Including 0.5 metres @ 2,541.9 g/t gold
VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / December 9, 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 released results from five drill holes from the Apollo prospect, with yet another significant discovery of 186 m @ 8.8 g/t Au * ("gold") (uncut) including 0.5 m @ 2,541.9 g/t Au at its 100%-owned Sunday Creek Gold-Antimony Project in Victoria. At Apollo, as for the adjacent Rising Sun mineralization, grades are increasing at depth.
High Level Take Away:
Sunday Creek Latest Results Setting New Records and Validating Growth Potential
The latest drill results continue to reinforce Sunday Creek as one of the best gold-antimony discoveries in the world, with a globally leading drill hit rate (fifty greater than 100 g/t AuEq x m from152 holes for 67,623 m drilled). Discovery hole number SDDSC145 delivered exceptional gold grades, including:
2,541.9 g/t Au over 0.5 metres , representing the third-highest composite intercept in the project's history
4,880.0 g/t Au over 0.3 metres within this interval, being the highest-grade assay at Apollo and second highest across the entire project
A broader mineralized zone of 8.8 g/t Au over 186 metres* (uncut), traversing 8 distinct high-grade vein sets
These intersections rank among the most impressive gold intercepts reported globally in recent years and are typical of the geology in the region, where spectacular high-grade gold is found at depth.
The systematic approach of testing the extensions of the deposit to depth has identified eight distinct mineralized vein-sets within SDDSC145. These vein-sets are like a "Golden Ladder" structure where the main host (100 m to 200 m wide) extends between the side rails deep into the earth, with multiple cross-cutting vein sets that host the gold forming rungs. These rungs are characterized by high-grade intercepts ranging from 20 g/t to over 7,330 g/t Au mineralization with at least 67 defined to date.
Approximately 20% of Sunday Creek's in-situ recoverable value is from antimony. Sunday Creek is on track to become one of the most significant antimony projects in the Western world. China last week ratcheted up further supply pressure, imposing an outright ban on exports of antimony to the United States. This positions the project as one of the few significant future antimony sources in the Western worl d at a time when defence supply chains face mounting pressure sourcing antimony and other critical metals.
Further drill results from the fourteen holes being processed at the laboratory will be soon released. SXG has one of the larger exploration drill programs globally with five rigs (moving to six shortly) drilling with 60,000 m planned by Q3 2025.
The combination of a globally significant discovery with exceptional gold grades and strategic antimony content, in a tier-one jurisdiction an hour by road from Melbourne, suggests that the next 12 months of SXG's systematic exploration and pre-developments plans will prove transformative.
For Those Who Like the Details:
SDDSC145 , drilled 186.0 m @ 9.6 g/t AuEq (8.8 g/t Au, 0.4% Sb ) * (uncut) which included nine intercepts of >50 g/t Au (up to 4,880.0 g/t Au over 0.3 m from 876.7 m) and eight intercepts of >5% Sb (up to 32.2% Sb) . Eight mineralized high-grade vein-sets were intersected with five being new discoveries outside the January 2024 exploration target area. Selected highlights including:
11.6 m @ 5.8 g/t AuEq (3.5 g/t Au, 1.3% Sb) from 708.6 m
8.0 m @ 11.9 g/t AuEq (10.6 g/t Au, 0.7% Sb) from 722.5 m, including:
0.5 m @ 133.2 g/t AuEq (131.2 g/t Au, 1.1% Sb) from 724.4 m
1.5 m @ 29.4 g/t AuEq (18.9 g/t Au, 5.6% Sb) from 753.2 m
0.9 m @ 45.9 g/t AuEq (44.1 g/t Au, 0.9% Sb) from 797.2 m
0.5 m @ 93.4 g/t AuEq (48.9 g/t Au, 23.6% Sb) from 828.8 m
2.3 m @ 19.2 g/t AuEq (19.2 g/t Au, 0.0% Sb) from 870.6 m
0.5 m @ 2,544.0 g/t AuEq (2,541.9 g/t Au, 1.1% Sb) from 876.4 m
4.8 m @ 21.8 g/t AuEq (14.7 g/t Au, 3.8% Sb) from 887.2 m, including
1.7 m @ 59.8 g/t AuEq (40.4 g/t Au, 10.3% Sb) from 890.3 m
SDDSC143, drilled 155 m up-dip of SDDSC145 intercepted nine vein mineralized vein sets and included five intercepts of >20 g/t Au (up to 86.6 g/t Au)and twelve intercepts of >5% Sb (up to 34.9%) . Selected highlights include:
2.8 m @ 17.5 g/t AuEq (9.9 g/t Au, 4.1% Sb) from 525.0 m, including:
1.6 m @ 29.7 g/t AuEq (16.1 g/t Au, 7.2% Sb) from 525.6 m
3.1 m @ 8.8 g/t AuEq (4.9 g/t Au, 2.1% Sb) from 630.4 m, including:
1.6 m @ 14.6 g/t AuEq (7.3 g/t Au, 3.9% Sb) from 631.9 m
Ongoing Exploration: Fourteen holes are currently being processed and analysed, with five holes in progress (Figure 1 and 2).
