Mawson Extends South Palokas Mineralization with Shallow Intercept Grading 6.3 G/T Gold Over 9 Metres from 93.7 Metres

VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / January 20, 2020 / Mawson Resources Limited ("Mawson") or (the "Company") (TSX:MAW) (Frankfurt:MXR) (PINKSHEETS: MWSNF) announces assay results from the first two diamond drill holes reported from the 15,000 metre 2020 winter drill program at the Company's 100% owned Rajapalot Project in Northern Finland.

Resource expansion drilling commenced late in 2019 and after a Christmas and New Year break, restarted on January 09, 2020 with five diamond drill rigs focused at Palokas, South Palokas and Raja prospects. Seven drill holes have been completed totaling 1865 metres.

The drill program aims to infill and extend the Palokas, South Palokas and Raja resource areas (Figure 1) delivering the data for an updated resource estimate at the end of Q2-Q3 2020;

Highlights:

  • At the South Palokas prospect, drill hole PAL0204 intersected 9.0 metres @ 6.3 g/t gold from 93.7 metres (Tables 1-3, Figures 1-2):
    • PAL0204 extends mineralization at a significantly higher grade than the adjacent blocks 25 metres northeast of the inferred South Palokas resource published in December 2018;
  • At the Palokas prospect, drill hole PAL0205 intersected 4.5 metres @ 4.5 g/t gold from 101.0 metres:
  • Cobalt and multi-element assays remain pending;
  • Drilling continues with two drill rigs at each of Palokas and South Palokas prospects and one at Raja prospect.

Mr. Hudson, Chairman and CEO, states, "With both drill holes extending the Palokas and South Palokas resource areas, this is a solid start to our winter drilling. It is a testament to the increased geological understanding of the controls on Rajapalot mineralization that we are obtaining high-grade intersections at the start of the program which will further aid drill targeting the high-grade gold mineralization to depth. We welcome all to Mawson's Core Shack at AME Roundup 2020 from 22nd to 23rd January, to discuss our work programs and view representative samples of drill core, including these new results. Drill results will continue to be reported over the next four months as the planned 15,000 metre drill program continues."

A plan view of the completed drill holes and the locations of drill hole targeting for this program are shown in Figure 1. A long section including Palokas and South Palokas is shown in Figure 2, with the locations of PAL0204 and PAL0205. Tables 1-3 include all relevant collar and assay information. Assuming a predominant stratabound control, the true thickness of the mineralized interval is interpreted to be approximately 90% of the sampled thickness. Cobalt data will be provided when multi-element assays are reported by the laboratory. Intersections are reported with a lower-cut of 0.5g/t gold over 1 metre lower cut. No upper cut-off was applied.

The hosts rocks to the gold and cobalt mineralization comprise sulphides (pyrrhotite>>pyrite) with biotite-muscovite-chlorite schists at South Palokas and Mg-Fe amphibole-biotite-chlorite rocks at Palokas. Veining and fracture fill minerals include pyrrhotite, magnetite and magnetite-pyrrhotite (+/- quartz, tourmaline). Retrograde chlorite after biotite, generations of secondary muscovite ("sericite") and vein-controlled chlorite+/- tourmaline and magnetite are also present. Preliminary hand-held XRF analysis confirms the presence of associated scheelite and molybdenite, the former visible under UV light as tiny veinlets and disseminations. The minerals associated with the gold are clearly post-metamorphic, reduced, and most likely driven by hydrothermal fluids from nearby granitoid intrusions. Chlorite and fine muscovite are regarded as the lowest temperature silicate minerals with gold, structurally controlled in apparent spatial association with quartz and/or K-feldspar veins. Altered rocks enclosing the mineralized package contain locally abundant talc and tourmaline.

Downhole electro-magnetic ("DHEM") surveys on drill holes in the deep Palokas area have also been completed over the last week to target down-plunge sulphidic mineralization and mise-a-la-masse surveys to confirm cross-hole and continuity to surface of mineralization are ongoing.

Technical and Environmental Background

Five diamond drill rigs from the Arctic Drilling Company OY ("ADC") and Kati OY ("Kati") all with water recirculation and drill cuttings collection systems are used in the drill program. Core diameter is NQ2 (50.7 mm). Core recoveries are excellent and average close to 100% in fresh rock. After photographing and logging in Mawson's Rovaniemi facilities, core intervals averaging 1 metre for mineralized samples and 2 metres for barren samples are cut in half at the Geological Survey of Finland (GTK) core facilities in Rovaniemi, Finland. The remaining half core is retained for verification and reference purposes. Analytical samples are transported by commercial transport from site to the CRS Minlab Oy facility in Kempele, Finland. Samples were prepared and analyzed for gold using the PAL1000 technique which involves grinding the sample in steel pots with abrasive media in the presence of cyanide, followed by measuring the gold in solution with flame AAS equipment. The QA/QC program of Mawson consists of the systematic insertion of certified standards of known gold content, duplicate samples by quartering the core, and blanks the within interpreted mineralized rock. In addition, CRS inserts blanks and standards into the analytical process.

The qualified person for Mawson's Finnish projects, Dr. Nick Cook, President for Mawson and a Fellow of the Australasian Institute of Mining Metallurgy has reviewed and verified the contents of this release.

