ECR Minerals, the AIM-listed gold exploration and development company focused on Australia, is redirecting operational resources from its Raglan project to the Maddens Gold Project in North Queensland.
The Board has approved moving personnel and a mobile wash plant to Maddens' Brothers mining lease, where trial alluvial mining is expected to start shortly.
Surface prospecting at Brothers has recovered water-worn nuggety gold from gullies near historic underground workings, and the team estimates roughly 100,000 cubic metres of minable material may be in place.
Mining at Raglan will pause and transition into geological evaluation and mine planning, though the company says the project remains part of its Australian portfolio pending a future restart.
"The decision to redeploy resources is therefore a disciplined allocation of capital and resources", said Nick Tulloch, chairman, adding that Raglan has taken longer than expected to demonstrate consistent recoveries.
Maddens already holds an existing mining lease and established underground development, distinguishing it from earlier-stage exploration assets in ECR's four-state Australian portfolio.
The company also points to its Lolworth project, where a recently identified 200-metre drill-ready gold corridor at Butterfly Creek returned peak soil values of 3.51 grammes per tonne gold, as evidence of district-scale potential.
Next steps include mobilising the wash plant to Brothers, reporting recovered grades and throughput from trial mining, and deciding whether larger-scale processing equipment should follow.