Mawson Drills 17.7 metres @ 4.3 g/t AuEq and 6.0 metres @ 10.0 g/t AuEq in 100 metre Step Out Hole, Exceeds South Palokas Best Intercept

VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / February 28, 2020 / Mawson Resources Limited ("Mawson") or (the "Company") (TSX:MAW)(Frankfurt:MXR)(OTCPINK: MWSNF) announces assay results from 2 drill holes for gold and cobalt and 6 holes for cobalt (gold previously reported) from the 2020 winter program at the Company's 100% owned Rajapalot Project in Northern Finland. Drill hole PAL0213, reported here from South Palokas, is now the best drill hole drilled at that prospect.

Highlights from the South Palokas prospect:

• South Palokas remains open at depth (Figure 3), with results from the current program indicating grades of both gold and cobalt are increasing down plunge;
• Drill hole PAL0213, a down-plunge step out of 100 metres from the December 2018 resource area, intersected 17.7 metres @ 3.8 g/t gold ("Au"), 880 ppm cobalt ("Co"), 4.3 g/t gold equivalent ("AuEq") from 293.0 metres and 6.0 metres @ 9.2 g/t Au, 1,364ppm Co, 10.0 g/t AuEq from 317.0 metres (Tables 1-3, Figures 1-3; AuEq three month price average prices used);
  • PAL0213 is now the best drill hole drilled at that prospect and improves on the previous best gold intersection (PAL0203) returned from South Palokas announced on February 5, 2020;
  • Mineralization has now been drilled over 60 metres width in the PAL0213 cross section (Figure 2), which also includes PAL0203 and PAL0197 (32.0 metres @ 1.4 g/t Au, 1,556 ppm Co from 294.3 metres, drilled during 2019)
• PAL0203, previously reported for gold only, returned the highest cobalt reported to date from South Palokas with 12.0 metres @ 5.4 g/t Au, 2,221 ppm Co, 6.8 g/t AuEq from 303.0 metres, a 29% increase from "Au g/t x width" to "AuEq x width" at quoted cut-offs;
• PAL0204, previously reported for gold only, drilled on the north-eastern edge of the 2018 resource returned 10.3 metres @ 5.7 g/t Au, 961 ppm Co, 6.3 g/t AuEq from 93.7 metres, a 14% increase from "Au g/t x width" to "AuEq x width" at quoted cut-offs;

Highlights from the Palokas prospect:

• Drill hole PAL0210, on the lower southwestern edge of the resource area returned 23.4 metres @ 1.0 g/t Au, 565 ppm Co, 1.4 g/t AuEq from 128.3 metres and 4.5 metres @ 3.9 g/t Au, 302 ppm Co, 4.1 g/t AuEq from 153.6 metres;
  • This wide mineralized interval shows the upside potential in the untested area between this hole and the South Palokas mineralization, some 370 metres to the southwest.
• PAL0205, previously reported for gold only, returned 12.9 metres @ 1.8 g/t Au, 590 ppm Co, 2.2 g/t AuEq from 95.0 metres, a 15% increase from "Au g/t x width" to "AuEq x width" at quoted cut-offs;
• PAL0207 returned 7.6 metres @ 1.6 g/t Au, 506 ppm Co, 2.0 g/t AuEq from 150.8 metres within a broad 26.8 metre downhole Au-Co anomalous zone from 145.2-172.0 metres.

Mr. Hudson, Chairman and CEO, states, "With yet another drill hole exceeding 100 Au g/t times width at Rajapalot, our winter drill program continues to deliver. Improving grade and continuity of high-grade gold-cobalt mineralization down plunge from previously defined resource areas have been particularly encouraging. Strong news flow is expected to continue over the coming months with only 9 holes reported from a total 26 holes drilled to date with drilling ongoing. Management look forward to meeting shareholders and showing drill core from this winter program at Mawson's PDAC 2020 Booth #2389 between March 1^st and 4^th at the Toronto Convention Centre"

Resource expansion drilling at Rajapalot is ongoing with three diamond drill rigs completing the programs at Palokas, South Palokas and Raja prospects. Owing to rig scheduling and good drill conditions this has been reduced from 5 rigs that were operating during January and February. A total of 26 holes (PAL0202-PAL0225; and completion of PAL0201D) for 9,721 metres have been completed, to schedule, out of a 15,000 metre planned program. Mawson has now released results from 9 drill holes in releases today, and on 20^th January and 5^th February 2020. The current drill program aims to extend and infill mineralization (Figure 1) and provide data for an updated resource estimate to be delivered by the end of Q3 2020.

