Marmota Greenewood Gold Drilling Expanded to 26,000 Metres as Discovery Grows

Marmota Expands Greenewood Gold Drilling to 26,000 Metres as Discovery Grows Beyond 2km Strike

Marmota (ASX: MEU) has announced an expansion of its Stage 3 reverse circulation (RC) drilling program at the Greenewood gold discovery in South Australia's Gawler Craton, with Marmota Greenewood gold drilling expanded to 26,000 metres from an original plan of approximately 20,000 metres. According to the announcement, the mineralised system continues to extend in multiple directions, prompting the 30% increase in scope.

With 223 holes already completed and the target now set at 289 holes, the program is scheduled for completion by the end of August 2026. The expanded dataset is intended to support resource growth and feed into a maiden scoping study for the broader Gawler Gold Project.

Program Expansion at a Glance

According to the announcement, the decision to expand Stage 3 reflects strong drilling progress and the emergence of a second mineralised zone, known as Mainwood, extending the system to the south. Together, Greenewood and Mainwood now define a mineralised gold corridor stretching over 2 kilometres in strike length.

Of the 223 holes drilled so far, 90 are located in the Greenewood zone and 133 in the Mainwood zone, which represents Marmota's maiden drilling program in that area.

A Discovery That Keeps Growing

Prior to Marmota's maiden program in July and August 2025, Greenewood had received only around 7,000 metres of historical RC drilling since its original discovery. Mainwood had received even less historical attention, with approximately 3,700 metres drilled across 53 holes at an average depth of 70 metres, with the company noting that no drilling had occurred there since 2018.

According to the announcement, Marmota has now drilled more than 50,000 metres at Greenewood in just 13 months, which the company describes as a record pace for its drilling activity. Furthermore, the system is reported to remain open in multiple directions.

The Stage 3 program has four stated objectives:

1. Northern extensions and depth – drilling has reportedly extended so far to the north-east that the geological map required expansion to accommodate new results
2. Southern extensions (Mainwood) – maiden drilling targeting a contiguous high-grade gold zone in the southern corridor
3. Resource growth – aimed at materially growing the overall resource base
4. Drilling density – increasing hole density, including infill of missing sections, to support progression toward an Indicated Resource classification, which the company describes as a prerequisite for the maiden scoping study

Why Mainwood Matters: A Geologically Significant Discovery

Mainwood represents more than a simple extension of the known system. According to the announcement, the zone was originally identified through calcrete sampling, the same regional exploration technique used to discover the Challenger Gold Mine in 1995.

Notably, Greenewood itself does not have a surface calcrete expression, meaning it would likely have been missed using traditional regional sampling methods. This distinction, however, carries important implications for how the broader Gawler Craton project area might be assessed for further discoveries.

"Key Insight: The absence of a surface calcrete anomaly at Greenewood, combined with the presence of significant gold mineralisation at depth, suggests the broader project area may hold exploration potential that surface geochemistry alone would not reveal, according to the company."

Situated in a Proven Gold Belt

Greenewood and Mainwood sit within Marmota's broader Gawler Gold Project, described in the announcement as an "Arc of Gold" along the flanks of a major Y-shaped gravity anomaly in the northwest Gawler Craton. The project encompasses multiple deposits, all either wholly or majority owned by Marmota.

Greenewood and Mainwood are located approximately 35km northwest of Aurora Tank and approximately 30km northeast of the Challenger Mine. Consequently, this spatial relationship is one the company states creates economies of scope and scale across the wider project portfolio.

The Golden Moon Joint Venture (JV), under which Greenewood and Mainwood operate, sees Marmota hold a 90% interest via its wholly owned subsidiary Half Moon Pty Ltd. Ministerial Consent for the JV was granted in June 2025.

What Is an Indicated Resource, and Why Does It Matter?

Indicated Mineral Resource Explained

An Indicated Mineral Resource is a category defined under the JORC Code, which is the Australasian standard used for reporting mineral resources. It applies when sufficient drilling and sampling data exists for a geologist to make reasonable assumptions about the continuity of mineralisation. This category carries greater confidence than the lower-tier "Inferred" classification.

For investors, the distinction matters because resource estimates classified as Indicated are generally required before a company can advance to scoping or prefeasibility studies. These represent the next steps in assessing whether a project could be economically developed. Achieving Indicated Resource status at Greenewood and Mainwood is therefore positioned as a gateway toward production-planning milestones — one of the explicit objectives of the Stage 3 program.

The Scoping Study Connection

Marmota commenced a maiden scoping study for the Gawler Gold Project in November 2025. According to the announcement, the Stage 3 drilling program is directly linked to supplying the geological data required to advance that study, with infill drilling and improved hole density designed to help convert resource classifications from Inferred to Indicated.

