling and geophysical evaluation the extent to which the high grade gold mineralisation encountered on surface is continuous at depth."
Harford added: “ECR was able to acquire 100 percent ownership of El Abra for consideration of only US$60,000 (plus a 2% NSR royalty) after the opportunity to do so was identified by the company’s local geological team.
“The prospect has required minimal expenditure to date, but now merits an increased level of focus.”
The group is now planning between 1,000 and 2,000 metres of drilling, which will allow it to complete an initial gold resource estimate.
First though, ECR said it may carry out a ground based geophysical survey over El Abra. Aside from the drilling it is also planning to do more mapping and sampling at El Abra.
It is also planning to rehabilitate historic mine workings at El Abra to carry out sampling down to 20 metres below surface.
El Abra is just one part of the Sierra de las Minas project area.
ECR is also evaluating the prospectivity of the Sierra de las Minas project area for copper porphyry mineralisation, and as such an additional objective of the proposed drill programme at El Abra would be to test for porphyry potential.
The group plans to do more mapping and sampling across the whole Sierra de las Minas project area. It will also use satellite imagining technology for the project area.
