Mawson Finland Limited (“
Mawson”
or the “
Company”) (TSX-V: MFL) is pleased to
confirm that it has completed its first drill program on its
wholly-owned Rajapalot Gold-Cobalt property in Northern Finland.
The objective of this season’s drilling was to further increase the
inferred resources inventory at the Rajapalot project by exploring
for potential continuations to the presently defined
mineral-system.
The Rajapalot project is the subject of a
current preliminary economic assessment, entitled “NI 43-101
Technical Report on a Preliminary Economic Assessment of the
Rajapalot Gold-Coblat Project, Finland”, with an effective date of
December 19, 2023, which the Company has filed and which is
available on SEDAR+ (the “PEA”). The PEA
demonstrates an NPV5% of USD $211 million post-tax and an IRR of
27% post tax. The Rajapalot deposit inferred resource estimate has
been calculated pursuant to the PEA at a size of 9.78 mt @ 2.8 g/t
gold and 441 ppm cobalt, for total contained metal of 867 koz of
gold and 4,311 tonnes of cobalt.
The PEA is preliminary in nature and includes
inferred mineral resources that are considered too speculative
geologically to have the economic considerations applied to them
that would enable them to be categorized as mineral reserves.
Mineral resources that are not mineral reserves do not have
demonstrated economic viability. There is no certainty that the PEA
will be realized.
Ms. Noora Ahola, Mawson Finland CEO, states: “We
had excellent conditions for drilling in winter and spring 2024 and
we successfully completed an extensive 12,070-metre diamond
drilling program at Rajapalot. We expect to shortly receive our
assay results from this program. We hope that the results will
confirm our belief in the growth potential of the deposit.”
Executive Chairman, Mr. Neil MacRae added,
“Management is very pleased with the progress made with the
drilling campaign so far and, with the recent successful completion
of the IPO, we are also very proud to have compiled a strong
shareholder registry. We would especially like to thank our
shareholders who have supported us since December 2023 during the
Special Warrant financing round, pursuant to which we acquired the
Rajapalot asset.” Mr. MacRae continued, “As well, we would like to
acknowledge the efforts of our legal team at Peterson McVicar LLP
and the agent for our IPO financing, Eight Capital, who were
instrumental in our success. Finally, we are also very thankful to
have had a significant number of local Finnish investors who have
chosen to support us. We thank them in particular for their support
of our Finnish-based CEO Ms. Noora Ahola, as we work to advance the
Rajapalot project for the benefit of all shareholders and locals
alike.”
Winter Drill Campaign, January to April
2024
During January to April 2024, 3 drill-rigs
drilled a total of 12,070 metres of diamond core from 38 drillholes
around the Palokas, Hut, Raja and Joki deposits. Primary aims for
this drilling were to intercept gold-cobalt mineralisation, both
the along-strike and down-dip, of the presently defined envelopes
of inferred-category gold-cobalt mineralisation at Rajapalot. 20
drillholes were drilled around the Palokas deposits, 8 around the
Hut, 6 at Raja and 4 at Joki deposit (see Figure 1 hereinbelow).
Drilling has focused on extending higher-grade areas defined from
within the current published resource, with the aim of delivering
additional, higher-grade tonnes into the future resource base.
Assay results from this drilling will be released as they become
available. Additionally, 5 of these drillholes were selected for
“downhole EM” geophysical surveys of which results will be
published in due course.
Figure 1. Geological map of the
Rajapalot property showing location of major deposits and other
known prospects. Inset/lower map illustrates the location of
drillholes completed at Rajapalot between January and April of
2024. Drilling can be seen focusing around the major deposits at
Rajapalot, with inset text boxes documenting their current
estimated inferred resource metrics as per the PEA.
Geological Preparation Work for the 2025 Winter Drilling
Campaign
Leading into the 2025 winter drilling campaign,
Mawson intends to undertake a series of surface geochemical and
geophysical surveys to further develop potential mineralised
extensions of the Rajapalot resource and search for additional
exploration targets in and around the broader Rajapalot area.
Summer and autumn exploration work will focus on the collection of
a 1000-sample soil geochemical survey, and additional “downhole EM”
and “fixed-loop EM” geophysical surveys will be undertaken in
late-August through to December to develop further exploration
targets around the Rajapalot area, whilst also searching for
extensions in the periphery to the mineralisation forming the
current resource inventory. At Rajapalot, historical surface
geochemical and geophysical surveys have successfully identified
new areas of gold and cobalt mineralization. Regional exploration
activities will also occur in conjunction with these
resource-expansion objectives to recognize new promising drill
targets.
