140 m Down-dip Extension, Includes 3.3 m @ 34.1 g/t AuEq and 12.9 m @ 7.4 g/t AuEq
VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / October 16, 2024 / Mawson Gold Limited ("Mawson" or the "Company") (TSXV:MAW, Financial)(Frankfurt:MXR)(OTC PINK:MWSNF) announces Southern Cross Gold Ltd. ("Southern Cross Gold" or "SXG") has made a significant discovery expanding mineralisation 140 m below previous drilling at the historic Golden Dyke mine at the 100%-owned Sunday Creek Gold-Antimony Project in Victoria (Figure 5).
Results from two diamond drill holes (SDDSC132 and SDDSC138 - Figures 1 and 2) significantly improve the immediate prospectivity of Sunday Creek demonstrating that Golden Dyke has become the third high-grade gold-antimony prospect located 260 m and 600 m west respectively from the first two, Rising Sun and Apollo.
Highlights:
High-Grade Results: Drilling has yielded further exceptional results 140 m below previous drilling at Golden Dyke. These discoveries are located outside the January 23, 2024 exploration target estimation, and include:
SDDSC138, drilled up to 250 m below surface, confirmed twelve vein sets from Rising Sun to Golden Dyke. The hole demonstrated high-grade continuity in three vein sets and defined nine new vein sets. The hole included 15 intercepts of Au > 20 g/t (up to 183 g/t Au) and 19 intercepts of Sb > 5% (up to 33.8% Sb). Selected highlights include:
3.3 m @ 34.1 g/t AuEq (24.6 g/t Au, 5.0% Sb) from 294.6 m, including:
1.8 m @ 62.3 g/t AuEq (44.8 g/t Au, 9.3% Sb) from 294.6 m
12.9 m @ 7.4 g/t AuEq (4.5 g/t Au, 1.6% Sb) from 311.0 m, including:
3.1 m @ 20.2 g/t AuEq (11.3 g/t Au, 4.7% Sb) from 316.9 m
SDDSC132, drilled up to 480 m below surface, is the deepest reported hole drilled east-west at Golden Dyke. The hole intercepted six vein sets across Rising Sun and Golden Dyke, five of which are new. Selected highlights include:
2.2 m @ 16.7 g/t AuEq (13.0 g/t Au, 2.0% Sb) from 146.2 m, including:
0.3 m @ 110.1 g/t AuEq (77.0 g/t Au, 17.6% Sb) from 146.4 m
6.5 m @ 4.7 g/t AuEq (3.0 g/t Au, 0.9% Sb) from 541.9 m, including:
2.6 m @ 10.5 g/t AuEq (6.9 g/t Au, 1.9% Sb) from 543.2 m
Ongoing Exploration: The company has planned a significant number of further holes under Golden Dyke, with 60 km of diamond drilling planned at Sunday Creek over the next year. Twenty-two holes are currently being processed and analysed with an additional five holes in progress. Five rigs are operating with a sixth rig due at site during early November 2024.
Mawson owns 96,590,910 shares of SXG (48.7%), valuing its stake at A$317.8 million (C$293.3 million) based on SXG's closing price on October 15, 2024 AEDT.
Michael Hudson, Mawson Interim CEO and Executive Chairman, states: "The Sunday Creek project keeps on delivering, this time through more high-grade gold and antimony results from our deepest holes under the most prolific historic mine, Golden Dyke, which now joins Rising Sun and Apollo as the third high-grade mineralised prospect at Sunday Creek.
"Sunday Creek continues to expand and be better understood through our systematic drill program. SDDSC138 has revealed twelve vein sets, including nine that were previously unmodelled. High-grade intercepts, such as 1.8 m @ 62.3 g/t AuEq from 294.6 m, confirm that the system continues below the historic Golden Dyke mine and west of the prior globally-leading drill results we have already delivered below the historic Rising Sun and Apollo mines.
"Importantly, SDDSC132, drilled up to 480 m below surface is our deepest east-west hole at Golden Dyke to date, intercepted six vein sets, indicating that the mineralisation extends at depth as it does at Rising Sun and Apollo immediately to its east. This hole was targeted to test up to 140 m below our previously reported SDDSC130 and demonstrates continuity of the system, that is crucial for our ongoing definition work.
"The Golden Dyke area is situated 260 m west of Rising Sun and 600 m west of Apollo and represents a significant expansion of the known mineralised footprint at the exciting Sunday Creek project. These results are particularly significant as they establish a third distinct high-grade mineralised zone within the Sunday Creek project. The identification of this new zone, alongside the previously known Rising Sun and Apollo areas, substantially increases the project's potential.
"With our planned 60 km diamond drilling program over the coming year, we expect to further delineate these zones and potentially uncover additional mineralised areas, that could significantly expand our mineral inventory at Sunday Creek.
"Strategically, these exciting discoveries compliment recent SXG releases that outline additional freehold land acquisitions, regional geophysical surveys and the Scheme of Arrangement with Mawson Gold Ltd that will lead to a consolidated ownership of Sunday Creek, as well as a dual listing in Australia and Canada on both the ASX and TSXV respectively."
