The latest stream sampling results from the Lolworth Range project in North Queensland have identified six new catchments anomalous in gold.

ECR Minerals holds three exploration tenements (EPM27901, EPM27902 and EPM27903) covering the Lolworth Range, 120km west of Charters Towers and is exploring the project through its subsidiary Lux Exploration.

The latest batch of stream samples show that 12 of the 75 completed samples contain anomalous values greater than 0.21 ppm gold, with three samples in particular recording 25.9, 205 and 1395 ppm gold.

ECR said the majority of these high gold values correlated with visual identification of gold in pan stream concentrates.

Related: ECR eyes gold, critical minerals potential at NQ site

ECR chief executive officer Andrew Haythorpe said the Lolworth assets were continuing to exceed expectations.

“As the regional streams and gullies continue to give up their secrets and yield some high gold values, there is a real sense of excitement and anticipation at the potential scale and diversity at the project,” he said.

“Once our field team get back on the ground and zone in on the most promising streams, we expect to be able to produce a shortlist of drill targets ready for our rig to commence work at the earliest opportunity.”

The directors believe the high gold values are strongly indicative of an upstream gold source.

Results for lithium, tantalum, niobium and cerium are yet to be received.

The ECR board has planned out the next ‘boots on the ground’ phase to commence in May-June, after the wet season.

The new campaign priorities will involve mapping, rock chip sampling and soil sampling over the headwaters and ridgelines of the most promising streams.

Subject to these results, the board will delineate drill targets and schedule a drilling campaign to start late 2023/early 2024.