Mawson owns 96,590,910 shares of SXG (48.7%), valuing its stake at A$313.9 million (C$315.3 million) based on SXG's closing price on December 6, 2024 AEDT.
Michael Hudson, Mawson Interim CEO and Executive Chairman, states : "Sunday Creek again proves truly remarkable as demonstrated by these outstanding results. The intersection of 4,880 g/t Au over 0.3 metres in SDDSC145 marks not only the highest grade ever intersected at Apollo, but also stands as our second-highest grade across the entire project. Importantly, these high-grade results demonstrate excellent vertical continuity, with SDDSC145 extending our known high-grade mineralization 76 m down-dip.
"These latest drill results represent a significant advancement in understanding the deposit's scale and grade potential. Five vein sets were new discoveries outside the January 2024 exploration target area, including the 0.5 m @2,541.9 g/t Au intersection.
"The results align with the characteristic pattern of Victorian epizonal deposits, where grades typically improve at depth. We are now seeing Apollo mirror these same characteristics (as did the adjacent mineralized body at Rising Sun), as we explore deeper vertically below 600 m.
"Our systematic drilling approach continues to yield compelling high-grade and continuous drill results. The combination of exceptional gold grades and significant antimony content distinguishes Sunday Creek globally, particularly given antimony's critical metal status and limited production outside China, accentuated by the current export restrictions and bans from China.
"With fourteen holes currently being processed and five rigs actively drilling, our exploration program maintains strong momentum. These results further strengthen our conviction that Sunday Creek has the potential to emerge as a globally significant gold-antimony discovery right here in Victoria, just an hour by road from Melbourne."
Drill Hole Discussion
Results from drill holes SDDSC133, SDDSC136, SDDSC139, SDDSC143 and SDDSC145 (Figures 1 and 2) at the Apollo prospect at the 100%-owned Sunday Creek Gold-Antimony Project in Victoria are described below (Figure 4).
Drill hole SDDSC145 continues the systematic stepdown drilling program at Apollo, delivering exceptional results including a 0.5 m intersection grading 2,554 g/t AuEq. The hole achieved the highest-grade gold intersection ever recorded at Apollo and the second highest across the entire Sunday Creek Project, while also representing the fourth highest composite intercept to date.
The hole was strategically drilled parallel to the mineralized corridor (but at a high angle to the mineralized vein sets), testing a prospective window of 310 m within the host position and averaged 186.0 m @ 9.6 g/t AuEq (8.8 g/t Au, 0.4% Sb ) * (uncut).
A key achievement was extending the high-grade core of the A138 vein set in SDDSC145 0.5 m @ 2,544.0 g/t AuEq (2,541.9 g/t Au, 1.1% Sb) from 876.4 m, by 76 m down-dip below previously drilled SDDSC0128 0.3 m @ 43.4 g/t AuEq (28.6 g/t Au, 7.9% Sb) from 704.7 m, confirming strong vertical continuity of the mineralization (Figure 2).
Significant mineralization was intersected throughout the hole from 708 m to 890 m depth, with the deepest sections (>870 m) yielding some of the most impressive grades. This pattern of increasing grade with depth aligns with typical characteristics of Victorian epizonal deposits.
The drill hole intersected eight distinct mineralized vein-sets:
Four represent down-dip extensions
Four are infill intersections
Nine intervals exceeded 50 g/t Au (with a high of 4,880.0 g/t Au)
Eight intervals contained over 5% antimony (Sb), with values up to 32.2% Sb
These multiple high-grade zones demonstrate the presence of a robust mineralising system that continues to improve with depth, supporting the ongoing systematic deeper drilling program at Apollo. At Apollo, as for the adjacent Rising Sun mineralization, grades are increasing at depth. Extended highlights include:
2.1 m @ 1.3 g/t AuEq (1.3 g/t Au, 0.0% Sb) from 548.8 m
11.6 m @ 5.8 g/t AuEq (3.5 g/t Au, 1.3% Sb) from 708.6 m, including:
1.6 m @ 9.8 g/t AuEq (6.5 g/t Au, 1.8% Sb) from 710.2 m
2.7 m @ 7.3 g/t AuEq (3.8 g/t Au, 1.9% Sb) from 713.0 m
1.8 m @ 11.7 g/t AuEq (6.4 g/t Au, 2.8% Sb) from 716.9 m
8.0 m @ 11.9 g/t AuEq (10.6 g/t Au, 0.7% Sb) from 722.5 m, including:
0.5 m @ 133.2 g/t AuEq (131.2 g/t Au, 1.1% Sb) from 724.4 m
2.2 m @ 6.5 g/t AuEq (4.2 g/t Au, 1.2% Sb) from 727.5 m
2.0 m @ 1.1 g/t AuEq (0.5 g/t Au, 0.3% Sb) from 733.4 m
1.5 m @ 29.4 g/t AuEq (18.9 g/t Au, 5.6% Sb) from 753.2 m, including:
0.7 m @ 62.9 g/t AuEq (39.8 g/t Au, 12.3% Sb) from 753.4 m
6.2 m @ 1.3 g/t AuEq (0.6 g/t Au, 0.4% Sb) from 758.8 m
5.4 m @ 2.0 g/t AuEq (1.2 g/t Au, 0.5% Sb) from 781.1 m, including:
1.2 m @ 5.5 g/t AuEq (2.3 g/t Au, 1.7% Sb) from 783.9 m
0.9 m @ 45.9 g/t AuEq (44.1 g/t Au, 0.9% Sb) from 797.2 m, including:
0.3 m @ 130.5 g/t AuEq (127.0 g/t Au, 1.9% Sb) from 797.2 m
1.4 m @ 5.2 g/t AuEq (4.2 g/t Au, 0.5% Sb) from 801.7 m, including:
0.4 m @ 15.5 g/t AuEq (13.1 g/t Au, 1.3% Sb) from 801.7 m
4.1 m @ 1.4 g/t AuEq (0.5 g/t Au, 0.5% Sb) from 805.6 m
1.3 m @ 8.0 g/t AuEq (3.6 g/t Au, 2.4% Sb) from 822.5 m
0.5 m @ 93.4 g/t AuEq (48.9 g/t Au, 23.6% Sb) from 828.8 m
1.8 m @ 4.4 g/t AuEq (2.6 g/t Au, 0.9% Sb) from 837.3 m, including:
1.5 m @ 4.6 g/t AuEq (2.7 g/t Au, 1.0% Sb) from 837.3 m
2.3 m @ 19.2 g/t AuEq (19.2 g/t Au, 0.0% Sb) from 870.6 m, including:
0.5 m @ 85.3 g/t AuEq (85.2 g/t Au, 0.1% Sb) from 872.3 m
0.5 m @ 2,544.0 g/t AuEq (2,541.9 g/t Au, 1.1% Sb) from 876.4 m
4.8 m @ 21.8 g/t AuEq (14.7 g/t Au, 3.8% Sb) from 887.2 m, including:
1.7 m @ 59.8 g/t AuEq (40.4 g/t Au, 10.3% Sb) from 890.3 m
Drill hole SDDSC143 , positioned 155 m up-dip from SDDSC145, successfully tested a 224 m prospective corridor, delivering strong infill results across nine mineralized vein sets. The hole extended three high-grade vein sets by 20 m to 40 m while returning five intercepts greater than 20 g/t Au (with values up to 86.6 g/t Au) and twelve intercepts exceeding 5% Sb (reaching up to 34.9% Sb) . This infill hole has effectively enhanced the understanding of the mineralization between previously drilled sections. Extended highlights include:
1.5 m @ 8.0 g/t AuEq (3.9 g/t Au, 2.2% Sb) from 449.7 m
1.6 m @ 2.1 g/t AuEq (1.5 g/t Au, 0.4% Sb) from 459.9 m
1.9 m @ 1.6 g/t AuEq (0.5 g/t Au, 0.6% Sb) from 496.9 m
2.1 m @ 5.3 g/t AuEq (4.5 g/t Au, 0.4% Sb) from 508.1 m, including:
0.5 m @ 21.4 g/t AuEq (20.2 g/t Au, 0.7% Sb) from 509.8 m
2.8 m @ 17.5 g/t AuEq (9.9 g/t Au, 4.1% Sb) from 525.0 m, including:
1.6 m @ 29.7 g/t AuEq (16.1 g/t Au, 7.2% Sb) from 525.6 m
4.9 m @ 1.5 g/t AuEq (1.1 g/t Au, 0.2% Sb) from 537.7 m
1.3 m @ 5.1 g/t AuEq (3.7 g/t Au, 0.8% Sb) from 545.3 m
5.4 m @ 1.8 g/t AuEq (1.0 g/t Au, 0.4% Sb) from 553.3 m
3.7 m @ 1.0 g/t AuEq (0.8 g/t Au, 0.1% Sb) from 602.4 m
2.5 m @ 6.4 g/t AuEq (2.0 g/t Au, 2.3% Sb) from 611.9 m, including:
0.4 m @ 34.3 g/t AuEq (7.2 g/t Au, 14.4% Sb) from 612.4 m
3.1 m @ 8.8 g/t AuEq (4.9 g/t Au, 2.1% Sb) from 630.4 m, including:
1.6 m @ 14.6 g/t AuEq (7.3 g/t Au, 3.9% Sb) from 631.9 m
0.9 m @ 21.9 g/t AuEq (12.1 g/t Au, 5.2% Sb) from 640.8 m, including:
0.6 m @ 34.0 g/t AuEq (18.5 g/t Au, 8.2% Sb) from 641.2 m
0.8 m @ 3.5 g/t AuEq (0.8 g/t Au, 1.5% Sb) from 649.9 m
Drill hole SDDSC139 , originally designed to extend vein sets at Apollo East, deviated from its planned trajectory and was unsuccessful at intersecting the original target position. While the hole intersected four mineralized zones, only one achieved significant grades - the A130 vein set, which returned 1.1 m @ 19.2 g/t AuEq. The hole included three intercepts of >10 g/t Au (up to 77.5 g/t Au) and three intercepts of >5% Sb (up to 7.36% Sb) . Extended highlights include:
0.7 m @ 3.6 g/t AuEq (0.8 g/t Au, 1.5% Sb) from 367.5 m
0.9 m @ 5.5 g/t AuEq (1.6 g/t Au, 2.1% Sb) from 395.1 m
0.2 m @ 13.1 g/t AuEq (3.7 g/t Au, 5.0% Sb) from 401.2 m
1.1 m @ 19.2 g/t AuEq (16.4 g/t Au, 1.5% Sb) from 436.3 m, including:
0.9 m @ 21.2 g/t AuEq (18.4 g/t Au, 1.5% Sb) from 436.3 m
SDDSC133 and SDDSC136 were designed as control holes at Apollo East, with the intention to locate the dyke position. Both holes drilled N-S striking faults at the expected dyke location and hence did not intercept the dyke body. SDDSC133 intercepted the Goliath Fault, and SDDSC136 intercepted the Gatekeeper Fault.
Highlight from SDDSC136:
1.6 m @ 2.6 g/t AuEq (2.6 g/t Au, 0.0% Sb) from 147.0 m
Pending Results and Update
Fourteen holes (SDDSC120W1, 129, 140, 142, 144, 146, 146W1, 147-151, 153, 155) are currently being processed and analyzed, with five holes (SDDSC149W1, 152, 154, 155A, 157) in progress (Figures 1 and 2).
Further Information
No upper gold grade cut is applied in the averaging and intervals are reported as drill thickness. However, during future Mineral Resource studies, the requirement for assay top cutting will be assessed. The Company notes that due to rounding of assay results to one significant figure, minor variations in calculated composite grades may occur.
Figures 1 to 4 show project location, plan and longitudinal views of drill results reported here and Tables 2 to 4 provide collar and assay data. The true thickness of the mineralized intervals reported individually as estimated true widths ("ETW"), otherwise they are interpreted to be approximately 25% to 50% 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 unless otherwise* specified to demonstrate higher grade assays.
About Sunday Creek
The Sunday Creek epizonal-style gold project is located 60 km north of Melbourne within 16,900 hectares ("Ha") of granted exploration tenements. SXG is also the freehold landholder of 133.29 Ha that form the key portion in and around the main drilled area at the Sunday Creek Project and is closing on a 921.22 Ha (total 1,054.51 Ha or 2,605.8 acres) subject to Foreign Investment Board ("FIRB") approval.
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 mineralized 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, 152 drill holes for 67,623.19 m have been reported by SXG (and Mawson Gold Ltd) from Sunday Creek since late 2020. An additional 12 holes for 582.55 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 fifty (50) >100 g/t AuEq x m and fifty-eight (58) >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 67 ‘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 mineralized system (Figure 3).
Geologically, the project is located within the Melbourne Structural Zone in the Lachlan Fold Belt. The regional host to the Sunday Creek mineralization 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 fold.
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 (in shallower areas broadly above holes report here) and Rising Sun, as at the time these areas only contained sufficient drilling to determine continuity and infer grade ranges. Significant potential exists to increase the size of the exploration target with high grade drill results now drilled for up to 650 m beyond the Exploration Target area.
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 volume of the modeled areas determines the potential tonnage statement in the exploration target. The grade range given in the exploration target is determined with consideration to the drill results within the modeled exploration target area and consideration of the geological setting in an established mining camp. The potential tonnages and grades are conceptual in nature and are based on previous drill results that defined the approximate length, thickness, depth and grade of the portion of the historic mineral resource estimate. There has been insufficient exploration to define a current mineral resource and the Company cautions that there is a risk further exploration will not result in the delineation of a current mineral resource.
The gold equivalent calculation applied for exploration target was
