Aton Announces the Completion of and the First Results From Its RC Exploration Drilling Programme at Abu Marawat

VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / October 11, 2023 / Aton Resources Inc. (AAN:TSX-V) ("Aton" or the "Company") is pleased to announce the completion of the reverse circulation percussion ("RC") programme drilling at its 100% owned Abu Marawat Concession ("Abu Marawat" or the "Concession"), in the Eastern Desert of Egypt, as well as the first results from the West Garida and Abu Gaharish prospects (Figure 1).

Highlights:

• 85 holes were drilled, for a total of 11,700m, during the regional exploration RC programme at the West Garida, Abu Gaharish, Semna and Zeno prospects;
• A further 628m was drilled from 3 groundwater exploration holes approximately 20km west of the Hamama project area;
• Significant flows were recorded from the groundwater exploration holes within Nubian Sandstone cover rocks, proving the concept that this unit could provide process water supplies for the planned Hamama West and Rodruin mining projects;
• Significant mineralised intersections from the Abu Gaharish prospect included 9m @ 2.10 g/t Au, 3m @ 4.61 g/t Au and 3m @ 3.27 g/t Au. The gold mineralisation was primarily concentrated in a broadly mineralised envelope at the Gaharish Main Zone;
• Narrow mineralised intersections at West Garida included 2m @ 3.66 g/t Au and 24.3 g/t Ag from Vein #1 and 1m @ 4.00 g/t Au from Vein #3.

"We are pleased to announce the successful completion of the regional RC exploration drilling programme at Abu Marawat, and to provide the first tranche of results" said Tonno Vahk, Interim CEO. "We are particularly happy with the results of the groundwater drilling in the Nubian Sandstone west of Hamama, designed to test the potential of these rocks to provide process water supplies to the planned starter heap leach mining project at Hamama West. The results were very encouraging with the drilling intersecting significant groundwater hosted in the Nubian cover. It is particularly encouraging that the drilling did not penetrate deep enough to intersect the main target, the basal Tarif Sandstone Unit of the Nubian, which suggests that this unit may host significant groundwater resources closer to Hamama than was previously anticipated. EMRA continue to review our submission to them detailing Commercial Discoveries at the Hamama West and Rodruin deposits, in accordance with the terms of the Abu Marawat Concession Agreement, and we are hopeful that this process is moving towards a successful conclusion and the issuance of the mining licence at Abu Marawat. The issuance of the first gold mining licence in Egypt to a publicly listed foreign investor since Sukari in 2005 would represent a very significant step forwards for Aton, as well as for Egypt, the Ministry of Petroleum and EMRA."

The exploration RC drilling, undertaken by Geodrill's Egyptian branch, Geodrill for Leasing and Specialized Services Freezone LLC, commenced at the West Garida prospect, 3km east of Hamama West. Prior to the rig being mobilised to Abu Gaharish, 3 groundwater exploration holes were also drilled to test the Nubian Sandstone aquifer approximately 20km west of the Hamama project. Drilling at Abu Gaharish, and subsequently at the Semna and Zeno prospects was supported by fly camps. The drill metres for the programme are summarised in Table 1.

Table 1: Breakdown of the RC drilling completed

Figure 1: Geology and prospect plan of the Abu Marawat Concession

Table 2: Collar details of groundwater exploration drill holes

The RC holes were drilled at 5¾" diameter, with holes HAW-02 and HAW-03 reducing to 5½" diameter. Holes HAW-01 and HAW-02 were cased through the surface alluvial sheet wash deposits to 12m depth, and HAW-03 was cased to 30m depth.

Hole HAW-01 failed to intersect any water by its target depth of 100m, and was terminated. Holes HAW-02 and HAW-03 both intersected significant groundwater from about 120m depth, with the drillers unable to keep the holes and samples dry (Figure 2). Hole HAW-02 was terminated at 294m, and HAW-03 was terminated at 234m, due to the hole collapsing in water-bearing sandstones.

All holes were drilled through a variegated sequence of predominantly brown, red, grey and black shales and mudstones, with intercalated sandstone units interpreted as belonging to the Quseir Unit of the Cretaceous Nubian Sandstone Formation. The target basal Tarif Sandstone Unit of the Nubian Sandstone Formation was not intersected in any of the 3 holes.