Marmota Finishes 32,085m Drill Program as Next Gold Assays Land Next Week
Key Takeaways
- Marmota completed its 2026 program at Greenewood and Mainwood with 337 RC holes for 32,085m, split 227 holes at Mainwood and 110 at Greenewood.
- The second assay batch from the northern Greenewood extensions is due next week, with 69 of 84 sections still to report after the first batch covered Sections 1 to 15.
- Mineralisation strike length now exceeds 2km, and the program is designed to build the indicated resource that the Scoping study needs.
- Greenewood has no calcrete surface signature, so the technique that found Challenger in 1995 would have missed it, which Marmota says points to further discovery potential.
- The zone sits about 35km from the 100%-owned Aurora Tank deposit, and Marmota holds 90% of the Golden Moon JV ground, but the announcement gives no new grades, resource size or funding details.
Greenewood/Mainwood drilling completed: 337 holes, 32,085m
Marmota Limited (ASX: MEU) announced on 12 October 2026 that drilling is complete on its 2026 program at the Greenewood and Mainwood zones, part of the Greenewood/Mainwood gold discovery in South Australia’s Gawler Craton. The second batch of assay results is expected next week.
The program grew through several extensions. Marmota said extensional drilling intersected numerous zones with favourable geology that is “almost identical” to the zones that yielded the outstanding gold intersections at Greenewood.
The 2026 program now totals 337 holes for 32,085m, all RC (reverse circulation) drilling. Here is how it splits between the two zones:
| Zone | Holes | Metres |
|---|---|---|
| Mainwood | 227 | 19,017m |
| Greenewood | 110 | 13,068m |
| Total | 337 | 32,085m |
More holes mean more data points, and a bigger dataset is what a resource upgrade is built on.
Assay timeline
Assay results are being released in batches across 84 sections of the program. Here is where things stand:
- 1 October 2026: The first batch (Sections 1 to 15 of 84) reported contiguous high-grade gold starting close to surface, with thick wide intercepts extending deeper to fresh rock.
- Next week: The second batch, from the northern extensions to Greenewood, targets extensional drilling to the north and to depth.
The announcement gives no new grades. It does say the program has already extended the strike length of mineralisation to over 2km.
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What the program is designed to deliver
The announcement sets out four key objectives:
- Northern extensions and to depth: Extend Greenewood, particularly to the north. Drilling went so far north-east that the Figure 3 map had to be extended.
- Southern extensions: Test Mainwood, which is Marmota’s maiden drilling there and the first drilling at Mainwood since 2018. The aim is to try to identify a contiguous high-grade gold zone.
- Resource growth: Significantly grow the resource.
- Indicated resource: Increase drilling density, including drilling missing sections, to enable an indicated resource that is necessary for the Scoping study.
An indicated resource is a category of mineral resource with higher geological confidence. It matters because the announcement says it is necessary for the Scoping study.
The maiden scoping study for Marmota Gawler Gold recently commenced (ASX:MEU 18 Nov 2025). A video of drilling at Greenewood is available at youtu.be/uOOFp04uLiA.
Why a discovery without a calcrete signature matters
Calcrete is a hardened surface layer of calcium carbonate. Gold-in-calcrete sampling tests that layer for gold, and it is a regional-scale technique for finding targets.
According to the announcement, the Mainwood zone was originally discovered through this technique. It was also used to discover Challenger in 1995 and other deposits in the “Arc of Gold” in the Gawler Gold Project.
Greenewood is different. It has no surface expression of calcrete and so no surface gold-in-calcrete anomaly, meaning the technique would have missed it.
Marmota describes the discovery as an important milestone in the Gawler Gold discovery history. It says it identifies significant potential for further gold discoveries within the project area where regional calcrete sampling is not a suitable tool to define a gold target. For you as an investor, that is the company’s view of exploration upside, not a confirmed result.
Limited historical drilling
Both zones had little drilling before Marmota arrived:
- Greenewood: Only about 7,000m of RC drilling since discovery, before Marmota’s maiden program in July/August 2025.
- Mainwood: Only about 3,700m of RC drilling across 53 holes, with an average depth of 70m.
The announcement adds that historical AC and RAB holes at Mainwood (24 and 134 respectively) appear to have been too short, averaging about 48m deep.
Investment thesis: scale, ownership and proximity to Aurora Tank
Greenewood/Mainwood are part of the Golden Moon JV. Marmota holds 90% via its 100% owned subsidiary Half Moon Pty Ltd, and Ministerial Consent was granted in June 2025.
The zone sits about 35km north-west of Marmota’s flagship Aurora Tank gold deposit (100% owned) and about 30km north-east of the Challenger Gold Mine. Marmota says this proximity to Aurora Tank creates economies of scope and scale, meaning potential cost and operating advantages from developing nearby deposits together.
Aurora Tank features outstanding gold intersections, including multiple bonanza gold grades close to surface and superb recoveries in metallurgical testwork (ASX:MEU 28 April 2025). Marmota says it has excellent potential for low-cost, low capex open pit heap leach gold production.
Marmota owns all of the unmined gold deposits in the Arc of Gold (either 100% or 90%). Challenger, by contrast, produced over a million ounces of gold.
The announcement was authorised for release by the Board, and contains no direct management quote.
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What to watch next
Several milestones follow from this announcement:
- The second batch of assays from the northern extensions, expected next week.
- Remaining batches from the 84 sections.
- Resource growth and the move toward an indicated resource for the scoping study.
The announcement discloses no timelines beyond “next week”, and gives no resource size or funding details.
Ready to Learn More About the Greenewood/Mainwood Gold Discovery?
With 337 holes and 32,085m of RC drilling now complete, Marmota’s Gawler Craton program has extended mineralisation over 2km and is building the dataset needed for an indicated resource. With the second batch of assays due next week, investors can track the next phase of this discovery, which sits just 35km from the flagship Aurora Tank deposit.
Explore Marmota Limited’s company profile and latest updates to see how the Greenewood/Mainwood discovery fits into the broader Arc of Gold story. Stay informed as further assay results are released.