Mawson Commences 4,000 Metre Drill and 3D Geophysical Programs at Palokas Gold Project in Finland

VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwired - Dec 18, 2015) - Mawson Resources Limited ("Mawson") or (the "Company") (TSX:MAW)(FRANKFURT:MXR)(OTC PINK:MWSNF) announces the commencement of a 4,000 metre drill program at Palokas in Finland.

Key Points:

• Two Energold Group ("Energold") EGD Series III rigs have been mobilized to drill a minimum of 4,000 metres over the next two months.

• Drilling has commenced and it is anticipated this first pass program will test down to 250 vertical metres with 56 mm NTW size drill core;

• Energold is an experienced provider of hand-portable drilling services throughout the world. Local Finnish employees will form a major part of the team, working in 2 x 12 hr drilling shifts, 6 days a week.

• The primary target for this program is the Palokas Prospect, which will be drilled at a nominal drill spacing of 80 metres, with the aim to prepare and announce the first mineral resource on the property in Q2 2016;

• In addition, a three dimensional induced polarization and resistivity survey ("3D IP/resistivity") has commenced at Palokas. The survey will extend coverage over the Palokas area to 2.7 kilometres and provide additional drilling targets for current drill program.

• Final results have been received for the last three Winkie rig drill holes PRAJ0115-PRAJ0117, completing a 9 hole 779.4 metres hand-portable summer drill program at Palokas.

Mr. Hudson, President & CEO, states, "After closing our financing two weeks ago, we look forward to executing our drill program and testing the Palokas system down dip and along strike with larger diameter and deeper drill core. Our objective is to calculate the first mineral resource at Palokas in Q2 2016."

"Existing 3D IP/resistivity data from Palokas have provided an effective gold targeting dataset due to the strong correlation between gold-bearing rocks and low resistivity areas. The extension to this geophysical coverage from 800 metres to 2.7 kilometres along the strike of mineralization will greatly aid in targeting drill holes to the north and south of the immediate Palokas system."

Mawson, in conjunction with all environmental authorities, are ensuring that all parts of these exploration programs are undertaken with minimal environmental impact. Baseline mapping of habitats and vegetation were completed during the summer and autumn. Mapping and identifying the nature values of the area ensures that threatened and endangered species are not negatively affected by exploration activities.

Final results have been received from the last Winkie rig drill holes PRAJ0115-PRAJ0117, completing the 9 hole, 779.4 metre hand portable summer drill program at Palokas.

• PRAJ0115 was drilled north of the low resistivity body that hosts mineralization and did not intersect significant mineralization;
• PRAJ0116 intersected 2.0 metres @ 2.8 g/t gold from 66.4 metres and was drilled 40 metres below PRAJ0108 (5.1m @ 3.8 g/t gold from 18.3 metres);
• PRAJ0117 intersected 3.0 metres @ 1.6 g/t gold from 65.8 metres, 1.0 metre @ 0.8 g/t gold from 70.6 metres, 1.0 metre @ 3.7 g/t gold from 75.3 metres and 3.0 metres @ 1.9 g/t gold from 109.9 metres and was drilled 80 metres along strike from PRAJ0108.

Compared to earlier drill holes, only lower grades were intersected in the last 3 drill holes. It is encouraging however to see the continued strong association of gold-bearing rocks with the low resistivity body, that extends 500 metres south of drilled area at Palokas, as well as the broader zone of mineralization encountered in PRAJ0117. Tables 1 and 2 include collar and best assay results from the 9 hole summer drill program. The true thickness of mineralized intervals is interpreted to be approximately 90% of the sampled thickness.

On August 24 2015, the Company announced that it had requested a police investigation into certain accusations made by an NGO about the Company in their re-appeal to the Supreme Administrative Court. Mawson has been informed by the Rovaniemi police that it will not proceed with the case. The Company is considering its position.

