ECR Minerals PLC
17 August 2026
The information contained within this announcement was deemed by the Company to constitute inside information as stipulated under the UK Market Abuse Regulation.
17 August 2026
ECR MINERALS PLC
("ECR Minerals", "ECR" or the "Company")
ECR secures up to A$3 million exploration commitment for the Creswick Gold Project, Victoria
Binding conditional farm-in and joint venture agreements executed with Bold Gold
ECR Minerals plc (AIM: ECR), the gold exploration and development company focused on Australia, is pleased to announce that, further to its announcement of 18 September 2025 regarding the proposed joint venture with Bold Gold Resources Pty Ltd ("Bold Gold") in respect of the Company's Creswick Gold Project in Victoria, Australia ("Creswick" or the "Project"), legally binding conditional farm-in and joint venture agreements have now been executed by both parties (the "Agreements").
The Agreements establish a pathway for Bold Gold to invest up to A$3 million into Creswick through an agreed staged earn-in structure, providing the potential for substantial third-party funding to advance one of ECR's most prospective exploration assets within the Victorian goldfields.
The Board believes that the Agreements represent an important strategic milestone for the Company and further demonstrates ECR's ability to unlock value across its expanded Australian gold portfolio, through a combination of production, development, exploration and strategic partnerships.
Highlights
• Legally binding conditional Agreements executed between ECR Minerals (Australia) Pty Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of ECR, and Bold Gold in respect of Creswick
• Bold Gold may invest up to A$3 million through an agreed staged earn-in structure to earn up to an 80% interest in Creswick
• Initial A$250,000 minimum exploration commitment by Bold Gold during the first 12 months of the Agreements
• Creswick regarded by ECR as one of the most prospective underexplored gold projects within the Victorian goldfields
• Third-party funding at Creswick would allow ECR to focus on simultaneously advancing its other multiple high-potential Australian assets, particularly its highly prospective Maddens Gold Project in northern Queensland
• ECR retains significant long-term exposure to exploration success at Creswick through its retained project interest and potential royalty pathway
Background to the Project
The Project is located within the highly prospective Victorian goldfields region, approximately 20 kilometres north of Ballarat, reported to be one of Australia's most historically productive gold districts.
The Project hosts a significant portion of the Dimocks Main Shale ("DMS"), a gold-bearing geological structure extending for approximately 15 kilometres. The DMS is situated between major historical third-party goldfields estimated to have collectively produced approximately 15 million ounces of gold and is regarded by the Board as one of the most prospective underexplored gold trends within ECR's Victorian portfolio.
Previous drilling programmes at Creswick completed by ECR have successfully intersected high-grade gold mineralisation within the DMS corridor, including results exceeding 20 grams per tonne ("g/t") gold, indicating the presence of a fertile gold system. Despite these encouraging results, only a limited proportion of the broader target corridor has been systematically tested by modern exploration techniques.
The Board believes that Creswick retains substantial exploration upside potential and considers the Project to be highly prospective for further gold discoveries through, inter alia, continued geological targeting, drilling and systematic exploration programmes.
Background on Bold Gold
Bold Gold is an Australian exploration company focused on the acquisition and advancement of prospective gold opportunities.
The Company believes that Bold Gold brings additional technical expertise, operational capability and funding capacity which can help accelerate exploration activity at Creswick.
The execution of the Agreements allows both parties to move forward with exploration planning and programme development across the Project area.
Farm-in expenditure commitments
Under the terms of the Farm-in agreement, Bold Gold has committed to a minimum exploration expenditure of A$250,000 during an initial 12-month option period.
Following completion of the option period, Bold Gold may elect to earn a 51% interest in Creswick by sole-funding a further A$1.0 million in exploration expenditure over the following two years, bringing Bold Gold's total expenditure to A$1.25 million.
Thereafter, Bold Gold may elect to earn an additional 29% interest, taking its total interest to 80%, by sole-funding a further A$1.75 million in exploration expenditure within two years of the end of the initial option period, bringing total expenditure to A$3 million.
Should certain licence renewal and retention licence milestones be achieved, Bold Gold's final expenditure requirement may reduce to A$2.75 million. The Farm-in agreement is conditional on the renewal of EL006907 and EL006184 which form part of the Creswick licence area, both of which expire this year, and the parties will work together in good faith to secure these renewals. Bold Gold will pay all reasonable third-party costs incurred in applying for and obtaining those renewals. The Company will make a further announcement in due course in respect of these licence renewals and the Farm-in agreement becoming unconditional.
No interest in the Project will be earned by Bold Gold until the minimum A$1.25 million expenditure threshold has been achieved.
Strategic importance
The Board believes that the Agreements are strategically important as they provide a pathway for significant third-party investment into a highly prospective Victorian gold asset, while allowing ECR to maintain focus on advancing its broader Australian portfolio.
The arrangement complements ECR's strategy of progressing multiple projects simultaneously across Australia, combining near-term production and development opportunities in Queensland with longer-term exploration growth.
The Company retains significant exposure to any future exploration success at Creswick through its retained project interest and, under certain circumstances, a potential royalty pathway.
