Mawson Resources Ltd (TSX: MAW) Drilling in Finland –Exciting Time for Mawson
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By Dr. Allen Alper, PhD Economic Geology and Petrology, Columbia University, NYC
on 4/7/2016
Mawson Resources Ltd (TSX: MAW) President and CEO, Michael Hudson, recently announced drill results, which he said, “literally tripled the footprint and it was the best result, to date, from our winter drilling program at Palokas in northern Finland. We drilled 8.4 metres @ 4.2 g/t gold from 206.0 metres including 3.4 metres @ 9.5 g/t gold from 211 metres. Importantly we are pleased to see higher grades develop 350 metres from Palokas and confirmation we are dealing with of a large, gold-bearing hydrothermal system with multiple alteration styles that affect numerous intervals in a thick stratigraphic package. It is just a very exciting time and that is what exploration is all about. Drilling continues at site until mid-April.”
Rompas Panned Gold
Michael Hudson, President and CEO of Mawson Resources (TSX: MAW), provided readers with new and exciting information on his company at the recently held PDAC convention.
In terms of the market and where it stands currently, Hudson said, “I suppose collectively the exploration industry has had our heads beaten against the wall for so long that we really don’t want to call it, but it certainly seems better at the moment and share prices seem to be recovering. The producers are now raising and spending exploration money, so we are going in the right direction.”
When asked about the progress at Mawson, Hudson was quick to offer details. He said, “What are we doing at Mawson? We are drilling and spending money that we raised in December and deeper drilling for the first time on our pretty exciting gold property in northern Finland. Over the last 2 years we have found high grades of gold over a large surface area. This is the first year that we have had the opportunity to give it a good shot at drilling because of the slowness of the permitting that we have gone through.”
The drilling program has been going on for a few months. Hudson said, “Over autumn last year we drilled a ten to twenty meter wide zone at surface that is between two and seven grams gold. So these are good grades and initial test-work shows they metallurgically behave well. We are conducting a three to four thousand meter drill program. It is in the initial phase beyond the preliminary drilling down to 100 meters completed last year.”
Recently, the company announced some new results to the market. Said Hudson, “Yesterday, we announced some results that literally tripled the footprint and it was the best result to date from the winter drill program. We drilled 8.4 metres @ 4.2 g/t gold from 206.0 metres including 3.4 metres @ 9.5 g/t gold from 211 metres. More importantly the new result was in different rocks on a different horizon so the system is expanding in scale and size. It is just a very exciting time and that is what exploration is all about.”
Geologically Hudson is optimistic about what they have found during their surveys and drilling. He said, “We are in a series of rocks that host Agnico Eagle’s seven million ounce Kittila system in Northern Finland. It the same age hydrothermal gold system we see at Palokas. The important thing is we know the system holds high grades given we have found hundreds of outcrops and boulders that are high grade. We were heading toward a first resource, but at this stage I don’t think we will be able to put the resource together this spring, due to the slowness of drilling and structural complexity and multiple horizons that are developing. We will need to get to that next winter.”
Rompas Gold Outcrop Massive Au
The company has quite a large land package to work in Finland and is happy with the jurisdiction. Hudson said, “We have high grade gold discoveries over 100 square kilometers. Finland is a great jurisdiction with roads, power and workforce which is important for the future. The metallurgy looks standard. It’s a challenge to find gold in good jurisdictions. Mawson stands out for that reason. Finland is a mining country and has been one for many, many years. Mining and forestry have been the backbone of industry, in the area we are working in, in Lapland. Finland is a mining country and always ranks well in the Fraser Institute rankings. But permitting is very slow, which is part of being in a first world jurisdiction. In a European sense it is very remote. There are no houses within 5 kilometres of the Palokas area.”
Financially, the company is on solid ground. Said Hudson, “We have started this year with six million ($CDN) in the bank and we will spend two million this winter, so by spring we will have four million dollars. We drill during the summer with hand portable rigs. It is a huge property over 100 sq. km. Drilling is revealing new information about the project each day. We will assess drill results and then decide our summer programs in detail. The market will help us determine what we will spend.”
Hudson believes their success goes back to his team. He said, “Exploration is all about people. Good teams make things work and bad teams can destroy things. We are a bunch of very solid technical people who have made many discoveries,. I’m a geologist with too many years of experience to my liking. It is what turns my crank. I have sixteen years of experience in the Nordic countries. To be successful in exploration these days, one needs a deep understanding at all levels of a jurisdiction.”
With this process, the company has established some longevity in a challenging market. Said Hudson, “We have 90 million shares out and the company has been around for 12 years. We will end spring with 4 million dollars in the bank and hopefully more exciting discoveries.”
http://www.mawsonresources.com
Mariana Bermudez - Corporate Secretary
1305 - 1090 West Georgia Street
Vancouver, BC V6E 3V7 Canada
Tel: +1 (604) 699 0202
Fax: +1 (604) 683 1585
Email: mbermudez@chasemgt.com
or
info@mawsonresources.com
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