Marmota Limited will be handed 90 per cent of the Golden Moon joint venture gold tenements in South Australia’s renowned Gawler Craton, after the company received ministerial consent for a title transfer.

The Golden Moon ground embraces four gold deposits - Mainwood, Greenewood, Campfire Bore and Golf Bore - in an arc of six important gold occurrences along the flanks of a major Y–shaped gravity anomaly.

Together with Marmota’s fully owned, high-grade Aurora Tank deposit, the company now holds either a 90% or 100% interest in five unmined but potentially significant gold deposits in the immediate region.

The remaining project in the golden arc is the already-mined 1-million-ounce Challenger gold deposit. While not part of the recent title transfer, Challenger contributes strongly to the arc’s nearology and mining history and reinforces the prospectivity of Marmota’s new tenements.

The company now expects to kick-start its first drilling program at Greenewood in about five days. It is planning to drill 127 holes for a total of 10,000 metres to an average depth of about 79m.

‘The Golden Moon JV heralds a new era of gold exploration and resource growth in the Gawler Craton.’

Marmota Limited chairman Dr Colin Rose

Through its wholly owned subsidiary Half Moon, Marmota entered a joint venture in April last year with private company Coombedown Resources on a pair of tenements comprising the Golden Moon ground.

Along with the Mainwood prospect, Greenewood occupies the smaller and westernmost of the two Golden Moon joint venture gold tenements, almost 36 kilometres west-northwest of Marmota’s flagship Aurora Tank project.

The second and bigger tenement consists of three separate areas. One area contains Marmota’s Campfire Bore deposit, about 31km west-northwest of Aurora, while a second, 13km north-northwest of Aurora, encloses the Golf Bore deposit.

With ministerial consent to the title transfer under its belt through Half Moon, Marmota now owns 90 per cent of any minerals found at Golden Moon, including gold. The deal excludes opals, iron ore and palygorskite, which is also known as Fuller’s Earth.

Under the joint venture terms, Half Moon will free carry Coombedown until a decision to mine is made. Marmota will manage the joint venture through Half Moon.

Unlike the extensively drilled Aurora deposit, the Golden Moon ground has been subject to only minimal drilling. It had not been tested for six years until Marmota kicked off its sub-surface probing at Campfire Bore in September last year.

Marmota Limited chairman Dr Colin Rose said: “We are delighted that the title transfers of these core gold deposits/tenements have now been formally completed, ticking off another box on Marmota’s Gawler gold project. The Golden Moon JV heralds a new era of gold exploration and resource growth in the Gawler Craton. Work started on these assets under the guidance of Dominion, which made the discovery of the Challenger gold mine.”

Dr Rose said the Golden Moon joint venture has cleared the deck, after some delays, with a clean new structure now completed.

Marmota’s first drilling program at Campfire Bore put in 86 reverse circulation holes for 11,690m by mid-October last year. The company immediately began planning follow-up work after seeing considerable growth potential at the prospect, encouraged by the December discovery of high-grade gold in multiple holes.

Campfire Bore’s best results from its first phase of drilling included an early 4m assaying 16 grams per tonne (g/t) gold from 56m below surface and 16m going 2.7g/t gold from 35m, including 4m running 8.6g/t gold from 42m.

Other results include bonanza grades up to 1m assaying 107g/t gold from 57m depth, five other intersections above 20g/t gold and 13 new intersections exceeding 10 g/t gold, including 5m going 12g/t, 3m at 11g/t and 3m at 10g/t gold.

During an internal review of Greenewood’s exploration history, Marmota noted previous third-party drilling results from 2016 and 2017 that include multiple intersections of more than 20g/t gold in six holes close to surface. These include 1m at 53g/t gold from 30m, 1m at 37g/t gold from 48m and 1m at 29g/t from 31m.

A further three holes delivered 1m assaying 23g/t from 24m, 1m at 23g/t from 23m and 1m going 21g/t from 41m.

The proximity of the Golden Moon joint venture deposits to the company’s Aurora Tank project brings development and logistical synergies and benefits.

Aurora Tank is characterised by multiple shallow high-grade hits and exhibits outstanding potential for low-cost, low-capex, open-pit, heap-leach production.

While recent drilling has yielded a host of high-grade gold intersections and indicates significant potential for expansion, Marmota is focusing on completing its metallurgical test work and a scoping study and producing a maiden resource in the next six months.

With promising new ground close to Aurora Tank, the company now has a solid portfolio of gold deposits in the Gawler Craton to follow up.

It has already identified new high-grade gold extensions in first stage drilling at Campfire Bore. Through Half Moon, Marmota also owns all the Typhoon and Monsoon deposits, which are part of the Western Gawler Craton joint venture project.

If Marmota’s imminent drilling at Greenewood can replicate its Aurora Tank and Campfire Bore successes, the company will have won a uniqiue trifecta – or something like this

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