Drill hole PAL0213 at South Palokas, returned 17.7 metres @ 3.8 g/t Au, 880 ppm Co, 4.3 g/t AuEq from 293.0 metres AND 6.0 metres @ 9.2 g/t Au, 1364 ppm Co, 10.0 g/t AuEq from 317.0 metres. PAL0213 was drilled to intersect the section including PAL0203 and PAL0197 (32 m @ 1.4 g/t Au, 1556 ppm Co from 294.3 metres; 2019 drill campaign). PAL0203 (12.0 metres @ 5.4 g/t Au, 2,221 ppm Co, 6.8 g/t AuEq from 303.0 metres, including 8.0 metres @ 7.9 g/t Au, 2,672 ppm Co, 9.6 g/t AuEq from 303.0 metres returned the highest cobalt intersection to date at South Palokas. The combination of high gold and cobalt results in the current program is particularly encouraging as these holes are the deepest reported to date at South Palokas and grade is improving at depth (Figures 2 & 3).

Broad zones of sulphidic and strongly hydrothermally altered rocks enclose all of the Palokas drill intersections reported to date. Drill holes PAL0205, PAL0206, PAL0207 and PAL0210 all increase the size of the mineralized footprint and drilling continues to locate higher gold grades similar to the nearby PAL0030 (10.0 metres @ 9.9 g/t Au, 562 ppm Co, 10.2 g/t AuEq from 110.2 metres,and the deepest high-grade intersection PAL0194 (15.2 metres @ 4.3 g/t Au, 2566 ppm Co, 5.9 g/t AuEq from 418.7 metres. Drill hole PAL0202A, previously reported for gold only, and drilled 370 metres down-plunge from the resource boundary (2g/t gold equivalent "AuEQ" lower cut) at 600 metres below surface intersected 10.1 metres @ 0.6 g/t Au, 317 ppm Co, 0.8g/t AuEq from 771.7 metres. Although lower grades were encountered, confirmation of the gold and cobalt mineralization 600 metres down plunge from surface is considered significant and indicates the system is predictable and continues to depth.

The scale of the mineralized system at Palokas-South Palokas is now becoming evident with thick zones of gold-cobalt mineralized rocks intersected across the two prospects. Drilling continues to identify the highest-grade parts of the two prospects, with a large area between the prospects remaining open for testing.

A plan view of the completed drill holes and the locations of drill hole targeting for this program are shown in Figure 1, including an enlarged plan view of the Palokas and South Palokas area. The section perpendicular to plunge including PAL0213, PAL0203 and PAL0197 shows the width of the mineralized zone. Palokas prospect host rocks are in the same reduced stratabound host package as South Palokas (Figure 2). When viewed in a down-plunge orientation, mineralization, conductive electromagnetic plates and their enclosing rock packages also shows their similarity in style to the Raja prospect (Figure 1). The projected locations (Figure 3) of the drill holes reported in this release on a "grade times width" plan indicates the potential growth of the resource area based on 2019 and 2020 drill results. Tables 1-3 include all relevant collar and assay information. Assuming a predominant stratabound control, the true thickness of the mineralized interval is interpreted to be approximately 90% of the sampled thickness. Cobalt data are typically returned three weeks after the gold assays. Gold-only intersections are reported with a lower-cut of 0.5 g/t gold over 1 metre lower cut. No upper cut-off was applied. Where cobalt data are included, a lower cut of 0.3 g/t AuEq is used, based on modifying the pit optimized open pit lower cut-off grade of 0.37 g/t AuEq developed for the 2018 resource recalculated to a dollar value per tonne against current averaged prices (and therefore the 2018 resource cutoff 0.37 g/t AuEq is the same value per tonne as 0.30 g/t AuEq today).

Technical and Environmental Background

Up to five diamond drill rigs from the Arctic Drilling Company OY ("ADC") and Kati OY ("Kati") all with water recirculation and drill cuttings collection systems are used in the drill program. Core diameter is NQ2 (50.7 mm). Core recoveries are excellent and average close to 100% in fresh rock. After photographing and logging in Mawson's Rovaniemi facilities, core intervals averaging 1 metre for mineralized samples and 2 metres for barren samples are cut in half at the Geological Survey of Finland (GTK) core facilities in Rovaniemi, Finland. The remaining half core is retained for verification and reference purposes. Analytical samples are transported by commercial transport from site to the CRS Minlab Oy facility in Kempele, Finland. Samples were prepared and analyzed for gold using the PAL1000 technique which involves grinding the sample in steel pots with abrasive media in the presence of cyanide, followed by measuring the gold in solution with flame AAS equipment. Samples for multi-element analysis (including cobalt) are pulped at CRS Minlab, then transported by air to the MSA labs in Vancouver, Canada and analyzed using four acid digest ICP-MS methods. The QA/QC program of Mawson consists of the systematic insertion of certified standards of known gold content, duplicate samples by quartering the core, and blanks the within interpreted mineralized rock. In addition, CRS inserts blanks and standards into the analytical process.

Three month average gold and cobalt prices have been used to calculate AuEq values according to the following:

• Average gold price $1580 per oz
• Average cobalt price $14.50 per pound
• Resulting in gold equivalent formula of AuEq g/t = Au g/t + (Co ppm/1589).