The Company has also been informed of the ELY-Centre ("ELY") decision in a rehabilitation administrative process, for the shallow trenches hand dug by Mawson staff during 2010/2011. The Company has already filled in the trenches as agreed with ELY during July 2015, a two-day process that the Company initiated in 2011, but was stopped from completing at the time, due to an ongoing investigation that eventually took 4 years. ELY's recent decision found the Company did not cause any significant boreal forest habitat damage. Initial accusations made against the Company were up to 117 hectares of boreal forest habitat damage. This expert decision is also in contrast to the separate criminal court case in 2014, where the Company was found to have diminished the representativeness and diversity of the boreal forest habitat. In addition, it was determined Mawson did not destroy any lady's slipper plants (Cypripedium calceolus (tikankontti) - a type of orchid). Initial accusations of up to 2,241 lady's slipper plants were made widely and publically against the Company. The decision found that a small number of fairy slipper plants (Calypso bulbosa (neidonkenkä) - another type of orchid) may have been damaged by the hand digging, but most digging avoided the fairy slipper plant areas. This compared to initial accusations of damage to up to 160 fairy slipper plants that were made widely and publically.

Mawson is pleased that the ELY decision reflected the closest estimations to fact, and refuted nearly all prior accusations made against the Company, since the hand digging took place in 2010/2011. The Company however has chosen to appeal the ELY decision to the Administrative Court, as ELY concluded that the damage caused to the fairy slipper plants could be considered significant, despite there being no supportive reasoning for this finding and ELY's factual and expert findings suggesting otherwise. Given the past accusations and contrasting findings made against the Company, Mawson has taken this final step to file an appeal to ensure that the final administrative decision best reflects the facts of the case. The appeal to the administrative court will take up to one year to be heard.

Technical and Environmental Background

Mawson's low-impact, hand-portable Winkie diamond core drill rig, manned by contract staff, was used for the program. Core sampling was undertaken by Mawson Staff who provided EW (25.2 mm) diameter core. Core recoveries were excellent and average close to 100% in fresh rock. After photographing and logging, core intervals averaging 1 metre in length for mineralized samples and 2 metres for barren samples were cut in half at the Geological Survey of Finland (GTK) core facilities in Rovaniemi, Finland. These half-core one metre samples weigh less than 0.7 kilograms. The remaining half core is retained on site for verification and reference purposes. Analytical samples were transported by Mawson personnel from site to the CRS Limited facility in Kempele, Finland. Samples were prepared at Kempele and analyzed for gold at Raahe using the PAL1000 technique which involves grinding the sample in steel pots with abrasive media in the presence of cyanide, followed by measuring the gold in solution with flame AAS equipment. The QA/QC program of Mawson consists of the systematic insertion of certified standards of known gold content, and blanks at the within interpreted mineralized rock. In addition, CRS inserts a number of blanks and standards into the analytical process.

The qualified person for Mawson's Finnish projects, Mr Michael Hudson, President & CEO for Mawson and Fellow of the Australasian Institute of Mining Metallurgy has reviewed and verified the contents of this release.

About Mawson Resources Limited (TSX:MAW)(FRANKFURT:MXR)(OTC PINK:MWSNF)

Mawson Resources Ltd. is an exploration and development company. Mawson has distinguished itself as a leading Nordic Arctic exploration company with a focus on the flagship Rompas and Rajapalot gold projects in Finland.

On behalf of the Board,

Michael Hudson, President & CEO

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: aim, 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, but not limited to, capital and other costs varying significantly from estimates, receipt of shareholder approval of the Placement, successful completion of the Placement, timing and the successful completion of an initial mineral resource estimate at the Rompas-Rajapalot prospect in Finland, changes in world metal markets, changes in equity markets, 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.

Table 1: Collar Information from drilling at the Palokas Prospect

Table 2: Bulk weighted assay data from the Palokas Prospect for Aug-Nov 2015 drill program

A lower cut of 0.5 g/t over 2 metres was applied.

Contact

Mawson Resources Ltd.
Mariana Bermudez (Canada)
Corporate Secretary
+1 (604) 685 9316
info@mawsonresources.com
www.mawsonresources.com