Categories: Precious Metals
Topics: General Precious Metals

Mawson Gold (TSX: MAW) CEO Michael Hudson on Finding More High-Grade Gold with Latest Drill Results from Sunday Creek Project in the Victorian Goldfields of Australia

Gerardo Del Real: This is Gerardo Del Real with Resource Stock Digest. Joining me today is the Chairman and CEO of Mawson Gold (TSX: MAW)(OTC: MWSNF), Mr. Michael Hudson. Mike, how are you?

Michael Hudson: G'day, Gerardo.

Gerardo Del Real: The last time you and I spoke, I sensed that there was more gold to be found. You just announced that you drilled 21 meters of 3.4 grams per tonne gold and 5 meters at 5.2 grams per tonne gold at Sunday Creek in Victoria, Australia. Three holes now all with significant mineralization. Can you give us some context there, Mike?

Michael Hudson: Yeah, this is our 100%-owned epizonal or Fosterville-style gold project in Victoria. We have two other areas in joint venture that we're working on. Sunday Creek's 100% owned. We're drilling there again now. We put three holes in last month and the results are now all out. This is following up of from a drill hole where we had from surface 15 meters at 3.8 grams, I think, off the top of my head. We've drilled underneath that and we've intersected what is very significant broad, wide zones with some nice high-grade, thinner zones within those. The context is great.

This is below the supergene oxidized rocks that we saw in our first hole. It's the first time we've seen hypogene, or non-oxide gold, which is a huge point to make, because this is one of the deepest intersections now ever drilled on this project and the first time diamond drill core has ever been intersected into these mineralized zones. We see the context and it looks great. It will continue to depth. It's continuing along strike. So lots of gold right out the back from Victoria. The strong start continues.

Gerardo Del Real: That's an understatement. You have a drill rig that's been mobilized back to Sunday Creek. You also have one turning seven days a week at the Redcastle project. How is that coming along?

Michael Hudson: Redcastle was drilled after Sunday Creek, so all those results are still in progress. We've drilled something like, I think, six or seven drill holes at Redcastle now. We anticipate the results from those first holes. We're going to drill probably another four or five holes at Redcastle over the next three to four weeks and then we hope to mobilize the rig after that to the new joint venture at Whroo that we announced over the last week or so. So we'll have three projects drilled before the end of the year. 

The rig that's at Sunday Creek, we don't see that moving. I mean, there's a lot of gold here. The most exciting thing that we're doing at Sunday Creek outside of the drilling is we just mobilized a geophysical crew also, that's mentioned in this release. So they are going to be running IP, geophysics and ground mag and starting to put all these results into context that really hasn't been done before, as is what is happening at Redcastle at the moment, too. Come into view, we'll have a number of holes in lots of different projects with good, strong structural context and be ready to launch beyond that. But what a start.

Gerardo Del Real: Can you talk a bit about the technical team? Listen, you know that I review deals all the time and people pitch stuff and I look into things and I reach out to people. Obviously, this part of the world is one of the hottest gold addresses on the planet right now. What I'm starting to see is a big disconnect between teams that are technically astute in these types of systems and teams that maybe are able to acquire assets in this part of the world, but haven't yet put together the kind of team that is necessary to properly test and explore these types of systems. 

You have one of the better teams in the area. Can you speak to that a bit? Because it's important for the next part of this gold cycle, which I think, we're going to have a phenomenal 2021, but the difference between going up and staying up and going higher oftentimes is the technical team.

Michael Hudson: Well, ultimately it's all about discovery driving value. You've got to have ore finders that can make those discoveries. So it is a key point. I suppose Mawson, under my leadership, has always prided itself in being technically competent and not just technically competent, but with the ability to make discoveries. Those are two different things there, but if you can find strong technical people who want to make discoveries, that really is the ultimate team. 

I can say that I've put together a number of teams around the world. I'm in my own backyard here again now for the first time in two decades. I've been humbled with the team that we can put together. So we've got some very senior geologists who've come out of Costerfield, Redcastle's immediate extensions of that Costerfield mine that's produced more than 1 million ounces, 1.2 million ounces, over the last decade or so.

That's one key skill to have people who know and understand the local geology and the local mine geology and have the impetuousness to make new discoveries. Then we've been able to bring into the team some very senior people who've come out of some of them majors here in Australia. So we've got a key geophysicist, which is a very big part of our story, of course, in terms of understanding the structural controls that are key to understanding these systems. 

Really, as I've said, nobody's cared about looking in Victoria for 120 years, so certainly nobody's cared to understand how these systems work. Outside of Fosterville, of course, they've got a huge team there and they've got a much better idea about how the ore forms. But nobody's looked outside of Fosterville for these systems, so we're sort of working from first principles. 

We've got key consultants who are structural experts and then, of course, our Chief Geologist, Nick Cook, who's been locked up in Queensland. I can't wait to let him back onto these rocks when he can come back to Victoria. Of course, Victoria's just come out of a very strict 120-day lockdown. With new and existing people within the team, we're pretty well-placed, a crack team of a handful of senior explorers who are motivated to make discovery. We've got the resources to do so.

Gerardo Del Real: A lot of news flow between now and end of year. You want to summarize it briefly?

Michael Hudson: Lots of drill results is the summary. Nine rigs turning on four projects around the world, five up in Finland and two here in Victoria, one that's just completing a drill hole fully funded in Queensland, and then a partner drilling in Oregon, which is also another exciting program. So lots of results.

Gerardo Del Real: Excellent. Looking forward to it. Mike, thank you very much.

Michael Hudson: Thanks, Gerardo.

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