The host rocks to the gold and cobalt mineralization comprise sulphides (pyrrhotite>>pyrite) with biotite-muscovite-chlorite schists at South Palokas and Mg-Fe amphibole-biotite-chlorite rocks at Palokas. Veining and fracture fill minerals include pyrrhotite, magnetite and magnetite-pyrrhotite (+/- quartz, tourmaline). Retrograde chlorite after biotite, generations of secondary muscovite ("sericite") and vein-controlled chlorite+/- tourmaline and magnetite are also present. Preliminary hand-held XRF analysis confirms the presence of associated scheelite and molybdenite, the former visible under UV light as tiny veinlets and disseminations. The minerals associated with the gold are clearly post-metamorphic, reduced, and most likely driven by hydrothermal fluids from nearby granitoid intrusions. Chlorite and fine muscovite are regarded as the lowest temperature silicate minerals with gold, structurally controlled in apparent spatial association with quartz and/or K-feldspar veins. Altered rocks enclosing the mineralized package contain locally abundant talc and tourmaline.

The qualified person for Mawson's Finnish projects, Dr. Nick Cook, President for Mawson and a Fellow of the Australasian Institute of Mining Metallurgy has reviewed and verified the contents of this release.

NI 43-101 Technical Report:

On December 19, 2018, Mawson filed an independent National Instrument 43-101 Technical Report (the "NI 43-101 Technical Report") on the Mineral Resource Estimate for the Raja and Palokas Prospects, at the 100% owned Rajapalot Project in Finland, (the "NI 43-101 Technical Report"), in support of the Company's news release dated December 17, 2018. The NI 43-101 Technical Report was authorized by Mr. Rod Webster of AMC Consultants Pty Ltd ("AMC") of Melbourne, Australia, and Dr. Kurt Simon Forrester of Arn Perspective of Surrey, England. Each of Mr. Webster and Dr. Forrester are independent "qualified persons" as defined by National Instrument 43-101. The NI 43-101 Technical Report may be found on the Company's website at www.mawsonresources.com or under the Company's profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. For the 2018 resource, the gold equivalent ("AuEq") value was calculated using averaged prices of the time, resulting in the following formula: AuEq g/t = Au g/t + (Co ppm/608) with assumed prices of Co $30/lb; and Au $1,250/oz. AuEq varies with Au and Co prices.

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

Mawson Resources Limited is an exploration and development company. Mawson has distinguished itself as a leading Nordic Arctic exploration company with a focus on the flagship Rajapalot gold project in Finland.

Forward-Looking Statement

This news release contains forward-looking statements or forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable securities laws (collectively, "forward-looking statements"). All statements herein, other than statements of historical fact, are forward-looking statements. Although Mawson believes that such statements are reasonable, it can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Forward-looking statements are typically identified by words such as: believe, expect, anticipate, intend, estimate, postulate, and similar expressions, or are those, which, by their nature, refer to future events. Mawson cautions investors that any forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future results or performance, and that actual results may differ materially from those in forward-looking statements as a result of various factors, including, but not limited to, capital and other costs varying significantly from estimates, changes in world metal markets, changes in equity markets, planned drill programs and results varying from expectations, delays in obtaining results, equipment failure, unexpected geological conditions, local community relations, dealings with non-governmental organizations, delays in operations due to permit grants, environmental and safety risks, and other risks and uncertainties disclosed under the heading "Risk Factors" in Mawson's most recent Annual Information Form filed on www.sedar.com. Any forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date on which it is made and, except as may be required by applicable securities laws, Mawson disclaims any intent or obligation to update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or results or otherwise.

Figure 1: Plan of Rajapalot showing historic drilling and high-grade intersections, outline of 2018 NI43-101 resource, new drill holes reported (note PAL0213) and modelled ground TEM plates. Purple outline represents test area for drilling this program.

Figure 2: Cross section of Palokas and South Palokas prospects looking towards 330° showing continuity of reduced, mineralized host package. Drill hole PAL0213, reported here lies down plunge of the existing South Palokas resource. Folds drawn in this view show relatively constant vergence (antiformal closure to the NE) and plunge away from the viewer at approximately 54°.

Figure 3: Long section showing outline of 2018 resource and significant intersections over grade-width contours showing new results from PAL0213 and PAL0210, and including cobalt results from PAL0203, PAL0204, PAL0206 and PAL0207 extending mineralization beyond the current resource areas. Data from 2020 in bold type. The view is looking onto mineralized surface at Palokas and South Palokas (this view is looking at 60 degrees towards 110). Red dotted outline represents the current estimated limits to mineralized rocks, although testing between Palokas and South Palokas is restricted to just four drill holes.

Table 1: Collar Information from 2019-20 Winter drilling at the Rajapalot Project (Finnish Grid, Projection KKJ3; the "A" postscript refers to a daughter hole off the primary hole and the depth range of the drill hole is indicated)

Table 2: Intersections from the 2019-20 Winter Drill Program. Intersections are reported with a lower cut of 0.3g/t AuEq (using updated gold and cobalt prices of $1580 per ounce and 14.50 per pound respectively) over 1 metre lower cut. No upper cut-off was applied.

Table 3: Individual assay data from drill holes reported in this press release.

SOURCE: Mawson Resources Limited