News

Vancouver, Canada — Mawson Gold Limited (“Mawson” or the “Company”) (TSXV: MAW) (Frankfurt: MXR) (PINKSHEETS: MWSNF) announces Southern Cross Gold Ltd. (“Southern Cross Gold” or “SXG”) has released results from two diamond drill holes SDDSC122 and SDDSC122W1 from the Rising Sun prospect at the 100%-owned Sunday Creek Project in Victoria, Australia (Figure 4).   

Michael Hudson, Mawson Interim CEO and Executive Chairman, states: “Two more holes and once again Sunday Creek delivers a big 150 m step out between very high-grade intersections. This time with drill hole SDDSC122W1 successfully intersecting two of the most western mineralised vein sets at Rising Sun, including 2.4 m @ 9.7 g/t AuEq and 7.0 m @ 20.0 g/t AuEq, 120 m to 150 m down-dip below previously reported SDDSC082 (1.7 m @ 249.2 g/t AuEq (230.6 g/t Au, 9.9% Sb) from 413.6 m and 1.6 m @ 500.5 g/t AuEq (500.3 g/t Au, 0.1% Sb) from 417.4 m.

“Critically, with China's recently announced new export limits for antimony products, these new holes also demonstrate the tenor of antimony mineralisation on the Sunday Creek project with both holes assaying intervals > 5% Sb (up to 21.4% Sb). The January 2024 exploration target, that already reported a significant antimony inventory (Table 1), within only one third to one half of the strike of the main drill area, shows the potentially critical role Sunday Creek is set to play in the western world’s future antimony supply chain. A video discussing these implications can be viewed here.

“With five rigs drilling at site, we look forward to more than doubling the metres drilled at Sunday Creek via the 60 km of drilling planned over the next year.”

Drill Hole Discussion

Two drill holes (SDDSC122 and 122W1) are reported from the Rising Sun prospect (Figure 1 and 2). Both holes were designed to drill west to east at Rising Sun to extend the down dip extent of the NW-SE oriented veins sets (“rungs”), within and parallel to the dyke/breccia host, at a high angle to mineralised vein sets

SDDSC122 intercepted two vein sets, including 1.0 m @ 10.1 g/t AuEq (7.4 g/t Au, 1.4% Sb) from 612.5 m and a new ‘linking’ structure (0.1 m @ 356.4 g/t AuEq (356.0 g/t Au, 0.2% Sb) from 645.4 m), interpreted due its flatter orientation and high angle to the dominant orientation of mineralised vein sets (steeply dipping NW-SE).  The hole then deviated too far north of plan away from the hanging wall “rails” of the system and was redrilled as SDDSC122W1, a wedge hole from 537 m downhole. 

Highlights from SDDSC122 include:

• 1.0 m @ 10.1 g/t AuEq (7.4 g/t Au, 1.4% Sb) from 612.5 m, including:
  • 0.1 m @ 70.0 g/t AuEq (48.6 g/t Au, 11.4% Sb) from 612.5 m
• 4.4 m @ 1.4 g/t AuEq (1.1 g/t Au, 0.2% Sb) from 626.4 m
• 0.1 m @ 356.4 g/t AuEq (356.0 g/t Au, 0.2% Sb) from 645.4 m

SDDSC122W1 successfully intersected two of the most western mineralised vein sets at Rising Sun, including 2.4 m @ 9.7 g/t AuEq (8.0 g/t Au, 0.9% Sb) from 588.2 m and  7.0 m @ 20.0 g/t AuEq (16.7 g/t Au, 1.7% Sb) from 627.0 m. These intersections are located 120 m to 150 m down-dip below previously reported SDDSC082 (1.7 m @ 249.2 g/t AuEq (230.6 g/t Au, 9.9% Sb) from 413.6 m and 1.6 m @ 500.5 g/t AuEq (500.3 g/t Au, 0.1% Sb) from 417.4 m (Figure 2).

Highlights from SDDSC122W1 include:

• 2.4 m @ 9.7 g/t AuEq (8.0 g/t Au, 0.9% Sb) from 588.2 m, including:
  • 0.2 m @ 119.8 g/t AuEq (98.2 g/t Au, 11.5% Sb) from 588.2 m
• 0.3 m @ 23.1 g/t AuEq (23.0 g/t Au, 0.1% Sb) from 614.2 m
• 7.0 m @ 20.0 g/t AuEq (16.7 g/t Au, 1.7% Sb) from 627.0 m, including:
  • 0.3 m @ 58.5 g/t AuEq (54.1 g/t Au, 2.4% Sb) from 627.9 m
  • 1.2 m @ 37.4 g/t AuEq (36.7 g/t Au, 0.4% Sb) from 629.6 m
  • 1.3 m @ 58.4 g/t AuEq (43.3 g/t Au, 8.0% Sb) from 632.2 m
• 2.6 m @ 3.4 g/t AuEq (2.7 g/t Au, 0.4% Sb) from 726.0 m

Pending Results and Update

Twenty-one holes (SDDSC123-128, 130-137, 050W1, 050W2) are currently being processed and analysed, with five holes (SDDSC129, 138-140, 092W1) in progress (Figures 1 and 2).