Mawson has also conducted a full geological
review of the Rajapalot property over the last 6 months and has
identified some primary factors that have been consistently found
to control the gold-cobalt ore-system in the Rajapalot district,
among which is a structural control in the form of re-activated
shear-zones hosting mineralisation in close conjunction with
certain geochemical and rock-permeability affinities belonging to
the host-stratigraphy. As such, the intersection of reactivated
shear-zones (those containing extreme hydrothermal alteration),
that cross-cut preferable litho-stratigraphic units (fiamme-tuff
beds of basaltic affinity) present ideal locations for
mineralisation in the Rajapalot area. Mawson intends future
exploration activities in the Rajaplot district to hereafter focus
on areas where mapped shear-structures are seen
interacting/cross-cutting with key litho-stratigraphic horizons.
Both soil and subsurface geochemical sampling and “EM” geophysical
surveys will be conducted over these hypothesised ‘ore-forming’
environments in order to develop drill-targets for further
exploration of gold-cobalt mineralisation around the Rajapalot
area, whilst also searching for extensions in the periphery to the
mineralisation forming the current resource inventory. Mawson
expects to subsequently drill-test developed targets as part of its
planned 2025 winter drilling campaign.
Background of Rajapalot
The Rajapalot gold-cobalt mineralisation was
first discovered by the previous owner Mawson Gold Ltd. (then
Mawson Resources Ltd.) in 2012 through sampling of surface
outcropping sulfide-bearing rocks. This initial discovery was
immediately drilled and has become what is now named the Palokas
deposit. Over the subsequent 10 years, approximately 100,000 meters
of core has been drilled, culminating in the current PEA, pursuant
to which a total of 867 koz of gold and 4,311 tonnes of cobalt has
been defined in the inferred resources category, being 9.78 mt @
2.8 g/t gold and 441 ppm cobalt. Geologically, the Rajapalot
deposit is considered an orogenic-style deposit, with
mineralisation hosted in the Paleoproterozoic-aged Kivalo Group of
the Peräpohja greenstone belt. Several productive orogenic-style
gold deposits are known from northern Finland, including the
Agnico-Eagle Kittila Mine (2 MOz Au produced and 3.5 MOz Au in
proven and probably mineral reserves, being 26,925 kt @ 4.14 g/t
Au), and Rupert Resources Ikkari deposit (4 MOz Au in measured and
indicated mineral resources, being 58,430 kt @ 2.18 g/t Au) which
is presently still in its development phase (see Figure 2
hereinbelow, being a locality map of Finland).
Figure 2) Locality map of Finland illustrating
the location of Mawson Finland’s Rajapalot project, relative to the
locations of other major mines and development projects currently
active in Finland.
Qualified Person and Technical
Information
Technical and scientific information contained
herein relating to the Rajapalot project located in Finland is
derived from the PEA, which was prepared for the Company by
Christopher Bray, BEng (Mining), MAusIMM(CP), of SRK Consulting
(UK) Limited, Ove Klavér, MSc (Geology), Eur.Geol., FAMMP, of
GeoPool Oy, Eemeli Rantala, MSc (Geology), P.Geo., of AFRY Finland
Oy, Craig Brown, B.E. (Chem), GradDipGeosci, FAusIMM, of Resources
Engineering & Management Pty Ltd, and Mathieu Gosselin, P.Eng.,
of Gosselin Mining AB. The PEA was prepared in accordance with
National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral
Projects (“NI 43-101”).
The technical and scientific information in this
news release was reviewed, verified and approved by Dr. Thomas
Fromhold, an employee of Fromhold Geoconsult AB, and Member of The
Australian Institute of Geosciences (MAIG, Membership No. 8838).
Mr. Fromhold is a “qualified person” as defined under NI
43-101.
The PEA is based on technical data, documents,
reports and information supplied by Mawson Oy, a wholly-owned
subsidiary of the Company, including copies of concession
application and award documents, historical reports on exploration
and drilling, and internal reports by Mawson Oy staff and
consultants/contractors. The specific reports which form the basis
for the PEA are listed in Section 27 of the PEA. Please see the PEA
for discussion of, among other things, data verification and
additional exploration information applicable to the technical
disclosure herein provided.
About Mawson Finland
Limited
Mawson Finland is an exploration stage mining
development company engaged in the acquisition and exploration of
precious and base metal properties in Finland. The Company is
primarily focused on gold and cobalt. The Corporation currently
holds a 100% interest in the Rajapalot Gold-Cobalt Project located
in Finland. The Rompas-Rajapalot Property consists of 11 granted
exploration permits for 10,204 hectares and 2 exploration permit
applications and a reservation notification area for a combined
total of 40,496 hectares. In Finland, all operations are carried
out through the company’s fully owned subsidiary, Mawson Oy. The
Company maintains an active local presence of Finnish staff with
close ties to the communities of Rajapalot.
Additional disclosure including the Company’s
financial statements, technical reports, news releases and other
information can be obtained at mawsonfinland.com or on SEDAR+
at www.sedarplus.ca.
Media and Investor Relations
Inquiries
Please contact: Neil MacRae Executive Chairman
at neil@mawsonfinland.com or +1 (778) 999-4653, or Noora Ahola
Chief Executive Officer at nahola@mawson.fi or +358 (505)
213-515.
Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services
Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX
Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or
accuracy of this news release. No securities regulatory authority
has reviewed or approved of the contents of this news release.
Forward-looking Information
This news release includes certain
“forward-looking information” and “forward-looking statements”
within the meaning of applicable securities laws (collectively,
“forward-looking information”) which are not comprised of
historical facts. Forward-looking information includes, without
limitation, estimates and statements that describe the Company’s
future plans, objectives or goals, including words to the effect
that the Company or management expects a stated condition or result
to occur. Forward-looking information may be identified by such
terms as “believes”, “anticipates”, “expects”, “estimates”, “aims”,
“may”, “could”, “would”, “will”, “must” or “plan”. Since
forward-looking information is based on assumptions and address
future events and conditions, by their very nature they involve
inherent risks and uncertainties. Although these statements are
based on information currently available to the Company, and
management of the Company believes them to be reasonable based
upon, among other information, the contents of the PEA, the Company
provides no assurance that actual results will meet management’s
expectations. Risks, uncertainties and other factors involved with
forward-looking information could cause actual events, results,
performance, prospects and opportunities to differ materially from
those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information.
Forward-looking information in this news release includes, but is
not limited to, the Company’s objectives, goals or future plans,
any expected receipt of assay results or other exploration results
and the impact upon the Company thereof, potential mineralization
whether peripheral to the existing Rajapalot resource or elsewhere,
any anticipated disclosure of assay or other exploration results
and the timing thereof, the estimation of mineral resources,
exploration and mine development plans, including drilling, soil
sampling, geophysical and geochemical work, any expected search for
additional exploration targets and any results of such searches,
the existence of, location of and results of finding any
hypothesised ore-forming environment, potential acquisition by the
Company of any property, the growth potential of the Rajapalot
resource, all values, estimates and expectations drawn from or
based upon the PEA, and estimates of market conditions. Factors
that could cause actual results to differ materially from such
forward-looking information include, but are not limited to: any
change in industry or wider economic conditions which could cause
the Company to adjust or cancel entirely its exploration plans,
failure to identify any hypothesised ore-forming environments or
failure of any such identified environments to yield meaningful
results, failure to identify mineral resources or any additional
exploration targets, failure to convert estimated mineral resources
to reserves, any failure to receive the results of completed assays
or other exploration work, poor exploration results, the inability
to complete a feasibility study which recommends a production
decision, the preliminary and uncertain nature of the PEA, the
preliminary nature of metallurgical test results, delays in
obtaining or failures to obtain required governmental,
environmental or other project approvals, political risks,
uncertainties relating to the availability and costs of financing
needed in the future, changes in equity markets, inflation, changes
in exchange rates, fluctuations in commodity prices, delays in the
development of projects, capital and operating costs varying
significantly from estimates and the other risks involved in the
mineral exploration and development industry, and those risks set
out in the Company’s public documents filed on SEDAR+. Although the
Company believes that the assumptions and factors used in preparing
the forward-looking information in this news release are
reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on such
information, which only applies as of the date of this news
release, and no assurance can be given that such events will occur
in the disclosed time frames or at all. The Company disclaims any
intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking
information, whether as a result of new information, future events
or otherwise, other than as required by law.
Mawson Finland (TSXV:MFL)
Historical Stock Chart
From Jul 2024 to Aug 2024
Mawson Finland (TSXV:MFL)
Historical Stock Chart
From Aug 2023 to Aug 2024