ECR Minerals PLC (LON:ECR) shares rose on Wednesday after the explorer said it has submitted nine new exploration licence applications covering 1,600 square kilometres of potentially gold-rich land in the Yilgarn region of Western Australia.
Collectively, the licences will be called the Windidda gold project and will, when granted, complement ECR’s existing gold exploration portfolio in Victoria, Australia.
READ: ECR Minerals eyes substantial prize in Victoria gold belt
The AIM company reckons Windidda has “significant potential” to contain Archaean greenstones, which host many of the world’s most prolific gold deposits.
“I am particularly pleased to announce this strategic move into Western Australia, which, like Victoria, has exceptional gold exploration potential in a first world operating environment,” said chief executive Craig Brown.
“Greenstone-hosted gold trends in the Western Australian Yilgarn province are very tightly held and access to free ground, when it becomes available, is highly competitive.
“So it is very encouraging that ECR has managed to compile a large land position of contiguous tenements covering untested gravity-magnetic anomalies representative of potential greenstone-hosted gold trends.”
Brown added that weaker market conditions have thrown up some opportunities, which his company has been able to take advantage of, especially with the recent financial backing it has received from investors.
In late afternoon trading, shares in ECR Minerals were 7.1% higher at 0.75p.
-- Adds share price and re-stated acreage --