Mawson drills 0.4 metres at 395 g/t gold and 0.41% uranium oxide uncut at North Rompas, Finland

VANCOUVER, Feb. 28, 2013 /CNW/ - Mawson Resources Limited ("Mawson") (TSX:MAW) (Frankfurt: MXR) (PINKSHEETS: MWSNF) announces maiden drill results from the winter 2013 drilling program at the North Rompas prospect in Northern Finland. Results from 20 holes from a 29 diamond drill hole program are presented here. The best intersection returned to date is 0.4 metres at 395 g/t gold and 0.41% U₃O₈ from 41.0 metres depth in drill hole ROM0052.

Key points:

• Highlight results are 0.4 metres at 395 g/t gold and 0.41% U₃O₈ from 41.0 metres in drill hole ROM0052, the most southerly drillhole of the program (Figure 1); and 1.1 metres at 9.8 g/t gold and 0.16% U₃O₈ from 78.5 metres in drill hole ROM0053;
• Program is the first drill test of the North Rompas prospect area;
• Early days with only 120 metres of strike tested down to an average of 60 metres vertically over the 1 kilometre metre strike of known surface geochemical anomalism at North Rompas;
• Mineralization intersected at North Rompas is of similar style to that drilled 5 kilometres south at South Rompas, characterised by hydrothermal calc-silicate veining and alteration. Gold is associated with some calc-silicate veins and appears to have a nuggetty distribution. Gold is restricted to a basaltic host rock;
• New style of uranium-only mineralization discovered, as evidenced in ROM0047 where 4.2 metres for 306 ppm U₃O₈ was drilled;
• In total 51 drill holes have been completed this winter at Rompas-Rajapalot, with 29 drill holes for 2462.8 metres drilled at North Rompas; 14 holes for 752.6 metres at South Rompas and 8 holes for 761.5 metres at North Palokas.  Geochemical results for 30 drill holes awaited;
• Securing permits to test the best geological targets within the entire mineralized trend at Rompas-Rajapalot remains a priority.

Mr. Michael Hudson, President & CEO, states, "These latest drill results, which include 0.4 metres at 395 g/t gold at a shallow depth, are located more than 5 kilometres along strike from previous drilling at South Rompas where 6 metres at 617 g/t gold and 697 ppm U₃O₈ was discovered in hole ROM0011. The results further demonstrate the scale and grade that can develop within the Rompas vein-zone system. It is important to emphasize that this drilling has only tested 120 metres of strike down to an average vertical depth of 60 metres, and therefore it remains early days for the Rompas-Rajapalot property, given we now have indications of a high-grade gold system over an area approaching 10 kilometres by 10 kilometres.

A further 80% of highest priority targets on the Rompas-Rajapalot project remain within areas where the Company is not yet permitted to drill.  This includes the extensive disseminated style mineralization discovered in 2012 at Rajapalot. Although Mawson holds the mineral rights within these areas, drilling is not permitted until the Company completes an environmental program and a modified claim decision is granted by the Finnish authorities.    It remains critical to the development of the Rompas-Rajapalot project that we work in conjunction with the Finnish authorities to gain drilling access to our best exploration targets in the shortest possible timeframes."

Twenty-one drill holes are reported from North Rompas in this release, namely holes ROM0040 to ROM0060 (Figure 1). Holes ROM0040 to ROM0057 were drilled in a 120 metre long by 85 metre wide zone down to, on average, 60 metres vertical depth on 20-25 m spaced crossed sections.  Holes ROM0058 - ROM0060 were drilled on a wider cross section 60 metres to the north (ROM0059 was abandoned due to drilling complications) (Table 2). The aim of the program was to understand the distribution of gold relative to the surface trench sampling (Figure 1). The distribution of gold is similar to that seen at South Rompas and appears nuggetty in its distribution. Visible gold was noted 6 times while visible uraninite was noted 9 times in the reported holes. Eight holes remain to be reported from North Rompas and uraninite has been noted at 4 locations within these holes. Drilling at North Rompas also encountered a new style of uranium-only mineralization, as evidenced in ROM0047 where 4.2 metres for 306 ppm U₃O₈ was drilled with no evidence for gold mineralization. Although sub- economic, this additional information will help understand the controls and distribution of gold and uranium mineralization, and the association of uranium as a pathfinder for gold. The nature of high grade gold mineralization means that individual structures may have a small horizontal footprint, perhaps less than the current drill spacing, within the much larger mineralized envelope. To date, drilling has not defined the scale, orientation nor continuity of the high grade structures and true thickness is unknown, although gold mineralization is restricted to a basaltic host rock.

