ECR Minerals PLC (LON:ECR) has kicked off the planned exploration drilling programme at its Bailieston gold licence in Victoria, Australia.
Initial reverse circulation drilling will focus on the “high-priority” Byron target, where ECR has identified three highly prospective areas.
ECR also wants to test extensions to the known mineralisation at Byron and generate additional targets for a more comprehensive programme further down the line.
“Within Bailieston, our first high priority drill targets remain in the proximity of the historic Byron mine where we have identified several areas proximal to old workings with good production figures as highly prospective targets worthy of immediate testing,” said chief executive Craig Brown.
“ECR has made significant strides forward in recent months and the board strongly believe that our Australian exploration programme in this highly prospective district is the first step to really beginning to build value for shareholders.”
ECR added that it is fully funded for the current exploration programme “and beyond”.
Central Victorian Goldfields
Bailieston is located in the Central Victoria Goldfields; an area with a long history of mining and one that has produced an estimated 80mln oz of gold since the yellow metal since it was first discovered back in 1851.
It is also not far from two other successful mining operations at Fosterville and Costerfield, which produce 140,000 oz per annum and 42,000 oz per annum, respectively.
The licence is also home to Byron, a historic mine which produced 4,400 ounces (oz) of gold (Au) at an implied grade of 15.5 grams per tonne (g/t) in its heyday. Mining stopped there because of a pump failure and subsequent dewatering issues.
Shares dipped 1.6% to 1.82p.