Aton Resources Inc. commences new RC drilling programme at Hamama West
Highlights:
- RC drilling started at Hamama West on May 25, 2022. The programme is expected to take about 2-3 months to complete;
“We are happy to announce the start of the RC drilling programme at Hamama West,” said Tonno Vahk, Interim CEO. “This new drilling programme forms an important part of our plans for Hamama West, as we push the project forwards to its development as what we expect to be the second operating gold mine in Egypt. We are still drilling at Rodruin, and are continuing to return some really pleasing results. We intend to advance Rodruin and Hamama together in tandem as we work towards a phased development plan for the entire Abu Marawat Concession, with our partners at the Egyptian Mineral Resources Authority.”
Hamama West RC drilling programme
Aton has now commenced the planned reverse circulation percussion (“RC”) drilling programme at the Hamama West gold-silver project (see news release dated February 28, 2022, and Figure 1). The Hamama West project has an indicated resource of 137,000 ounces of gold equivalent (gold and silver), and an inferred resource of 341,000 ounces of gold equivalent (see news release dated January 24, 2017). Aton plans to initially develop the outcropping oxide gold cap of the deposit, which is mineralised directly from surface, as a low capex/opex starter open pit mining operation, with a heap leach processing facility, and which will provide early cash flow.
The c. 5,000m drilling programme has been partly designed to upgrade the inferred mineral resource at Hamama West, ahead of the final starter pit mine design. The drilling is being undertaken by Capital Limited using their new state of the art Epiroc Explorac 100 rig (Figure 2). Samples will be sent to ALS Minerals in Rosia Montana, Romania for geochemical analysis, with results to be periodically updated.
It is also anticipated that sterilisation drilling will also be undertaken for planned mine infrastructure facilities. The Company also intends to drill for the first time the West Garida prospect, which is located only 3km to the east of Hamama West, and which has returned assays of up to 99.6 g/t Au from surface sampling (see news release dated October 17, 2017).
About Aton Resources Inc.
Aton Resources Inc. (AAN: TSX-V) is focused on its 100% owned Abu Marawat Concession (“Abu Marawat”), located in Egypt’s Arabian-Nubian Shield, approximately 200 km north of Centamin’s world-class Sukari gold mine. Aton has identified numerous gold and base metal exploration targets at Abu Marawat, including the Hamama deposit in the west, the Abu Marawat deposit in the northeast, and the advanced Rodruin exploration prospect in the south of the Concession. Two historic British gold mines are also located on the Concession at Sir Bakis and Semna. Aton has identified several distinct geological trends within Abu Marawat, which display potential for the development of a variety of styles of precious and base metal mineralisation. Abu Marawat is 447.7 km2 in size and is located in an area of excellent infrastructure; a four-lane highway, a 220kV power line, and a water pipeline are in close proximity, as are the international airports at Hurghada and Luxor.
Qualified person
The technical information contained in this News Release was prepared by Javier Orduña BSc (hons), MSc, MCSM, DIC, MAIG, SEG(M), Exploration Manager of Aton Resources Inc. Mr. Orduña is a qualified person (QP) under National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects.
For further information regarding Aton Resources Inc., please visit us at www.atonresources.com or contact:
TONNO VAHK, Interim CEO
Tel: +1 604 318 0390
Email: info@atonresources.com
Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
Some of the statements contained in this release are forward-looking statements. Since forward-looking statements address future events and conditions; by their very nature they involve inherent risks and uncertainties. Actual results in each case could differ materially from those currently anticipated in such statements.
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