Mawson Resources Ltd. is excited about its prospects with the Rompas Gold Uranium Project in Finland. So much so, that Mawson has reorganized its other assets to focus solely on Rompas. It has moved its gold and copper projects in Peru into a wholly-owned subsidiary of Mawson, to be named Darwin Resources Corp. which will be a new company on the Toronto Venture Exchange. Mawson’s non-core uranium assets were sold to Tournigan through a transaction involving Areva, one of Mawson’s major shareholders. Michael Hudson, President and CEO, Mawson Resources Ltd., explains the restructuring is so Rompas doesn’t overshadow the other projects. Rompas has bonanza grade gold and uranium mineralization discovered at surface with samples selected for assay showing results with values up to 33,200ppm gold and 56.6% uranium oxide have been identified.
Michael Hudson, President and CEO of Mawson Resources
Mawson Resources Ltd. is a gold and uranium exploration company. According to Michael Hudson, President and CEO, their flagship project in Finland, Rompas, is “one of the world’s most exciting gold discoveries, albeit at a very early stage.”
Before getting into Rompas, Mr. Hudson explains Mawson’s Swedish and Finnish uranium projects and its gold and copper projects in Peru.
Darwin Resources Corp.
Mr. Hudson explains that Mawson’s 5 copper and gold projects in Peru are being split out into a separate company. “These projects are in the new company, Darwin Resources Corp, that we will spin out and list on the Toronto Venture Exchange.” Mr. Hudson states that for every 3 shares of Mawson, shareholders will receive 1 share of Darwin Resources Corp.
“We have great management in Darwin,” continues Mr. Hudson. “Dr. Graham Carman will run the company as CEO and President. He has a vast geological experience and has been running junior exploration companies for the last 10 years. Darwin will provide a complete focus to the Peruvian projects, it will separately funded and not overshadowed by one project like Rompas. Additionally with some large supportive shareholders the asset base of Darwin is likely to change in the short term as the company rapidly grows.”
Non-Core Uranium Assets in Scandinavia
In addition to Rompas, which is a gold project with a uranium credit, Mawson has a number of legacy uranium resource projects that they’ve been working on for the last 5 years. In its efforts to focus on Rompas, Mawson has sold these uranium assets to Tournigan Energy. Mr. Hudson mentions that Tournigan has a key project in Slovakia with over 20 million pounds that will one of the next uranium projects to go into development.
“It’s quite a complex transaction,” explains Mr. Hudson. “Areva, who owns 10% of our stock, has taken a part of Tournigan by taking a placement and formed a technical alliance with them. Areva will have 10% and Mawson will have 20% of Tournigan. Tournigan will be renamed European Uranium Resources and roll back on a 5:1 basis. It will be the ‘go to’ uranium company of Europe, in the back yard of the highest per capita consumers of uranium in the world with a fantastic major shareholder in Areva, the world’s largest nuclear company.”
“It’s a win-win for Tournigan, Areva and Mawson, and all shareholders will benefit,” summarizes Mr. Hudson. “We’ve been able to gain value out of our non-core assets, which will allow us to focus on Rompas. It’s corporate engineering, but it’s all about people and focus and commitment, and that’s really what we’ve done.”
Rompas Gold Uranium Project
Turning the discussion to Rompas, Mr. Hudson mentions they had 20 people on the property over the past year with picks and shovels due to permit limitations on exploration methods. “Technically, we have proved the project is very real in 2 dimensions over the last 2 years. People initially didn’t believe the grades and numbers that were coming out of the project. This year we’ve found the best grades on the project so far. Confirmed and found hundreds of more discoveries on the surface, demonstrated continuity and it’s ready for drilling.”
Rompas has bonanza grade gold and uranium mineralization discovered at surface over an area 6km in strike and 200m in width. Samples selected for assay produced results including values up to 33,200ppm gold and 56.6% uranium oxide.
It’s proving to be a tremendous discovery opportunity for Mawson. “The more we look, the more we find,” exclaims Mr. Hudson.
Gold from Rompas
Massive uraninite vein, Rompas
Permitting
Mr. Hudson explains that the granting of claims in Finland is currently slow. “We need to drill and that’s based on permitting,” he says. “The permits were granted on October 31 2012, but they’re not in legal force. They’re in appeal window and the appeal window ends in March.”
Mawson is working with the Finnish authorities to facilitate this process in the shortest possible time. “Terrible stuff in terms of this waiting,” professed Mr. Hudson. He was optimistic though stating, “It will not be a very short drill program. It will be a long drill program. It’s a huge area.” Mawson hopes to be drilling on the property soon.
Mr. Hudson stresses that Mawson is no different from any other mining company operating in Finland. “It’s the nature of how things are done. But authorities are addressing it. There’s a new mining law that came in and they’ve been focusing on that for the last year. But we just want to stress that we’re no different from anyone else.”
On an exciting note the Company has just been able to form an agreement with a local landholder which will see Mawson drilling at Rompas from March 2012. This first diamond drill program is eagerly awaited by all.
Bonanza Grade Gold and Uranium Mineralization
There’s a lot of interest from geologists in Rompas. “You don’t typically see grades of gold and uranium in the world like this. It is unique,” admits Mr. Hudson. “We’ve had a lot of smart people on the property wanting to get on the ground and see what this could be. The initial indications are extremely exciting.”
Gold grains within uraninite and partly weather carbonate from Rompas (source: Areva)
Investors
Mawson will put $1 million into getting Darwin started, leaving them with $8.5 million. Mr. Hudson also states, “We’re looking at raising $3.5 million into Darwin itself, which will be spun out as a separate company by April.”
According to Mr. Hudson, Mawson’s burn rate is $2.5 million a year for normal exploration. “So, we’re well financed today in terms of a burn rate. But we don’t want to do normal exploration. We want to drill and drill alot.”
With about 51.9 million shares out, Mr. Hudson says they’re “relatively tight for an 8-year old company.” Avoiding the sports metaphors, Mr. Hudson turns to poker when he says, “Our major shareholder, Sentient Group, has doubled down. They’ve gone from 10% to 20% holdings in the last 6 months.” The poker metaphor though doesn’t mean that investing in Mawson is a gamble.
In addition to Sentient’s 20% ownership, insiders own 10% of the stock, Areva owns 10% and Pinetree Capital owns 10%. “So, 50% of the company is really tightly held,” comments Mr. Hudson.
http://www.mawsonresources.com