Mawson Mobilizes Four Rigs and Commences 15 Km Drill Program IN Finland
1305 – 1090 West Georgia Street, Vancouver, BC, V6E 3V7
Phone: +1 604 685 9316 / Fax: +1 604 683 1585
NEWS RELEASE January 30, 2018
MAWSON MOBILIZES FOUR RIGS AND COMMENCES 15 KM DRILL PROGRAM IN FINLAND
Vancouver, Canada – Mawson Resources Limited (“Ma wson” or “the Company”) (TSX:MAW; Frankfurt:MXR;
PINKSHEETS: MWSNF) is pleased to announce the commencement of the 2018 winter diamond drilling program with the
arrival of four rigs on site in northern Finland. A 15,000 metre drill program is pla nned at the Rajapalot gold project, while a
900-hole base-of-till drill (“BOT”) program is now underway at the nearby Rompas gold project (Figure 1).
Key Points:
Three diamond drill rigs have been mobilized to the Raja palot project to commence a 15,000 metre winter diamond
drill program;
Approximately half of the diamond drilling program is planned to systematically grid drill to increase the size of
known gold prospects, with an aim to define a maiden resource at Rajapalot. The immediate surrounds of the
Palokas, South Palokas and Raja prospects are the initial targets for grid diamond drilling (Figure 1). At Palokas,
drilling results from the 2017 winter program include 6.8 metres @ 14.7 g/t gold from 34.4 metres in drill hole
PAL0027, while at Raja 8.8 metres @ 7.5 g/t gold from 82.2 metres was intersected in drill hole PAL0075;
The second half of the diamond drilling program will test mo re than a dozen semi-regional structural-stratigraphic
targets defined within Mawson’s extensive geophysical, ge ochemical and geological datasets across the 12 square
kilometre Rajapalot prospect area;
A base-of-till (“BOT”) drill rig has commenced a 900-sha llow hole program within the Rompas project area. BOT
drilling will target prospective lithologies with potential to host disseminated gold mineralization along a 20 kilometre
strike which includes the East Rompas prospect;
Eight diamond drill holes totalling 1,474 metres have been co mpleted at East Rompas. Assay results from the first 5
holes show low tenor gold anomalism and locally nuggety visible gold in drill core.
Mr. Michael Hudson, CEO, states: “Following the success of our diamond drilling at Rajapalot last winter, our Finnish team is
excited to start the 2018 drill season with a large program testing both new and exis ting gold targets. We will be drilling
more than a dozen new targets defined within our extensive ge ophysical, geochemical and geological datasets, while also
expanding multiple known prospects where thick, high-grade gold intersections have already been discovered.”
Three diamond drill rigs are now active at Rajapalot. An additi onal two rigs will be mobilized from mid-March to allow the
15,000 metre target to be achieved before winter conditions en d in late April. Drilling during 2017 at Rajapalot tested only a
small fraction (<5%) of the 27 kilometre strike of the interpre ted host sequence, successfully confirming the presence of a
large gold-mineralized hydrothermal system across a 4.5 square kilometre area. Rajapalot demonstrates an exceptional rate
of drill success through thin glacial soil cover, with 42% of ho les (58 out of 137 holes) discovering significant gold, greater
than 1 g/t-m, and 28% recording greater than 5 g/t-m inters ections. The total average drill depth on the project today
remains shallow at 109 metres.
Nine hundred BOT drill holes, drilled over 19 traverses totalling 23 line kilometres, will map the full north-south extent of t he
Rompas project (Figure 1). The program will test for dissemin ated gold targets similar to the high-grade Rajapalot style.
These targets will then be ranked and diamond drilled as appropriate.
