Mawson's Subsidiary SXG Intersects 1.2 m @ 121.8 g/t Au in Deepest Hole with Visible Gold Increasing with Depth at Sunday Creek, Victoria, Australia

VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / May 16, 2023 / Mawson Gold Limited ("Mawson" or the "Company") (TSX:MAW)(Frankfurt:MXR)(OTC PINK: MWSNF) announces results from drillhole SDDSC064 ( 1.2 m @ 121.8 g/t Au from 889.6 m ) from the deepest mineralization (830 m vertically below surface) and one of the two highest grade intersections to date, and a 115 m down-dip extension from SDDSC061 (12.0 m @ 7.4 g/t AuEq incl 0.3 m @ 249.5 g/t AuEq) at the Sunday Creek Project in Victoria, Australia (Figure 1). Of major importance is the increasing abundance of visible gold at depth at Sunday Creek (Photos 1-4), as is typical for epizonal deposits.

Sunday Creek is 100% owned by Southern Cross Gold ("SXG"), which is an ASX listed company owned 51% by Mawson. Four rigs continue to drill both in the main drill area and up to 7.5 km along strike at the Tonstal prospect with 16 holes being processed and analyzed and four drill rigs operating. Mineralization now extends in the main drill area over 1,350 m from Christina in the far west to SDDSC063.

Noora Ahola, Mawson Interim CEO, states : "This is an exceptional result from team at Southern Cross Gold. Not only is this the deepest hole SXG has drilled at Sunday Creek terminating at 1,013.5 m down hole, but it also produced the deepest mineralization at 830 m vertical depth and the second highest grade intersection on the property. We are greatly encouraged by the presence of visible gold at depths typical in other high quality epizonal deposits in the region and that SDDSC064 extended mineralization with a 115 m down-dip extension from SDDSC061 (12.0 m @ 7.4 g/t AuEq incl 0.3 m @ 249.5 g/t AuEq).

Sunday Creek is proving to show great continuity and predictability in the vein sets that intersect the host breccia dyke that runs 11 kms through the property. Increased strike lengths of up to 60 m of individual veins that recur with predictable frequency as demonstrated in this release confirm our confidence in the ability of the project to deliver results that are comparable on a global scale."

Results Discussion

The Sunday Creek epizonal-style gold project is located 60 km north of Melbourne within 19,365 hectares of granted exploration tenements. SXG is also the freehold landholder of 133 hectares that forms the key portion in and around the drilled area at the Sunday Creek Project.

Sunday Creek has an 11 km mineralized trend that extends beyond the main drill area and is defined by historic workings and soil sampling which is being drill tested for the very first time with the fourth drill rig which mobilized to the Tonstal prospect 7.5 kms to the northeast a month ago.

SDDSC064 (collar azimuth 239.6 degrees), drilled in the Rising Sun area of Sunday Creek, was designed to extend mineralization to depth as a scissor hole (drilled in an opposite direction) to SDDSC050 (collar azimuth 077 degrees) (305.8 m @ 2.4 g/t AuEq). It achieved this and delivered new and exciting data on multiple levels:

1. Discovered the deepest mineralization on project (830 m vertically below surface), with SDDSC064 the first hole to exceed 1 km in length on the project, terminating at 1,013.5 m.
2. One of the two highest grade intersections on project (after SDDSC046 @ 2.1 m @ 121.6 g/t AuEq).
3. Defined significant extensions to known mineralization:
   1. At its lower levels SDDSC064 (1.2 m @ 121.8 g/t AuEq) was a 115 m down dip extension from SDDSC061 (12.0 m @ 7.4 g/t AuEq incl 0.3 m @ 249.5 g/t AuEq)
4. Demonstrated the high frequency of mineralized veins:
   1. Five high-grade NW veins intersected over 100 m horizontal true thickness (within 192 m down hole width), implying a vein frequency each 20 m on average.
5. Demonstrated continuity across multiple high-grade veins in a 430 m (down dip) x 180 m (wide) and 60 m (strike) area beneath drill hole SDDSC050:
   1. At its upper levels SDDSC064 (0.4 m @ 48.5 g/t AuEq from 715.8 m and 0.3 m @ 16.3 g/t AuEq from 725.8 m) showed the NW mineralized veins strike length increases at depth with the same vein drilled in SDDSC050 (9.0 m @ 7.3 g/t AuEq from 712.0 m including 1.5 m @ 41.5 g/t AuEq) located 60 m along strike to the northwest.
6. Drilled a broad and extensive halo to high grade gold with low antimony and higher arsenopyrite:
   1. 212.8 m @ 1.0 g/t Au 0.04% Sb from 715.8 (no lower cut).

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

Figures 1-6 show project location, plan, longitudinal and cross-sectional views of drill results reported here and Tables 1-3 provide collar and assay data. The true thickness of the mineralized intervals reported are interpreted to be approximately 60-70% of the sampled thickness. Lower grades were cut at 0.3 g/t Au lower cutoff over a maximum width of 3 m with higher grades cut at 5.0 g/t Au cutoff over a maximum of 1 m width, unless otherwise stated.