Exploration Target

On January 23, 2024, SXG announced the maiden gold and antimony Exploration Target at its flagship 100%-owned Sunday Creek Project in Victoria, Australia. The Exploration Target ranges reported are shown in Table 1. Notably, the Exploration Target was constrained to the current drill footprint at Apollo and Rising Sun as they contain sufficient drilling to determine continuity and infer grade ranges. This represents approximately one third to one half the strike of the main drill area and significant potential exists to increase the size of the exploration target with high grade drill results drilled for up to 450 m beyond the Exploration Target area.  Drilling since January has significantly expanded the footprint of mineralisation beyond the bounds of the exploration target area.

Table 1. Sunday Creek Exploration Target for Apollo and Rising Sun at the Sunday Creek Project

The potential quantity and grade of the Exploration Target is conceptual in nature and therefore is an approximation. There has been insufficient exploration to estimate a Mineral Resource and it is uncertain if further exploration will result in the estimation of a Mineral Resource. The Exploration Target has been prepared and reported in accordance with the 2012 edition of the JORC Code.

Further Information

Further discussion and analysis of the Sunday Creek project by Southern Cross Gold is available on the SXG website at www.southerncrossgold.com.au.

No upper gold grade cut is applied in the averaging and intervals are reported as drill thickness. During future Mineral Resource studies, the requirement for assay top cutting will be assessed.

Figures 1 to 4 show project location, plan and longitudinal views of drill results reported here and Tables 1 to 3 provide collar and assay data. The true thickness of the mineralised intervals reported individually as estimated true widths (“ETW”), otherwise they are interpreted to be approximately 55-65% of the sampled thickness for other reported holes. Lower grades were cut at 1.0 g/t AuEq lower cutoff over a maximum width of 2 m with higher grades cut at 5.0 g/t AuEq lower cutoff over a maximum of 1 m width unless specified.

Critical Metal Epizonal Gold-Antimony Deposits

Sunday Creek is an epizonal gold-antimony deposit formed in the late Devonian (like Fosterville, Costerfield and Redcastle), 60 million years later than mesozonal gold systems formed in Victoria (for example Ballarat and Bendigo). Epizonal deposits are a form of orogenic gold deposit classified according to their depth of formation: epizonal (<6 km), mesozonal (6-12 km) and hypozonal (>12 km). 

Epizonal deposits in Victoria often have associated high levels of the critical metal, antimony, and Sunday Creek is no exception. China claims a 56 per cent share of global mined supplies of antimony, according to a 2023 European Union study. Antimony features highly on the critical minerals lists of many countries including Australia, the United States of America, Canada, Japan and the European Union. Australia ranks seventh for antimony production despite all production coming from a single mine at Costerfield in Victoria, located nearby to all SXG projects. Antimony alloys with lead and tin which results in improved properties for solders, munitions, bearings and batteries. Antimony is a prominent additive for halogen-containing flame retardants. Adequate supplies of antimony are critical to the world's energy transition, and to the high-tech industry, especially the semi-conductor and defence sectors where it is a critical additive to primers in munitions.

In August 2024, the Chinese government announced it will place export limits on antimony and antimony products. This will put pressure on Western defence supply chains and negatively affect the supply of the metal and push up pricing given China’s dominance of the supply of the metal in the global markets. This is positive for SXG as we are likely to have one of the very few large and high quality projects of antimony in the western world that can feed western demand into the future.

Antimony represents approximately 20% in situ recoverable value of Sunday Creek.

Technical Background and Qualified Person

The Qualified Person, Michael Hudson, Executive Chairman and a director of Mawson Gold, and a Fellow of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, has reviewed, verified and approved the technical contents of this release.

Analytical samples are transported to the Bendigo facility of On Site Laboratory Services (“On Site”) which operates under both an ISO 9001 and NATA quality systems. Samples were prepared and analyzed for gold using the fire assay technique (PE01S method; 25 gram charge), followed by measuring the gold in solution with flame AAS equipment. Samples for multi-element analysis (BM011 and over-range methods as required) use aqua regia digestion and ICP-MS analysis. The QA/QC program of Southern Cross Gold consists of the systematic insertion of certified standards of known gold content, blanks within interpreted mineralized rock and quarter core duplicates. In addition, On Site inserts blanks and standards into the analytical process.

MAW considers that both gold and antimony that are included in the gold equivalent calculation (“AuEq") have reasonable potential to be recovered at Sunday Creek, given current geochemical understanding, historic production statistics and geologically analogous mining operations. Historically, ore from Sunday Creek was treated onsite or shipped to the Costerfield mine, located 54 km to the northwest of the project, for processing during WW1. The Costerfield mine corridor, now owned by Mandalay Resources Ltd contains two million ounces of equivalent gold (Mandalay Q3 2021 Results), and in 2020 was the sixth highest-grade global underground mine and a top 5 global producer of antimony.

MAW considers that it is appropriate to adopt the same gold equivalent variables as Mandalay Resources Ltd in its Mandalay Technical Report, 2024 dated March 28, 2024. The gold equivalence formula used by Mandalay Resources was calculated using Costerfield’s 2023 production costs, using a gold price of US$1,900 per ounce, an antimony price of US$12,000 per tonne and 2023 total year metal recoveries of 94% for gold and 89% for antimony, and is as follows: