Mawson Exploring 9 High Grade Boulder Fields Over 12 Sq. Km In Finland
160 boulders with gold grades ranging from 0.1 g/t gold to 3,870 g/t gold, with an average of 74.9 g/t gold and median of 0.71 g/t gold
Vancouver, Canada – Mawson Resources Limited (“Mawson”) or (the “Company”) (TSX: MAW) (Frankfurt: MXR) (PINKSHEETS: MWSNF) announces the result of a systematic review of nine prospect areas at the 100% owned Rajapalot gold project in Finland. These prospect areas were discovered by the Mawson team as gold-bearing boulder fields, from which 160 gold mineralized boulders have now been identified within a 12 square kilometre area. The potential bedrock source of only three of the nine boulder fields have been located by drilling, with the remaining six boulder trains now planned for follow up exploration.
Key Points:
A total of 160 boulders and outcrops with >0.1 g/t gold have been discovered within a 4 kilometre by 3 kilometre area at Rajapalot. Gold grades range from 0.1 g/t gold to 3,870 g/t gold, with an average of 74.9 g/t gold and median of 0.71 g/t gold. Samples from boulders are grab samples, which are selective by nature and are unlikely to represent average grades on the property;
The sources of six of nine gold bearing boulder fields remain to be discovered;
The sources of three have been discovered by drilling over the last 18 months, these being:
Palokas (including 10.0 metres @ 11.6 g/t gold from 110.2 metres, Mawson Release Feb 21, 2017)
Raja (including 27.0 metres @ 3.3 g/t gold from 64.0 metres, Mawson Release May 02, 2017),
South Palokas (including 8.4 metres @ 4.2 g/t gold from 206.0 metres, Mawson Release March 07, 2016)
Glacial transport direction, combined with geological features and base of till drill results indicate only a short travel distance for all mineralized boulders (<250 m). Rock outcrops related to the boulders have been discovered in five of the boulder fields.
Discoveries of additional Palokas-style amphibole-tourmaline-chlorite-pyrrhotite boulders over the last month (assays pending for 4 mineralized boulders) at Hirvimaa have defined immediate drill targets in areas that can be drilled year-round;
Winter drilling (2017-18) will focus on delineation of additional gold mineralization in prospects already identified by drilling, and follow-up of boulder fields where the primary source of mineralization remains to be discovered.
Mr Hudson, Chairman & CEO states, "With more than 99% of the gold prospective area at Rajapalot covered with a thin layer of glacial soil, tracing the source of boulders remains a key to further discoveries. The frequency of boulder discovery at Rajapalot over at least 12 sq km is impressive. Our field teams are regularly making new finds, including the exciting Palokas-style mineralized boulders at Hirvimaa, that present immediate drill targets. The bedrock source of only three of nine boulder fields are known to date, with all nine still providing excellent discovery opportunities.
Further discoveries at Rajapalot will come through rigorous exploration practices and a commitment to drilling. Given the high success rate of drilling during the last winter program where 28% of drill holes (39 out of a total of 137) recorded greater than 5 g/t-m intersections, we are looking forward to our upcoming programs.”
A summary of sample statistics is shown in Table 1 and description of all boulder fields is shown in Table 2. Samples from boulders are grab samples, which are selective by nature and are unlikely to represent average grades on the property. A lower cut-off for reporting of the boulders is 0.1 g/t Au, and the range, mean and median are all reported to give a more accurate representation of sample variation.
Compilation and re-examination of all the boulder information was conducted for comparison of the drill results of the 2016-17 winter drilling and base of till (BOT) results with previously held data. The geochemistry, mineral assemblages and the shape and size of all boulders was reviewed. Company geologists have determined that the grade distribution of boulders and their spacial association with outcrops and drill results indicate that the shallowly buried sources are close to the northwestern edges of the defined boulder fields.
The source of three boulder fields identified in Figure 1 (Palokas, South Palokas and Raja) have been located. The source of the largest boulder field, Rumajärvi, remains elusive, but as the boulders contain highly anomalous and disseminated gold with pyrrhotite, this remains a high-priority target for 2017-18 winter drill program. Geophysical studies, including distinguishing magnetic pyrrhotite-bearing metasediments from magnetic volcanic rocks is allowing more effective targeting of boulder sources.
Technical Background
The qualified person for Mawson's Finnish projects, Dr. Nick Cook, President for Mawson and Fellow of the Australasian Institute of Mining Metallurgy has reviewed and verified the contents of this release.
Boulder samples were assayed between 2012-2015 and transported by Mawson personnel from site to ALS Chemex Ltd's laboratory in Pitea, Sweden where the samples were prepared and sent to ALS Chemex Ltd's laboratory in Vancouver, Canada to be analyzed by Au-ICP21, GRA-21, ME-MS41u and ME-MS61u techniques. The QA/QC program of Mawson consisted of the systematic insertion of certified standards of known gold content, with blanks at the beginning of each batch. In addition, ALS Chemex inserted a number of blanks and standards into the analytical process.
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 Rompas and Rajapalot gold projects in Finland.
On behalf of the Board,
"Michael Hudson"
Michael Hudson, Chairman & CEO