This drill program has provided the first opportunity to sample continuously across the mineralized "footprint" at North Rompas. Drilling has confirmed the width and scale of an 80 metre wide hydrothermal veined mineral system with a defined hanging wall and footwall. The zone is variably but consistently calc-silicate (actinolite/tremolite and calcite) veined with multiple zones up to 10-20m wide hosting up to 30% veining. Mineralized veins are texturally and compositionally similar to those that are not mineralized.

As drilling progress has been fast, winter drilling has been halted until the Company is able to review all results. In total 51 drill holes have been completed, with 29 drill holes for 2462.8 metres drilled at North Rompas; 14 holes for 752.6 metres were drilled at South Rompas to test previous high grade drill results; and 8 holes for 761.5 metres were drilled at North Palokas to test blind geophysical anomalies adjacent to the Hirvimaa prospect. Geochemical results are awaited from the remaining 30 drill holes.

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

Mawson Resources Limited is a resource acquisition and development company. The Company has distinguished itself as a leading Scandinavian exploration company with a focus on the flagship Rompas-Rajapalot gold project in Finland.

On behalf of the Board,

"Michael Hudson" 
Michael Hudson, President & CEO

Technical Background

Samples were transported by Mawson personnel from site to ALS Chemex Ltd's laboratory in Pitea, Sweden or Sevillle, Spain 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, PGM-ICP27 and ME-MS61u techniques. The QA/QC program of Mawson consists of the systematic insertion of certified standards of known gold content, with blanks at the beginning of each batch.  In addition, ALS Chemex inserts a number of blanks and standards into the analytical process.  The drilling was undertaken by ADC Arctic Drilling Company Ltd Oy of Finland who provided HQ diameter core. Drill recoveries are excellent and average close to 100% in fresh rock. After photographing and logging, core intervals averaging 0.7 metres in length were cut in half at the Geological Survey of Finland core facilities in Rovaniemi, Finland. These half core one metre samples weigh less than three kilograms. The samples were then transported by Mawson personnel to ALS Chemex Ltd's laboratory in Pitea, Sweden (or Seville, Spain) 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, PGM-ICP27 and ME-MS61u techniques. The QA/QC program of Mawson consists of the systematic insertion of certified standards of known gold content, with blanks at the beginning of each batch. In addition, ALS Chemex inserts a number of blanks and standards into the analytical process. The remaining half core is retained on site for verification and reference purposes. Test work has shown >90% of gold at Rompas to be fine and <100µm in diameter. The qualified person for Mawson's Finnish projects, Mr Michael Hudson, President & CEO for Mawson and Fellow of the Australasian Institute of Mining Metallurgy has reviewed and verified the contents of this release.

Forward Looking Statement

The statements herein that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements. These statements address future events and conditions and so involve inherent risks and uncertainties, as disclosed under the heading "Risk Factors" in the company's periodic filings with Canadian securities regulators. Actual results could differ from those currently projected. The Company does not assume the obligation to update any forward-looking statement. The TSX Exchange has not reviewed and does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Table 1:  Best Results from Maiden Drill Results North Rompas (lower cut 0.5 g/t gold or 100ppm uranium)
Drillholes ROM0040, 41, 43, 45, 46, 51, 54, 55, 56, 58, 59 and 60 did not contain results above the lower cut.

Table 2: Drillhole collar details from this news release (Finnish Grid KKJ Zone 3, located by GPS)

SOURCE Mawson Resources Ltd.

PDF available at: http://stream1.newswire.ca/media/2013/02/28/20130228_C9159_DOC_EN_24138.pdf