Drill Hole Discussion
SDDSC138 was drilled east to west, parallel to and within the dyke/breccia host structure (the ladder "rails") and intercepted twelve mineralised vein sets (the ladder "rungs") across Rising Sun and Golden Dyke, while testing a prospective corridor of 292 m (cumulative downhole length of dyke and sericite/carbonate altered sediment). SDDSC138 included 15 intercepts of Au > 20 g/t (up to 183 g/t Au) and 19 intercepts of Sb > 5% (up to 33.8% Sb). This hole drilled up to 250 m below surface and 55 m to 85 m above and parallel to SDDSC130 (reported September 05, 2024) which provided continuity of mineralised structures, some relatively close to surface:
Extended highlights from SDDSC138 include:
0.3 m @ 38.3 g/t AuEq (24.7 g/t Au, 7.3% Sb) from 131.9 m, including:
0.1 m @ 122.2 g/t AuEq (77.5 g/t Au, 23.8% Sb) from 131.9 m
1.9 m @ 2.0 g/t AuEq (0.7 g/t Au, 0.7% Sb) from 143.2 m
1.2 m @ 8.4 g/t AuEq (8.2 g/t Au, 0.1% Sb) from 285.9 m
3.3 m @ 34.1 g/t AuEq (24.6 g/t Au, 5.0% Sb) from 294.6 m, including:
1.8 m @ 62.3 g/t AuEq (44.8 g/t Au, 9.3% Sb) from 294.6 m
1.0 m @ 2.9 g/t AuEq (0.7 g/t Au, 1.2% Sb) from 302.5 m
12.9 m @ 7.4 g/t AuEq (4.5 g/t Au, 1.6% Sb) from 311.0 m, including:
0.4 m @ 20.3 g/t AuEq (16.4 g/t Au, 2.1% Sb) from 311.0 m
1.6 m @ 11.9 g/t AuEq (7.9 g/t Au, 2.1% Sb) from 313.0 m
3.1 m @ 20.2 g/t AuEq (11.3 g/t Au, 4.7% Sb) from 316.9 m
3.0 m @ 3.1 g/t AuEq (2.8 g/t Au, 0.2% Sb) from 336.2 m, including:
1.0 m @ 5.5 g/t AuEq (5.2 g/t Au, 0.1% Sb) from 337.7 m
6.9 m @ 3.2 g/t AuEq (2.1 g/t Au, 0.6% Sb) from 351.6 m, including:
2.0 m @ 5.3 g/t AuEq (4.0 g/t Au, 0.7% Sb) from 354.0 m
4.7 m @ 1.1 g/t AuEq (0.9 g/t Au, 0.1% Sb) from 367.5 m
0.7 m @ 3.7 g/t AuEq (1.1 g/t Au, 1.4% Sb) from 380.9 m
2.4 m @ 1.7 g/t AuEq (1.1 g/t Au, 0.3% Sb) from 386.1 m
1.4 m @ 3.7 g/t AuEq (2.9 g/t Au, 0.4% Sb) from 398.3 m
0.6 m @ 3.6 g/t AuEq (2.9 g/t Au, 0.4% Sb) from 402.3 m
4.5 m @ 3.9 g/t AuEq (3.2 g/t Au, 0.4% Sb) from 405.2 m, including:
1.1 m @ 10.8 g/t AuEq (9.9 g/t Au, 0.5% Sb) from 408.2 m
10.5 m @ 6.2 g/t AuEq (4.2 g/t Au, 1.1% Sb) from 414.0 m, including:
1.8 m @ 9.7 g/t AuEq (6.7 g/t Au, 1.6% Sb) from 414.0 m
0.2 m @ 80.1 g/t AuEq (78.2 g/t Au, 1.0% Sb) from 417.0 m
2.7 m @ 7.5 g/t AuEq (3.9 g/t Au, 1.9% Sb) from 421.8 m
1.1 m @ 17.4 g/t AuEq (12.9 g/t Au, 2.4% Sb) from 427.6 m
0.8 m @ 3.0 g/t AuEq (0.5 g/t Au, 1.3% Sb) from 434.4 m
3.5 m @ 1.3 g/t AuEq (0.4 g/t Au, 0.5% Sb) from 439.3 m
1.7 m @ 41.7 g/t AuEq (38.3 g/t Au, 1.8% Sb) from 445.0 m
8.5 m @ 4.8 g/t AuEq (1.7 g/t Au, 1.7% Sb) from 453.4 m, including:
0.5 m @ 22.2 g/t AuEq (9.7 g/t Au, 6.6% Sb) from 456.7 m
0.9 m @ 22.8 g/t AuEq (3.2 g/t Au, 10.4% Sb) from 458.6 m
SDDSC132, drilled up to 480 m below surface, is the deepest reported east to west drill hole (parallel to the ladder "rails") drilled at the Golden Dyke prospect, with two deeper holes being processed/in progress (SDDSC141 and SDDSC147). The hole intercepted six high-grade vein sets across Rising Sun and Golden Dyke (Figures 1 to 3), while testing a prospective corridor of 210 m (cumulative downhole length of dyke and sericite/carbonate altered sediment). SDDSC132 was drilled up to 140 m below and parallel to SDDSC130. The hole included five intervals of > 20 g/t Au (up to 77.0 g/t Au) and five intervals > 5% Sb (up to 17.6% Sb).
