6 December 2024

ECR MINERALS PLC

("ECR Minerals", "ECR" or the "Company")

Grant of share options to Directors and staff members  

ECR Minerals PLC (AIM: ECR), the gold exploration and development company focused on Australia, announces the grant of options ("Options") to directors of the Company and certain staff members to subscribe for a total of 210,000,000 new ordinary shares of 0.001 pence each in the Company ("Ordinary Shares").

Each Option provides the holder with the right to receive one new Ordinary Share on its exercise.  157,500,000 of the Options were granted with an exercise price of 0.50 pence per new Ordinary Share and 52,500,000 of the Options were granted with an exercise price of 0.75 pence per new Ordinary Share, representing a premium of approximately 61 per cent. and approximately 142 per cent. respectively to the mid-market closing price of 0.31 pence per Ordinary Share on 5 December 2024.

The Options in aggregate will represent 9.58 per cent of the Company's enlarged share capital following completion of the Company's subscription as originally announced on 25 November 2024.  The Options are exercisable over five years from the date of grant, which is considered to provide a clear incentive for management and staff members to contribute to ECR's long-term success. The Options will expire on the fifth anniversary of the date of grant if not exercised.

In making this award the Remuneration Committee noted that the Company's directors and other members of the team have taken the majority of their remuneration over the last 15 months in Ordinary Shares, demonstrating a strong commitment to the Company's growth. The Remuneration Committee considered that these awards of Options offer significant incentive and alignment with shareholders as a whole in relation to ECR's future success, for which the Board believes the Company is well positioned, supported by its robust operational progress and strategic developmental activities.  The Remuneration Committee also noted that the Company's market capitalisation has more than doubled from 15 September 2023, being the date of the appointment of the new management team.

The Options form part of a new share option scheme and the Company intends to consider option awards on an annual basis but is making these one-off awards now given the significant milestones recently achieved.

The following awards have been made:

The FCA notification, made in accordance with the requirements of the UK Market Abuse Regulation is appended below.

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ABOUT ECR MINERALS PLC

ECR Minerals is a mineral exploration and development company. ECR's wholly owned Australian subsidiary Mercator Gold Australia Pty Ltd ("MGA") has 100% ownership of the Bailieston and Creswick gold projects in central Victoria, Australia, has six licence applications outstanding which includes one licence application lodged in eastern Victoria (Tambo gold project).

ECR also owns 100% of an Australian subsidiary LUX Exploration Pty Ltd ("LUX") which has three approved exploration permits covering 946 km2 over a relatively unexplored area in Lolworth Range, Queensland, Australia. The Company has also submitted a license application at Kondaparinga which is approximately 120km2 in area and located within the Hodgkinson Gold Province, 80km 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), MGA has the right to receive up to A$2 million in payments subject to future resource estimation or production from projects sold to Fosterville South Exploration Limited. 

MGA also has approximately A$75 million of unutilised tax losses incurred during previous operations.

Notification and public disclosure of transactions by persons discharging managerial responsibilities and persons closely associated with them