Marmota set to drill new high-grade South Aussie gold deposit

Marmota set to drill new high-grade South Aussie gold deposit

Marmota Limited (ASX: MEU) has mobilised its drill crew for a Stage two assault on the company’s exciting Greenewood gold prospect within its South Australian Gawler Craton gold project about 500 kilometres northwest of Adelade. The new campaign kicks off an aggressive ~8500m reverse circulation (RC) drill program just one month after unveiling bonanza grades from its maiden campaign.

With all permits secured, Marmota has planned up to 85 holes to chase extensions to the outstanding near-surface Greenewood gold mineralisation before the Christmas break.

Marmota’s recently-completed phase one drilling at Greenewood was the first work undertaken on the ground since 2018.

The program delivered a string of exceptional intervals released in early October, the best four of which include 24m assaying 12g/t gold from 20m and 28m going 6.4g/t gold from 44m in a second hole.

A third hole delivered 28m at 5.6g/t gold from 24m, while a fourth hole delivered 16m at 6.5g/t gold from 20m.

The new drill program design will be finalised on the basis of imminent assays expected from 1m assay splits off the original 4m composite results.

The Greenewood deposit is one of the company’s 90%-owned Golden Moon JV prospects and sits about 35km north-west of Marmota’s flagship Aurora Tank gold deposit and 30kms north-east of the historic Challenger mine.

Greenewood has routinely delivered standout results for Marmota’s Gawler Craton gold project which have not been seen since the historic Challenger discovery in 1995 by Dominion Mining through geochemical surface sampling of calcrete.

Challenger went on to produce about 1.2 million ounces of gold between 2002 and 2018 and is now under care and maintenance by current 100% owner Barton Gold.

Only about 7000m of RC drilling has been put into the Greenewood prospect since its 2016 discovery by Tyranna Resources as part of its larger Jumbuck project in the Gawler Craton that aimed to identify another deposit similar to the Challenger gold mine.

Tyranna’s drilling built on its initial shallow exploration that outlined early high-grade hits including 1m assaying 53g/t gold, within a wider interval of 14m at 6g/t gold.

Greenewood’s proximity to the Challenger deposit has long been a key driver of local exploration.

When Greenewood is also considered in terms of its closeness to the company’s bonanza Aurora Tank deposit and its other three adjacent Golden Moon JV gold deposits, the grouped deposits point to potential for strategic and operational efficiencies across the company’s arc of five known gold deposits that wrap around a Y-shaped gravity feature in the area.

From west to east, the five deposits include the company’s Mainwood, Greenewood, Campfire Bore, Golf Bore and Aurora Tank deposits, at various levels of evaluation. Marmota holds a 100% interest in Aurora Tank and a 90% interest in the Golden Moon JV ground.

The company’s Aurora Tank deposit is currently the most advanced gold project in Marmota’s Gawler Craton portfolio, supported by metallurgical testwork which indicates strong gold recoveries and low-capex heap-leach potential.

Work has begun on a Stage 1 mine plan for Aurora Tank, with block modelling completed and a maiden resource estimate coming up for completion shortly.

Significantly, the company’s arc of five deposits also extend further to the southwest to include Barton Gold’s Challenger mine.

Challenger’s 650ktpa carbon-in-pulp gold processing plant for production of gold doré is another important factor in the local strategy equation too, not only for Marmota but also for other players in immediate region.

Barton says its Challenger mine is not currently a priority given its need for substantial investment to update the geological understanding of deeper levels of the deposit.

But importantly, the Challenger gold plant offers a unique opportunity for processing gold from other projects near the mill and it also provides an attractive option for trucking and processing of ore from Barton’s own Tarcoola gold project which took place in 2017 and 2018.

Such an option may not be on Marmota’s radar for a while given its current plans for a low-capex, heap leach operation.

However, if the company’s string of evolving projects develop further at depth, the Challenger processing plant could prove to be a worthy contender for toll treatment and a game changer in Marmota’s future plans, even if only on a temporary basis while other irons are warming in the fire.

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