The deal excludes opals, iron ore and palygorskite, 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 Aurora deposit, which has received a lot of attention from Marmota’s drill bit, 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 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 formally completed.
Marmota’s first drilling program at Campfire Bore put in 86 reverse circulation holes for 11,690 metres by mid-October last year. The company immediately began planning follow-up work after seeing considerable growth potential at the prospect, spurred 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.
Importantly, all the Golden Moon JV gold deposits sit close to the company’s fully owned flagship Aurora Tank gold discovery, offering all the usual development and logistical benefits.
The company’s Aurora Tank gold discovery 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 the promising new ground close to Aurora Tank, the company now has a solid portfolio of gold deposits in the Gawler Craton to follow up after Aurora Tank.
It has already identified new high-grade gold extensions in its 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.
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