ECR Minerals (LON:ECR) updated on its investment via an earn-in agreement into the Itogon gold and silver project in the Philippines.
As revealed in July, only one condition to completing the deal with Tiger and Cordillera Tiger, which holds the project, remained: confirmation that the project’s exploration licence had been extended for a further two years.
ECR notes that, following comments in a Tiger statement on Aug 28, it does not consider that absolute confirmation of this has yet been received.
Itogon is an advanced exploration project on the island of Luzon in the north of the Philippines, and benefits from an extensive historical database of previous work.
The agreement gives ECR the exclusive right and option to earn a 50% interest in Cordillera Tiger and thereby in the Itogon project by obtaining, for Cordillera Tiger, a mining licence in respect of the project within five years and by making certain staged payments to Tiger.
ECR will fund all expenditure required for Cordillera Tiger to obtain a mining licence and, through Cordillera Tiger, will be the operator of the project during the earn-in.
The firm also updated on when subsidiary Mercator Gold Australia will be released from administration, saying a report to creditors had been delayed and it is hoped the release may be during September.
The company also told investors it continues to review additional gold project opportunities, including some producing gold mines, in the Philippines and elsewhere in the Asia Pacific region.
A small number of these opportunities are being investigated on an in-depth basis, including site visits, it said.