Diamond drilling of 8 holes for 1,474 metres to test the extent of high grade outcrops at East Rompas (see news releases Oct
23 2017 and Jan 08 2018) has been completed (Table 1). Assay results from the first 5 drill holes have been received with
only low level anomalous gold detected to date. Conductive ta rgets drilled were structurally-co ntrolled, sulphidic bituminous
rocks. An occurrence of visible gold in drill core (ROM0089 @ 31.2 metres; see Figure 2) demonstrated the nuggety nature of
the East Rompas gold mineralization. It is likely that the high-g rade gold in surface samples discovered at East Rompas are
the deformed eastern extension of the Rompas calcsilicate-hosted vein system. Hydrothermal gold transport of the same age
as Rajapalot gold deposition (approx. 1.8 Ga) is evident, but the structural-stratigraphic traps required for larger grade-width
intersections were not intersected. Due to a lack of continui ty beneath high grade outcrops, prospectivity of the immediate
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surrounds of the prospect are reduced and the immediate surrounds of the East Rompas prospect are considered adequately
tested. However, the prospectivity of the 20 kilometres of strike remains high and is the target of the current 900-hole BOT
drill program.
Technical Background
The qualified person for Mawson's Finnish projects, Dr. Nick C ook, President for Mawson and Fellow of the Australasian Institute of Mining
Metallurgy has reviewed and verified the contents of this release.
About Mawson Resources Limited (TSX:MAW, FRANKFURT:MXR, PINKSHEETS:MWSNF)
Mawson Resources Limited is an exploration and development company. Mawson ha s distinguished itself as a leading Nordic Arctic
exploration company with a focus on the flagship Rompas and Rajapalot gold projects in Finland.
Drill core for the East Rompas prospect was drilled by MK Core Drilling of Ranua, Finland and transported to Mawson’s facility in Rovaneimi.
Drilling at Rajapalot will be commenced with two drill rigs from Arctic Drilling Company (ADC) and the third from MK Core Drilling. The core
is oriented and marked for RQD and logged by Mawson staff. Half of the drill core is diamond sawn by GTK in Rovaniemi and bagge d for
assay. The same half of the drill core is consistently sampled to prevent any sampling bias.
Analytical samples were transported by Mawson personnel or commerc ial transport from site to the CRS Minlab Oy facility in Kemp ele,
Finland. Samples were prepared at Kempele and analyzed for gold at Raahe using the PAL1000 technique which involves grinding th e
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, and blanks withi n
interpreted mineralized rock. In addition, CRS inserts blanks and standards into the analytical process.
The true thickness of mineralized intervals at Palokas is interp reted to be approximately 90% of the sampled thickness. The tru e thickness
of the mineralized intervals at Raja and So uth Rajapalot, will require additional dril ling to determine due to the complicated structural
controls.
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,
Forward-Looking Statement
This news release contains forward-looking statements or forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable securitie s 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, expe ct, anticipate, intend, estimate, postulate, and similar expressions, or are those, w hich, by their nature, refer to
future events. Mawson cautions investors that any forward-lookin g statements are not guarantees of future results or performanc e, and that actual results
may differ materially from those in forward-looking statements as a result of various factors, including, but not limited to, c apital and othe r costs varying
significantly from estimates, changes in world metal markets, changes in equity markets, planned drill programs and results var ying from expectations,
delays in obtaining results, equipment failure, unexpected geol ogical 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 th e heading "Risk Factors" in
Mawson's most recent Annual Information Form filed on www.sedar.c om. Any forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date o n which it is made
and, except as may be required by applicable securities laws, Mawson disclaims any intent or obligation to update any forward-l ooking statement, whether
as a result of new information, future events or results or otherwise.
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Figure 1: Location of diamond and base-of-till drill prospects at the Rompas-Rajapalot Project in Finland
Figure 2: Visible gold interested at 31.2 metres in ROM0089 at the East Rompas prospect. Only anomalous gold was returned in assay.
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Table 1: Collar Information from 2017-18 drilling program at East Rompas
HoleID East North Azimuth Dip RL Depth
ROM0085 3400855 7376642 035 -56 168.2 127.5
ROM0086 3400905 7376533 100 -55 173.8 251.1
ROM0087 3400844 7376601 035 -54 164.8 170.2
ROM0088 3400831 7376573 115 -56 166.6 170.2
ROM0089 3400867 7376228 090 -56 188.8 103.8
ROM0090 3400821 7376221 090 -56 186.6 158.5
ROM0091 3400856 7376188 090 -55 189.6 98.4
ROM0092 3400823 7376732 053 -55 163.0 114.8
ROM0093 3400757 7376689 053 -55 163.2 179.2
ROM0094 3400816 7376881 060 -55 154.2 100.6