Marmota announced that Marmota's first ever reconnaissance program for rare earth elements (REE) has yielded a new REE discovery at Muckanippie: Multiple holes intersected Total Rare Earth Oxides (TREO) over 1000 ppm; The intersections are remarkably close to surface, featuring significant TREO grades over 1000 ppm located as close as 12m from surface; Rare earths are hosted in ionic clays close to surface . and appear to be similar to published descriptions of the major Chinese clay-hosted REE deposits. China currently produces more than 90% of the world's high-value rare earth magnet supply.

Highlights include results such as: 16m at 1258 ppm TREO from 12m downhole (Hole WI116) (incl 4m at 1528 ppm), 16m at 1138 ppm TREO from 12m downhole (Hole WI068) (incl 4m at 1414 ppm), 12m at 1086 ppm TREO from 12m downhole (Hole WI037) (incl 4m at 1440 ppm), 12m at 1151 ppm TREO from 20m downhole (Hole WI038) (incl 4m at 1755 ppm), 8m at 1255 ppm TREO from 20m downhole (Hole WI039) (incl 4m at 1923 ppm; High-grade TREOs are open in multiple directions, particularly to the west; This is the first of 4 highly prospective REE target areas that Marmota has identified within its tenements. Location and Extent: Marmota drilled 121 reconnaissance holes, mostly to a depth of 39m, testing for REE on the Muckanippie and Bradman tenements; Highly elevated REE mineralisation hosted in clays close to surface were found in multiple locations across the tenements. Highly prospective: The significant rare earth intersections are remarkably close to surface, just 12m from surface and hosted in clays.

This means that exploration costs are low, that large areas of ground can be tested quickly, and any deposits defined would potentially have low mining costs; Marmota is by far the largest tenure holder in the Northern Gawler Craton; This is the first of 4 prospective targets to be drill tested by Marmota. Advantages of ionic clay hosted REE: China dominates global REE mining and processing: most of its supply comes from ionic clay-hosted deposits; Low-cost rapid exploration; Low operating costs (soft material, no blasting required, minimal stripping); Relatively simple processing plant compared to hard rock deposits (no crushing or milling); Non-radioactive tailings. Broader Implications: The combination of rare earth mineral bearing Archaean basement and overlying zones of intensely weathered basement provides large areas which are geologically highly prospective for potentially economic regolithic clay-hosted ionic REE deposits; Primary REE mineralisation appears to have been released during basement weathering, transported in solution and redeposited in large flat-lying layers within the clay-rich intensely weathered basement.

These large, close to surface and regolith-hosted deposits are expected to be more economically viable than finding and developing primary mineralisation developed in basement; REE mineralisation is largely contained in the saprolite regolith zone which is composed of intensely weathered, clay-rich basement; Marmota is fortunate to hold tenure for the majority of the large area of the Mulgathing Complex metamorphic rocks surrounding the new discoveries; The close-to-surface regolith-hosted deposits offer great potential, and together with the results of others, show the presence of an emerging and large new REE province in which Marmota is ideally placed.