Marmota (ASX:MEU) has obtained exciting results from the first drilling carried out by any company ever on the Comet (West) Tenement EL 6084, located to the south of Aurora Tank in South Australia.
Accelerated Discovery Initiative (ADI) Program on Comet
- First drilling ever (apparently by anyone) on the Comet (West) tenement EL 6084
- Seven reconnaissance holes drilled on Comet as part of ADI programme
- Single isolated wildcat hole intersects gold (1.3 g/t over 4m) at 44m from surface and highly elevated REE
- Potential for a new discovery
- Hidden at surface: no gold-in-calcrete expression of gold at surface
Marmota drilled seven reconnaissance holes on the Comet (West) tenement, the first seven holes ever drilled on the tenement.
One of the holes [Hole 22ADIRC017] intersected significant gold at 44 m downhole, averaging 1.3 g/t gold over the 4.0m composite interval. The hole is located en échelon with the Aurora Tank gold discovery and the Mars gold deposit to the NE.
The same hole is also highly anomalous in REE (Rare Earth Elements).
REE The same hole is also highly anomalous in Rare Earth Elements, recording a TREO of 808 ppm over 4m (from 32m); 731 ppm over 4m (from 20m), and featuring thick zones of 36m @ 408ppm (from 12m) including 20m @ 532 ppm (from 12m).
REE The same hole is also highly anomalous in Rare Earth Elements, recording a TREO of 808 ppm over 4m (from 32m); 731 ppm over 4m (from 20m), and featuring thick zones of 36m @ 408ppm (from 12m) including 20m @ 532 ppm (from 12m).
Geological logging indicates the rare earths are hosted in saprolitic clays from 12 metres which then transitions into heavily weathered gneiss from 31m downhole. [ TREO is the sum of the oxides of the so-called heavy rare earths elements (HREO) and the so-called light rare earths elements (LREO). See page 10 for details of calculation.
Marmota Chairman, Dr Colin Rose, said that for a first pass drill programme, with no gold-in-calcrete anomaly at surface, and with just seven holes on a new tenement, it appears as an extremely promising start.
ADI Programme
The above exploration work is jointly funded by the SA Government under a $225,000 grant awarded to Marmota under the Accelerated Discovery Initiative (ADI).
The programme involved a small number of holes drilled on two tenements located to the south of Marmota’s Aurora Tank gold discovery (Woorong Downs and Comet). As far as Marmota is aware, this programme included the first ever exploration drilling by any company on the Comet (West) Tenement (EL6084) located south of Aurora Tank.
“This is a highly unusual, intriguing and exciting outcome for a recon programme. To put this in context, the usual path to finding gold is to start with some surface expression of gold (e.g. calcrete sampling) that then guides drilling,” Dr Rose said.
“Here, by contrast, there is no expression of gold in the surface calcrete sampling. Finding significant gold over 1 g/t on a single hole in the middle of nowhere, without surface expressions or other guiders … is probabilistically like finding a needle in a haystack. It is so unusual that prior to releasing these results, Marmota asked the laboratory to duplicate the assay tests from a fresh sample: the lab pulverised the entire 2kg sample bag collected over the 4m interval, and took a new pulp to re-test from fresh. It confirmed the same result.
“There is no doubt that there is significant gold in the sample. More intriguingly, it is located on the same trend line as the Aurora Tank gold discovery and the Mars gold deposit 10km to the NE, with the ground on Comet inbetween never tested or drilled.
“Marmota is seeking to carry out follow-up programs as a priority, both here at Comet, and to follow up the high-grade 18g/t gold extensions just discovered at Aurora Tank.
“More detail is expected to follow shortly. The highly anomalous REE result (from the same drill hole) and thick REE intersections in clays highlight the prospectivity of Marmota’s tenements for rare earth elements. Marmota will also be addressing our REE strategy in the near future.”
For further information please visit: https://www.marmota.com.au/