NI 43-101 Technical Report:

On December 19, 2018, Mawson filed an independent National Instrument 43-101 Technical Report (the "NI 43-101 Technical Report") on the Mineral Resource Estimate for the Raja and Palokas Prospects, at the 100% owned Rajapalot Project in Finland, (the "NI 43-101 Technical Report"), in support of the Company's news release dated December 17, 2018. The NI 43-101 Technical Report was authorized by Mr. Rod Webster of AMC Consultants Pty Ltd ("AMC") of Melbourne, Australia, and Dr. Kurt Simon Forrester of Arn Perspective of Surrey, England. Each of Mr. Webster and Dr. Forrester are independent "qualified persons" as defined by National Instrument 43-101. The NI 43-101 Technical Report may be found on the Company's website at www.mawsonresources.com or under the Company's profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. The gold equivalent ("AuEq") value was calculated using the following formula: AuEq g/t = Au g/t + (Co ppm/608) with assumed prices of Co $30/lb; and Au $1,250/oz. AuEq varies with Au and Co prices.

About Mawson Resources Limited (TSX:MAW, FRANKFURT:MXR, PINKSHEETS:MWSNF)

Mawson Resources Limited is an exploration and development company. Mawson has distinguished itself as a leading Nordic Arctic exploration company with a focus on the flagship Rajapalot gold project in Finland.

On behalf of the Board,
"Michael Hudson"
Michael Hudson, Chairman & CEO

Further Information
www.mawsonresources.com

1305 - 1090 West Georgia St., Vancouver, BC, V6E 3V7
Mariana Bermudez (Canada), Corporate Secretary, +1 (604) 685 9316,
info@mawsonresources.com

Forward-Looking Statement

This news release contains forward-looking statements or forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable securities laws (collectively, "forward-looking statements"). All statements herein, other than statements of historical fact, are forward-looking statements. Although Mawson believes that such statements are reasonable, it can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Forward-looking statements are typically identified by words such as: believe, expect, anticipate, intend, estimate, postulate, and similar expressions, or are those, which, by their nature, refer to future events. Mawson cautions investors that any forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future results or performance, and that actual results may differ materially from those in forward-looking statements as a result of various factors, including, but not limited to, capital and other costs varying significantly from estimates, changes in world metal markets, changes in equity markets, planned drill programs and results varying from expectations, delays in obtaining results, equipment failure, unexpected geological conditions, local community relations, dealings with non-governmental organizations, delays in operations due to permit grants, environmental and safety risks, and other risks and uncertainties disclosed under the heading "Risk Factors" in Mawson's most recent Annual Information Form filed on www.sedar.com. Any forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date on which it is made and, except as may be required by applicable securities laws, Mawson disclaims any intent or obligation to update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or results or otherwise.

Figure 1: Plan of Rajapalot showing historic drilling and high-grade intersections, outline of 43-101 resource, new drill holes reported and modelled ground TEM plates. Purple outline represents area to be drilled this program.

Figure 2: Long section showing outline of 2018 resource and significant intersections over grade-width contours showing new results from PAL0204 and PAL0205 extending mineralization beyond the current resource areas. The view is looking onto mineralized surface at Palokas and South Palokas (this is looking at 60 degrees towards 150).

Table 1: Collar Information from 2019-20 Winter drilling at the Rajapalot Project (Finnish Grid, Projection KKJ3; the "A" postscript refers to a wedge off the primary hole and the depth range of the drill hole is indicated)

HoleID

East

North

Azimuth

Dip

RL

Depth (m)

Prospect

Comment

PAL0202

3408978.0

7374402.6

229

-45

175.9

769.6

Palokas

Results Awaited

PAL0202A

3408978.0

7374402.6

229

-45

175.9

450 to 826.7

Palokas

Results Awaited

PAL0203

3408272.5

7373630.5

058

-63

173.6

420.0

South Palokas

Results Awaited

PAL0204

3408522.0

7373604.3

235

-85

173.4

149.2

South Palokas

Reported Here

PAL0205

3408586.2

7373802.7

058

-49

173.5

191.5

Palokas

Reported Here

PAL0206

3408463.5

7373917.2

063

-57

173.7

326.2

Palokas

Results Awaited

PAL0207

3408609.8

7373894.5

057

-76

173.7

200.2

Palokas

Results Awaited

PAL0208

3408540.7

7372692.8

052

-75

179.1

 

Raja

Hole in progress

PAL0209

3408471.1

7373638.3

058

-82

173.5

200.7

South Palokas

Results awaited

Table 2: First intersections from the 2019-20 Winter Drill Program. Intersections are reported with a lower cut of 0.5g/t gold over 1 metre lower cut. No upper cut-off was applied.

Prospect

hole_id

From (m)

To (m)

width (m)

Au g/t

South Palokas

PAL0204

88.2

89.1

0.9

1.7

South Palokas

PAL0204

93.7

103.0

9.3

6.3

Palokas

PAL0205

101.0

105.5

4.5

4.5

Table 3: Individual assay data from drill holes PAL0204 and PAL0205 (cobalt and multi-element assays outstanding).

Hole_ID

From (m)

To (m)

Width (m)

Au g/t

PAL0204

88.2

89.1

0.9

1.7

PAL0204

93.7

94.8

1.1

3.5

PAL0204

94.8

95.9

1.1

1.7

PAL0204

95.9

97.0

1.1

1.8

PAL0204

97.0

98.0

1.0

4.5

PAL0204

98.0

99.0

1.0

4.5

PAL0204

99.0

100.0

1.0

6.0

PAL0204

100.0

101.4

1.4

10.1

PAL0204

101.4

102.0

0.6

21.9

PAL0204

102.0

103.0

1.0

6.9

PAL0205

101.0

102.0

1.0

4.7

PAL0205

102.0

103.0

1.0

8.1

PAL0205

103.0

104.0

1.0

6.6

PAL0205

104.0

105.5

1.5

1.0

SOURCE: Mawson Resources Limited

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