LONDON (ShareCast) - (Sharecast News) - ECR Minerals updated the market on its gold and rare earths projects in the Australian states of Queensland and Victoria on Wednesday.

The AIM-traded company said it was currently in discussions with three Australia-based companies regarding the potential sale of its AUD 75m (£38.6m) in tax losses held within its subsidiary, Mercator Gold Australia.

It said the discussions, facilitated by Argonaut PCF, were ongoing, with no guarantee of an agreement, but it remained optimistic about the significant interest shown.

In Queensland, ECR said it was awaiting laboratory results from 378 rock chip samples collected from prospects at the Lolworth Project, including Butterfly Creek, Uncle Terry, and Gorge Creek.

The company expected confirmation of high-grade gold in the region, following promising initial findings of visible gold in streams and hillsides.

Additionally, ECR said it was working with the Geological Survey of Queensland (GSQ) to explore the critical minerals potential of the Lolworth Project, with a focus on niobium and tantalum.

Geochemical analysis was being conducted on pegmatite samples from the Oaky Creek prospect, with results anticipated soon.

In Victoria, civil works for ECR's maiden diamond drilling programme at the Tambo Project were nearing completion.

Drilling was expected to start this month, targeting areas beneath the historical Duke of Cornwall Mine at Swifts Creek.

Previous rock chip assays from the region returned high gold grades, including results of 22.85 grams per tonne, 26.25 grams per tonne, and 52.2 grams per tonne, alongside anomalous gold found in soils.

"With much of our recent focus being on our highly encouraging results from the Blue Mountain Project which has given us the confidence to examine the viability of installing a production plant at the site, we continue to develop the other parts of our portfolio of assets," said chairman Nick Tulloch.

"We await rock chip results from the Lolworth Project and we look forward to commencing our maiden diamond drilling programme at the Tambo Project later this month."

Tulloch said the company was also "very encouraged" by the level of interest in its tax losses.

"Transferring tax losses is a specialist and bespoke process but, if successful, the potential value could be significant to ECR."

At 0956 BST, shares in ECR Minerals were up 5.19% at 0.28p.

Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.

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