Extended highlights from SDDSC132 include:
0.8 m @ 6.5 g/t AuEq (6.5 g/t Au, 0.0% Sb) from 126.0 m
2.2 m @ 16.7 g/t AuEq (13.0 g/t Au, 2.0% Sb) from 146.2 m, including:
0.3 m @ 110.1 g/t AuEq (77.0 g/t Au, 17.6% Sb) from 146.4 m
0.4 m @ 21.0 g/t AuEq (20.9 g/t Au, 0.0% Sb) from 148.0 m
3.3 m @ 1.2 g/t AuEq (0.7 g/t Au, 0.3% Sb) from 151.2 m
1.8 m @ 2.3 g/t AuEq (2.3 g/t Au, 0.0% Sb) from 162.1 m
1.6 m @ 3.6 g/t AuEq (3.2 g/t Au, 0.2% Sb) from 170.8 m
3.5 m @ 4.0 g/t AuEq (2.8 g/t Au, 0.7% Sb) from 186.6 m, including:
0.1 m @ 57.8 g/t AuEq (28.5 g/t Au, 15.6% Sb) from 186.6 m
1.7 m @ 2.4 g/t AuEq (1.9 g/t Au, 0.2% Sb) from 534.3 m
6.5 m @ 4.7 g/t AuEq (3.0 g/t Au, 0.9% Sb) from 541.9 m, including:
2.6 m @ 10.5 g/t AuEq (6.9 g/t Au, 1.9% Sb) from 543.2 m
3.6 m @ 3.9 g/t AuEq (3.0 g/t Au, 0.5% Sb) from 550.8 m, including:
1.8 m @ 4.4 g/t AuEq (2.8 g/t Au, 0.8% Sb) from 550.8 m
3.6 m @ 1.0 g/t AuEq (0.7 g/t Au, 0.2% Sb) from 570.2 m
1.4 m @ 2.1 g/t AuEq (0.3 g/t Au, 1.0% Sb) from 588.5 m
0.7 m @ 2.9 g/t AuEq (1.7 g/t Au, 0.6% Sb) from 610.3 m.
Pending Results and Update
Twenty-two holes (SDDSC129, 131, 133-137, 139-143, 146, 050W1, 050W2, 092W1, 092W2, 137W1, 137W2) are currently being processed and analyzed, with five holes (SDDSC120W1, 144, 145, 146W1, 147) in progress (Figure 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, especially including SDDSC130 announced in this press release (Figure 2).
Table 1. Sunday Creek Exploration Target for Apollo and Rising Sun at the Sunday Creek Project
Range | Tonnes (Mt) | AuEq g/t* | Au g/t | Sb % | Au Eq (Moz) | Au (Moz) | Sb (kt) |
Lower Case | 4.4 | 7.2 | 5.3 | 1.2 | 1.0 | 0.74 | 53.5 |
Upper Case | 5.1 | 9.7 | 7.8 | 1.2 | 1.6 | 1.28 | 62.8 |
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.
About Sunday Creek
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 133.29 hectares that form the key portion in and around the main drilled area at the Sunday Creek Project.
Gold and antimony form in a relay of vein sets that cut across a steeply dipping zone of intensely altered rocks (the "host"). When observed from above, the host resembles the side rails of a ladder, where the sub-vertical mineralised vein sets are the rungs that extend from surface to depth. At Apollo and Rising Sun these individual ‘rungs' have been defined over 600 m depth extent from surface to 1,100 m below surface, are 2.5 m to 3.5 m wide (median widths) (and up to 10 m), and 20 m to 100 m in strike.
Cumulatively, 136 drill holes for 61,969 m have been reported by SXG (and Mawson Gold Ltd) from Sunday Creek since late 2020. An additional 11 holes for 566 m from Sunday Creek were abandoned due to deviation or hole conditions. Fourteen drillholes for 2,383 m have been reported regionally outside of the main Sunday Creek drill area. A total of 64 historic drill holes for 5,599 m were completed from the late 1960s to 2008. The project now contains a total of forty-six (46) >100 g/t AuEq x m and fifty-five (55) >50 to 100 g/t AuEq x m drill holes by applying a 2 m @ 1 g/t lower cut.
Our systematic drill program is strategically targeting these significant vein formations, initially these have been defined over 1,350 m strike of the host from Christina to Apollo prospects, of which approximately 620 m has been more intensively drill tested (Rising Sun to Apollo). At least 62 ‘rungs' have been defined to date, defined by high-grade intercepts (20 g/t to >7,330 g/t Au) along with lower grade edges. Ongoing step-out drilling is aiming to uncover the potential extent of this mineralised system.
Geologically, the project is located within the Melbourne Structural Zone in the Lachlan Fold Belt. The regional host to the Sunday Creek mineralisation is an interbedded turbidite sequence of siltstones and minor sandstones metamorphosed to sub-greenschist facies and folded into a set of open north-west trending folds.
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.
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 at an AuEq of 1.88.
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:
