The project's exploration licence, which expires on December 28, 2021, was transferred to ECR by the previous owner for no payment.

ECR did not give details as to who the previous owner was or why the licence had been transferred, but said there was no profit or turnover attaching to the asset and no book value at acquisition.

The project is considered highly prospective for gold mineralisation hosted within the Dimocks main shale (DMS).

The width of the shale and the occurrence of multiple veins in some zones indicated that potential openpit mining targets may present themselves as exploration progresses, ECR said.

It added that the DMS's historical alluvial production was estimated at up to 2.5 million ounces in the Creswick/Berry lead system, and up to 11Moz in the Ballarat area as a whole, of which the DMS is a significant contributor.

The results of drilling at the Creswick licence in the 1990s included an intercept at 2m at 12.28g/t gold, with the best previous drill intercept into the DMS taking place to the south of Creswick at 2m at 176g/t gold.

ECR CEO Craig Brown said he was pleased to add another highly prospective licence to its portfolio in Victoria, especially for no acquisition cost.

The company already owns the Avoca, Bailieston, Moormbool and Timor gold exploration licences in the area.

"The mines in and around Ballarat have been immensely productive in the past, and gold mining continues in the town today. With this in mind, we look forward to commencing field activities at the Creswick project," he said.