Marmota's Major Drill Program Targets 2km Gold Strike in South Australia
Marmota Limited is poised to ignite excitement once again near its newly discovered Greenewood gold find in South Australia. A significant reverse circulation (RC) drilling campaign is scheduled to commence next week, aiming to test what the company describes as a potentially "massive" southern extension of the mineralised trend.
The upcoming program will concentrate primarily on the Mainwood zone, located 500 metres southwest along-strike from Greenewood. This marks the first time Marmota will drill the Mainwood area, with the company planning an ambitious 220 holes for a total of 20,000 metres of drilling. This effort has the potential to extend the combined gold-bearing trend to at least two kilometres, encompassing both the Greenewood and Mainwood targets.
Driving Factors Behind the Drill Blitz
Marmota's push into Mainwood has been bolstered by encouraging results from its initial Greenewood drilling. In late February, the company reported a second batch of standout assays, indicating a near-continuous, high-grade gold system that remains open in all directions. Key intercepts from these results included 44 metres at 2.3 grams per tonne (g/t) gold from 16 metres, featuring 4 metres at 16 g/t gold.
Additional highlights comprised 4 metres at an impressive 18 g/t gold within a broader 36-metre stretch grading 3 g/t gold from 64 metres, and 32 metres at 3.2 g/t gold from 56 metres, including 4 metres at 24 g/t gold. These thick, high-grade zones have directly influenced the new drill plan, particularly where deeper holes intersected strong mineralisation beneath shallow drilling completed by previous owners in 2017.
Marmota anticipates a similar scenario could unfold to the south around Mainwood, which has seen only limited drilling since its initial discovery and has not been investigated further since 2018.
Strategic Importance and Program Details
Both Greenewood and Mainwood are part of Marmota's Golden Moon joint venture, in which the company holds a 90 per cent interest. These prospects are strategically situated within the broader Gawler Gold project, lying 35 kilometres northwest of Marmota's flagship Aurora Tank gold deposit and 30 kilometres northeast of the historic Challenger gold mine, which produced an estimated 1.2 million ounces of gold between 2002 and 2018.
According to Marmota, 70 per cent of the planned holes will target the Mainwood zone, while the remaining 30 per cent will focus on infilling and extending the Greenewood zone as part of future resource estimation efforts. The company has confirmed that required fuel is already on site, and field crews have mobilised from Adelaide to prepare drill pads, tracks, and sumps ahead of the rig's arrival.
Leadership and Future Prospects
Marmota Limited chairman Dr Colin Rose expressed enthusiasm for the program, stating, "We are delighted to get this program underway. This program serves two primary roles: to continue the growth of the main Greenewood zone, which has been yielding spectacular results and remains open in all directions, and to vigorously attack the southern zone (Mainwood) with our maiden drilling program there."
If the southern step-out towards Mainwood proves as successful as the Greenewood discovery, investors can expect a lively flow of news. With the rig set to arrive shortly and a two-kilometre-long gold trend in focus, the new Mainwood program holds the potential to drive further excitement and keep momentum rolling for Marmota's activities in the Gawler Craton region.
