ECR Minerals PLC (LON:ECR) told investors on Wednesday that drilling at the Creswick gold project in Victoria, Australia, has identified more extensive quartz than expected.
The company completed 1,687m of reverse circulation drilling in 17 holes at the project targeting multiple quartz vein orientations within the Dimocks Main Shale (DMS).
Quartz was found in more than one third of the total area drilled.
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Drill results, most of which has now been received, are being reviewed by ECR’s mineral team.
Gold mineralisation has been identified in all holes so far with grades in nine holes ranging from 0.6 grams per tonne (g/t) gold to 44.63 g/t gold.
ECR said a technical review of the drill programme and assay results has confirmed elements of the complex geology at Creswick and confirmed that the gold mineralisation is “nuggetty” in nature.
Nuggety gold distribution can lead to understated assays because the larger the nuggets, the less the chance they will be captured in the drilled metre.
ECR accelerating gravity concentration tests
Subsequently, ECR is accelerating gravity concentration tests from whole of bag samples from the reverse circulation drilling.
The miner said results of assays from the drilling programme may be unreliable as indicators of true grade until extensive whole-of-bag tests have been completed.
The group continues to see potential for a “very substantial gold deposit” within the DMS, as previously highlighted by the technical team.
“The work we are undertaking at Creswick is highly exciting given the transformational potential this large footprint gold system offers,” said chief executive Craig Brown.
“The question we have to answer is how much gold does the DMS hold that would be amenable to a bulk tonnage gold mining operation.
He added: “We are closing in on the answer and the directors believe that the outcome has the potential to be company transformational and is therefore deserving of our close attention.
“We eagerly await the findings from the whole of bag gravity concentration work and will report back to the market as significant developments occur.”