Mawson Gold Limited (TSE:MAW) (OTCPINK:MWSNF) (FRA:MXR) said it now has four rigs turning at its giant Rajapalot project in Finland to complete 20 kilometres (km) of resource expansion drilling.
The work is aimed at expanding the 716,000 ounces of gold-equivalent inferred resource at the gold-cobalt property and is planned to be completed by the middle of April this year.
READ: Mawson Gold reports more high-grade gold and cobalt from Joki East prospect in Finland
"With a later than normal start to winter conditions through Northern Europe, we are now up to full speed with 4 drill rigs in operation in Finland," said Mike Hudson, Mawson's CEO in a statement.
"This is another key drill season as we continue to build a resource of substantial size, in combination with the early stages of environmental impact assessment, permitting and land-use planning studies that are being undertaken for potential future mine development."
The program includes infill drilling to extend high-grade zones already in the resource areas such as at the Palokas target, where assays have included an intersection of seven metres at 17 grams per ton (g/t) gold, 2,168 parts per million (ppm) cobalt, 18.5 g/t gold-equivalent (AuEq) from 251.4 metres.
Also tested will be potential near-surface areas of mineralization, such as at The Hut, Terry's Hammer and Rumajärvi prospects.
For example, previous scout drilling at Terry's Hammer hit 4.7 metres at 2.1 g/t gold from 65.7 metres in one hole. At The Hut, which sits 600 metres south of the South Palokas area, 3m at 6.4 g/t gold and 722 ppm cobalt from 140.4 metres was uncovered.
Drill results from Rumajärvi, which lies on the western flank of the mineralized Rajapalot trend, have included 7.4m at 3.4 g/t gold, 597 ppm cobalt, 4.4 g/t gold-equivalent from 93.7 metres.
Hudson added: "Along with the success of the 2020 winter program, and our continued discovery of new areas of mineralization at Joki East, we are excited to see what the drill bit will deliver over the coming months and the substantial news flow that will be generated."
Last month, Mawson reported more high-grade gold and cobalt results from drilling on the Joki East prospect. Eight holes were completed at the target and mineralization remains open in all directions and now extends over an area of at least 130 metres by 35 metres, the company had said.
Mason is focused on flagship Rajapalot but also owns or is joint venturing into three high-grade, historic epizonal goldfields covering 470 square kilometres in Victoria, Australia.
Shares nudged up 1.52% in Toronto to C$0.34 each.
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Contact the author at giles@proactiveinvestors.com