The stated progression outlined by the company follows this sequence:

• Stage 3 drilling completion, targeted for end of August 2026
• Processing of results with a focus on Indicated Resource classification
• Strengthened inputs for the scoping study
• Advancement of economic assessment across the broader Gawler Gold portfolio

Chairman's Perspective

"I am delighted with every aspect of our Greenewood program which has been yielding some of the best gold results in the Gawler Craton since the discovery of Challenger in 1995. By the end of this month, we will have completed over 50,000m of RC drilling at Greenewood in 13 months… easily setting a new record number of metres drilled by Marmota in 1 year. That drilling is dramatically transforming the Greenewood gold discovery, noting that each stage of drilling so far has yielded outstanding gold grades," said Dr Colin Rose, Executive Chairman of Marmota.

Looking Ahead: Key Catalysts to Watch

With Stage 3 nearing completion, several near-term milestones are worth monitoring, according to the company's disclosed timeline.

Assay results from the northern extensions of Greenewood and the maiden Mainwood holes represent a significant upcoming disclosure point, given management's characterisation of prior drilling stages as having delivered "outstanding gold grades."

The Investment Case for Marmota

Marmota's exploration narrative at Greenewood is built around several factors disclosed in the announcement:

Scale of discovery: A mineralised corridor exceeding 2 kilometres in strike, largely undrilled just 13 months ago, is now the subject of a 26,000-metre, 289-hole program, indicating sustained drilling momentum.

Ownership structure: Marmota holds between 90% and 100% across its unmined Gawler Gold deposits, with the 90% interest at Golden Moon JV being the only departure from full ownership at the project level.

Proximity to a historical benchmark: The Challenger Mine, located approximately 30km from Greenewood, produced more than one million ounces of gold historically, offering a geological reference point for the surrounding region.

Portfolio synergies: Aurora Tank, Marmota's flagship deposit, has reportedly demonstrated bonanza gold grades near surface and favourable metallurgical recoveries. In addition, the proximity of Greenewood and Mainwood to Aurora Tank is cited by the company as a basis for potential economies of scale.

Near-term news flow: Assay results from Stage 3, prospective resource updates, and continuing progress on the scoping study represent disclosure points that could update the market's view of the company's asset base.

Exploration methodology insight: The recognition that traditional calcrete sampling would likely have missed the Greenewood deposit points to potential unexplored upside elsewhere within the broader Gawler Craton project area.

"Key Takeaway: With Marmota Greenewood gold drilling expanded to 26,000 metres and more than 50,000 metres of RC drilling completed in 13 months according to the company, Stage 3 is approaching completion with assay results to follow. Alongside a maiden scoping study in progress, the company faces a series of technical and corporate milestones over the coming months."

Glossary of Key Terms

• RC Drilling (Reverse Circulation): A drilling method that uses a rotating drill bit to return rock chips to the surface through the drill rods, enabling rapid sampling across wide areas. It is commonly used in shallow to moderate depth gold exploration.
• Strike Length: The horizontal distance over which a mineralised zone extends along its longest axis. A strike length exceeding 2km is considered a meaningful scale for a potential open-pit gold target.
• Calcrete Sampling: A geochemical exploration technique that analyses near-surface calcrete, a calcium carbonate-rich soil, for trace gold. It is commonly used in arid environments but did not detect the mineralisation at Greenewood.
• Indicated Resource: A JORC-compliant mineral resource category supported by sufficient data density to provide reasonable geological confidence in grade and continuity.
• Inferred Resource: A lower-confidence JORC category based on limited data, generally considered adequate for early-stage estimates but not for economic studies.
• Scoping Study: A preliminary economic assessment of a mining project's viability, typically relying on Indicated Resources, evaluating potential mining methods, processing approaches, infrastructure and high-level economics.
• Bonanza Grade: A term used to describe exceptionally high gold grades well above typical economic thresholds.
• Golden Moon JV: The joint venture under which Greenewood and Mainwood operate, with Marmota holding a 90% interest via its wholly owned subsidiary Half Moon Pty Ltd.

Could Marmota's Greenewood Discovery Be One of the Gawler Craton's Most Significant Gold Finds in Decades?

With over 50,000 metres of RC drilling completed in just 13 months, a mineralised corridor now exceeding 2 kilometres in strike, and a maiden scoping study already underway, Marmota (ASX: MEU) is approaching a series of significant milestones across its Gawler Gold Project. For investors seeking to understand the full scope of the Greenewood and Mainwood discoveries, the Aurora Tank flagship deposit, and the broader investment case, visit marmota.com.au to explore the company's latest announcements and project updates.