Uranium, titanium and gold explorer Marmota Limited will hit the fast lane with its flagship Gawler gold project in South Australia, after a trio of game-changing developments persuaded the company to put its foot on the gas at the project’s near-surface bonanza-grade gold resource.

Management says whilst its uranium and titanium projects will continue to advance, for now however, it will shift its focus sharply to gold at Gawler where it says it has the quickest opportunity to get into cashflow at a time of record gold prices.

Key to this focus will be the company’s Aurora Tank gold prospect, part of a vast 10,000 square kilometre gold hub held by Marmota in South Australia’s revered Gawler Craton.

The company’s recent metallurgical results at Aurora Tank - unveiled two weeks ago - delivered exceptional 93 per cent gold recoveries using low-cost column leach testing, which confirmed the project’s economic potential and has unlocked a quick route to its all-important first cashflows.

‘The results of the metallurgical test work have been very positive for the project.’

Marmota Limited chairman Dr Colin Rose

The metallurgical program was designed and managed by US-based Kappes Cassiday and Associates with Australian Minmet Metallurgical Laboratories performing the test work, including 31 composites from 197 metres of drill core.

Gold started leaching fast, with over 55 per cent extracted in just 10 days. After 59 days, tests on a moderately weathered sample hit the impressive 93 per cent recovery point using an 8mm crush.

Marmota Limited chairman Dr Colin Rose said: ”It has been a long wait for the results of the metallurgical test work but the outcomes have been very positive for the project.”

Exploration drilling at Aurora Tank has already picked up exceptional bonanza grades near surface.

Marmota lit up the gold boards in October with a string of high-grade hits at Gawler including a standout 8 metres grading 20 grams per tonne (g/t) and a 4m at a sizzling 36g/t from just 32m below surface.

Backing up the headline fire assay results were a suite of other impressive intercepts including 8m running at 8.9g/t, 4m at 13.3g/t, 4m at 8.2g/t and 4m grading 5.3g/t gold.

However, the real fireworks came when the company broke those 4m composites down into 1m intervals, with grades rocketing to as high as 50g/t, underscoring the ultra-nuggety nature of the mineralisation.

When Marmota put the samples through bulk leach extractable gold (BLEG) testing — designed to reveal gold masked by the nugget effect, the numbers surged even further. The 1m assay previously showing 50g/t gold suddenly jumped to an eye-watering 87g/t gold.

Additional BLEG tests on other 1m composites confirmed the trend, with grades averaging 87g/t and peaking at a jaw-dropping 94g/t gold.

The broader Gawler Gold project, which hosts Aurora Tank is no one-trick pony either. The hub is also home to multiple gold prospects including Campfire Bore, Golf Bore, Greenewood, Mainwood, Typhoon and Monsoon, with Marmota holding 90–100 per cent ownership across the board.

However, Aurora Tank is the jewel in the crown – boasting six zones of bonanza-grade gold mineralisation, much of it within easy reach of an open-pit mine plan.

Notably, the company says the push to accelerate Gawler does not come at the expense of its other headline-grabbing projects.

Earlier this year, Marmota announced the discovery of titanium-rich heavy mineral sands at Muckanippie, which is delivering uber-high grades right from surface. Its Junction Dam uranium play – with a defined JORC resource – strategically surrounds Boss Energy’s operating Honeymoon mine, which is just one of three uranium producers in Australia.

The Board’s decision to reprioritise the Gawler program effective immediately is expected to deliver a steady stream of gold news as drilling, permitting and development studies ramp up.

With gold trading at record highs, the timing could hardly be better for Marmota to strike while the metal is hot. Add in bonanza grades, low strip ratios and the newly validated recoveries from Aurora Tank and the economic case to fast-track its gold project appears unambiguous.

Punters are likely to be watching closely as Marmota moves to unlock the true scale of its multi-deposit gold hub, with Aurora Tank now shaping up as a potential launchpad into production – and cashflow.

Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact: mattbirney@bullsnbears.com.au