ECR Chairman Nick Tulloch commented: "We are delighted that the legally binding Agreements have now been agreed and executed, marking an important milestone both for the Project and for ECR shareholders.
"Since announcing the proposed joint venture concept last year, we have worked closely with the Bold Gold team to finalise documentation that provides a clear pathway for substantial exploration investment at Creswick. We are pleased to have now reached this point and we look forward to seeing activity commence on the ground.
"Creswick remains one of the most exciting exploration assets within ECR's Victoria portfolio. Located within the highly prospective Victorian Goldfields and hosting the underexplored Dimocks Main Shale corridor, we believe that the project has the potential to deliver significant exploration success through a systematic and well-funded exploration programme.
"Importantly, Creswick is not an early-stage conceptual target. ECR's drilling has already demonstrated the presence of high-grade gold mineralisation, including results exceeding 20 g/t gold, and we believe that the combination of a highly prospective geological setting and a funded proposed exploration programme create an exciting opportunity to potentially unlock further value for shareholders.
"The agreed expenditure stages of up to A$3 million provide a pathway for substantial exploration activity at Creswick without placing additional funding pressure on ECR itself.
"This partnership allows ECR to continue executing its broader Australian strategy on multiple fronts. While Bold Gold advances Creswick through a well-funded exploration potential programme, ECR remains focused on progressing its Queensland portfolio towards production and development outcomes, particularly at Maddens and Blue Mountain, while also advancing exploration opportunities across Victoria, South Australia and Western Australia.
"We believe that this is a highly complementary arrangement. It enables a prospective Victorian gold asset to move forward with dedicated funding while preserving capital and management focus for the Company's wider portfolio.
"With production and development activities advancing in Queensland, exploration programmes progressing elsewhere across the portfolio and gold market fundamentals strengthening again, we believe ECR is exceptionally well positioned as we continue building a diversified Australian gold company."
Review of Announcement by Qualified Person
This announcement has been reviewed by Adam Jones, Chief Geologist at ECR Minerals Plc. Adam Jones is a professional geologist and is a Member of the Australian Institute of Geoscientists (MAIG). He is a qualified person as that term is defined by the AIM Note for Mining, Oil and Gas Companies.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:
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ECR Minerals plc |
Tel: +44 (0) 20 8080 8176 |
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Nick Tulloch, Chairman Andrew Scott, Director |
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Website: www.ecrminerals.com |
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Allenby Capital Limited |
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Tel: +44 (0) 20 3328 5656 |
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Nominated Adviser and Joint Broker Alex Brearley / Vivek Bhardwaj / Nick Naylor (Corporate Finance) Kelly Gardiner (Sales and Corporate Broking) |
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OAK Securities Joint Broker Jerry Keen / Robert Bell |
Tel: +44 (0) 20 3973 3678 |
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Axis Capital Markets Limited |
Tel: +44 (0) 20 3026 0320 |
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Joint Broker |
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Lewis Jones |
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SI Capital Ltd |
Tel: +44 (0) 1483 413500 |
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Joint Broker |
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Nick Emerson / Keith Swann |
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Brand Communications |
Tel: +44 (0) 7976 431608 |
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Public & Investor Relations |
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Alan Green |
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ABOUT ECR MINERALS PLC
ECR Minerals is a mineral exploration and development company operating through four wholly owned Australian subsidiaries ECR Minerals (Australia) Pty Ltd ("ECR Australia"), ECR Minerals (Queensland) Pty Ltd ("ECR Queensland"), ECR Minerals (Raglan) Pty Ltd ("ECR Raglan") and ECR Minerals (Paleogold) Ltd ("ECR Paleogold").
ECR Paleogold has a 50% interest in the Maddens Gold Project in Northern Queensland, which includes the Maddens Underground Mine where work is underway for production this year. It also has a 20% interest in the Salt Bush shallow open cut mining project in South Australia where preparations are underway for production which is expected to commence around mid-2027. ECR Paleogold also owns 80% of the Tuckanarra exploration project in Western Australia.
ECR Australia owns the Bailieston and Creswick gold projects in central Victoria, Australia as well as the Tambo gold project in eastern Victoria.
ECR Raglan has a mining lease at the Raglan alluvial gold project in central Queensland, Australia and ECR Queensland has two approved exploration permits over the nearby Blue Mountain alluvial gold project. ECR is currently working to bring the Blue Mountain alluvial gold project into production. ECR Queensland also has three approved exploration permits covering 946 km2 over a relatively unexplored area in Lolworth Range in northern Queensland. Furthermore, it has also submitted a licence application at Kondaparinga which is approximately 120 km2 in area and located within the Hodgkinson Gold Province, 80 km NW of Mareeba, North Queensland.
Following the sale of the Avoca, Moormbool and Timor gold projects in Victoria, Australia to Fosterville South Exploration Ltd (TSX-V: FSX) and the subsequent spin-out of the Avoca and Timor projects to Leviathan Gold Ltd (TSX-V: LVX), ECR Australia has the right to receive up to A$2 million in payments subject to future resource estimation or production from these projects.
ECR Australia also has approximately A$77 million of unutilised tax losses incurred during previous operations.
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