Gold exploration firm strikes gold as tree-sampling technology yields results

South Australian drilling company Marmota Limited has identified new gold deposits in Goshawk territory and outside the discovery zone based on the biogeochemical testing of tree leaves for minerals.

Recent results surrounding a December assay test at the Aurora Tank in the far north of South Australia has yielded levels of high-grade gold intersections – 88 grams per tonne of gold in existing areas. One gram of gold per tonne is considered to be commercial.

Marmota Limited has also identified new areas of prospective drilling due to R&D testing and the biogeochemical testing of leaves – also known as tree leaf testing.

Tree leaf testing, created by Australia’s science agency the CSIRO, analyses leaf and foliage samples for high levels of minerals like Antimony and Bismuth to detect gold. The test indicates that levels of gold particles in tree samples can sit on top of gold deposits.

Marmota collected over 329 tree samples over an elliptical zone of two kilometres at the Aurora Tank, which is 50km from the historical Challenger Gold Mine, which has a production history of one million ounces of gold.

The sample results revealed a link between elevated levels of gold particles in tree samples.

Dr Colin Rose explained that foliage in South Australia’s arid landscapes – like the Aurora Tank –retain samplings of these minerals because of the tree’s root system. “Gold particles and other minerals are in the water and become mobilised. They end up being sucked through the through the roots and into the tree leaves. You collect a sample of leaves, pulverise them in a machine, and then test them for over 66 elements. We then measure them for gold,” he explained.