I had the same problem earlier.. Finally, after several attempts...
1. Create a new partition (mac os extended journaled - don't make it too big - i used 128gb)
2. Erase free space of that new partition (fastest is fine)
3. Reduce partition size of the original mac hd (approx 128mb.. Could be more)
4. Re-install mountain lion and it should work (hopefully)
I think you can interchange step 2 and 3.. Probably doesnt matter but the key step is to erase the free space
Prior to the steps above.. I spoke to apple care and they asked me to verify disk and verify disk permissions.. Not much help since they both resulted ok (some minor permission warnings but not really a problem - i hit repair disk permissions)
Partition map should be GUID something.. forgot what it's called
Good luck!