Marmota Limited is ramping up its maiden drilling program at the Greenewood gold discovery in South Australia, increasing planned drilling from 20,000m to 26,000m to extend mineralisation and support a scoping study.
- Greenewood/Mainwood drilling expanded to 26,000m
- 289 holes planned, up from 220
- Mineralised strike potential now over 2km
- Drilling to complete by end of August 2026
- Supports maiden scoping study and resource upgrade
Drilling Program Expansion Signals Growing Confidence
Marmota Limited (ASX:MEU) has announced a significant expansion of its maiden drilling campaign at the Greenewood gold discovery in South Australia’s Gawler Craton. Originally targeting around 20,000 metres across 220 reverse circulation (RC) holes, the program has been increased to approximately 26,000 metres with 289 holes planned. This boost reflects the company’s ambition to substantially grow the resource and enhance the geological understanding of the deposit.
The expanded drilling focuses on both northern and southern extensions of the Greenewood zone, including the southern Mainwood area, which is being drilled for the first time since 2018. The combined Greenewood/Mainwood mineralised strike now extends over 2 kilometres, a scale that could materially impact the project's economics and resource classification.
Strategic Importance of Greenewood and Mainwood Zones
Greenewood and its Mainwood extension lie about 35 kilometres northwest of Marmota’s flagship Aurora Tank gold deposit and roughly 30 kilometres northeast of the Challenger Gold Mine, a historically significant producer in the region. Greenewood is part of the Golden Moon joint venture, where Marmota holds a 90% stake, underscoring its strategic control over this emerging gold corridor.
The discovery at Greenewood is notable for lacking a surface calcrete anomaly, a common exploration tool in the region. This means traditional sampling methods would have missed it, highlighting new exploration potential in the Gawler Craton beyond established techniques. The Mainwood zone, discovered via calcrete sampling, adds further depth to the project’s geological complexity and upside.
Advancing Towards a Maiden Scoping Study
The drilling program is designed not only to extend the strike and depth of mineralisation but also to increase drilling density. This is critical for upgrading the resource to an indicated classification, a prerequisite for the upcoming maiden scoping study that Marmota commenced in late 2025. The scoping study aims to evaluate the economic viability of the Gawler Gold project, leveraging the proximity of Greenewood/Mainwood to Aurora Tank, which has demonstrated high-grade gold intersections and promising metallurgical recoveries.
The company expects to complete the Stage 3 drilling program by the end of August 2026, having already drilled over 50,000 metres at Greenewood since July 2025. Executive Chairman Dr Colin Rose highlighted the rapid pace and quality of drilling, noting the program is delivering some of the best gold results in the Gawler Craton since the Challenger discovery in 1995.
Next Steps and Market Implications
While assay results from the expanded drilling have not yet been released, the program’s scale and scope suggest Marmota is aggressively positioning Greenewood/Mainwood as a cornerstone of its South Australian gold portfolio. The absence of surface calcrete anomalies at Greenewood also raises the prospect of further discoveries in the region that might have been overlooked by traditional exploration methods.
Investors will be watching for forthcoming assay updates and resource upgrades that will feed into the scoping study. The success of this program could unlock significant value by confirming a large, high-grade gold system with operational synergies from nearby deposits.
Bottom Line?
Marmota’s expanded drilling at Greenewood/Mainwood sets the stage for a potential resource leap, but assay results will be critical to validate this momentum.
Questions in the middle?
- Will assay results confirm high-grade extensions in Mainwood?
- How will the expanded drilling impact the timing and scope of the scoping study?
- Could Greenewood’s lack of calcrete anomaly signal new exploration frontiers in the Gawler Craton?