Update on Current Drilling

Drilling with four rigs is in progress at Sunday Creek at the Rising Sun and Apollo prospects and also 7.5 km north-east at the Tonstal prospect. Sixteen new holes (SDDSC066 - 75 and SDDTS001-6) are currently being geologically processed and analyzed, with three holes (SDDSC070, 73, 74, and SDDTS007) in drill progress (Figure 2). SDDSC068 has been temporarily halted at 959.4 m below Apollo, awaiting an upgrade to a new drill feed rail to allow deeper drilling to continue.

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.

SXG considers that it is appropriate to adopt the same gold equivalent variables as Mandalay Resources Ltd in its Mandalay Technical Report, 2022 dated 25 March 2022. The gold equivalence formula used by Mandalay Resources was calculated using recoveries achieved at the Costerfield Property Brunswick Processing Plant during 2020, using a gold price of US$1,700 per ounce, an antimony price of US$8,500 per tonne and 2021 total year metal recoveries of 93% for gold and 95% for antimony, and is as follows: ??????'????,??'? = ??????'? (??'"/??'?) + 1.58 × ??'+??'? (%).

Based on the latest Costerfield calculation and given the similar geological styles and historic toll treatment of Sunday Creek mineralization at Costerfield, SXG considers that a ??????'????,??'? = ??????'? (??'"/??'?) + 1.58 × ??'+??'? (%) is appropriate to use for the initial exploration targeting of gold-antimony mineralization at Sunday Creek.

For previously reported exploration results referenced in this news release, refer to the following:
March 30, 2023 SDDSC061

About Mawson Gold Limited (TSX:MAW, FRANKFURT:MXR, OTCPINK:MWSNF)

Mawson Gold Limited is an exploration and development company. Mawson has distinguished itself as a leading Nordic exploration company with its 100% owned flagship Rajapalot gold-cobalt project in Finland, and right to earn into the Skellefteå North gold project in Sweden. Mawson also currently owns 51% of Southern Cross Gold Ltd (ASX:SXG) which in turn owns or controls three high-grade, historic epizonal goldfields covering 470 km2 in Victoria, Australia.

About Southern Cross Gold Ltd (ASX:SXG)

Southern Cross Gold holds the 100%-owned Sunday Creek project in Victoria and Mt Isa project in Queensland, the Redcastle and Whroo joint ventures in Victoria, Australia, and a strategic 10% holding in ASX-listed Nagambie Resources Limited (ASX:NAG) which grants SXG a Right of First Refusal over a 3,300 square kilometer tenement package held by NAG in Victoria.

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, Mawson's expectations regarding its ownership interest in Southern Cross Gold, capital and other costs varying significantly from estimates, changes in world metal markets, changes in equity markets, the potential impact of epidemics, pandemics or other public health crises, including the current pandemic known as COVID-19 on the Company's business, risks related to negative publicity with respect to the Company or the mining industry in general; exploration potential being conceptual in nature, there being insufficient exploration to define a mineral resource on the Australian-projects owned by SXG, and uncertainty if further exploration will result in the determination of a mineral resource; 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.

Photo 1: SDDSC064 716.0 m showing visible gold along stibnite and arsenopyrite veinlets within quartz carbonate vein. Ticks show mm scale.

Photo 2: SDDSC064 725.8 m showing visible gold on the margin of a quartz carbonate vein with arsenopyrite. Ticks show mm scale.

Photo 3: SDDSC064 between 890.2-890.7 m showing visible gold within a quartz carbonate vein stockwork hosted by albitized and sericitized dioritic dyke. Minor fuchsite (lime green) alteration in dyke. Field of view 30mm.

Photo 4: SDDSC064 between 890.2-890.7 m showing visible gold within a quartz carbonate vein hosted by albitized and sericitized dioritic dyke.
Drill core (NQ) is 47.6 mm wide.

Figure 1: Location of the Sunday Creek project, along with SXG's other Victoria projects.

Figure 2: Sunday Creek plan view showing holes reported in this press release (grey boxes), selected prior reported drill holes and pending holes (yellow collar and red trace).

Figure 3: Sunday Creek cropped longitudinal section E-F (50 m influence) across the Rising Sun area looking towards the north showing dyke interpreted mineralized veins sets, SDDSC064 reported here and prior reported drill holes.

Figure 4: Sunday Creek level plan (100 m influence) at -330 m RL (650 m vertically below surface) at Rising Sun area showing dyke breccia host, sulphidic halo and interpreted mineralized veins sets. Note the relationship between SDDSC064, reported here and SDDSC0501 showing 60 m strike extension to the NW mineralized veins (strike is longer at depth).

Figure 5: Sunday Creek east-west longitudinal section G-H along the trend of the dyke/structure, looking to 000 higher grade assays and selected mineralized veins sets. Also, prior reported drill holes shown.

Figure 6: Sunday Creek regional plan view showing LiDAR, soil sampling, structural framework, regional historic epizonal gold mining areas and broad regional areas to be tested in a 2,500 m diamond drill program. The first drill area at Tonstal is located 7.5km along strike from the main drill area at Golden Dyke-Apollo.

Table 1: Drill collar summary table for drillholes reported in this announcement (including in progress).

Table 2: Tables of mineralized drill hole intersections reported from SDDSC064 using two cut-off criteria. Lower grades cut at 0.3 g/t lower cutoff over a maximum of 3 m with higher grades cut at 5.0 g/t AuEq cutoff over a maximum of 1 m.

Table 3: All individual assays reported SDDSC064 >0.1g/t AuEq.

SOURCE: Mawson Gold Limited