Aton Announces GOLD Assays up to 321 G/T from Selected Grab Samples at Its Recently Discovered Rodruin Prospect
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
ATON ANNOUNCES GOLD ASSAYS UP TO 321 g/t FROM SELECTED GRAB SAMPLES AT ITS RECENTLY
DISCOVERED RODRUIN PROSPECT
Vancouver, February 6, 2018: Aton Resources Inc. (AAN: TSX -V) (“Aton” or the “Company") is very pleased
to provide investors with an update on exploration activities at the Co mpany’s 100% owned Abu Marawat
Concession (“Abu Marawat” or the “Concession”), and to announce the results o f the initial surface grab
and channel sampling programme completed in December 2017 at the recently discovered Rodruin
prospect.
Highlights:
• A first -pass surface sampling programme has been completed, consisting of a total of 78 samples,
including 4 QAQC samples . Of the 74 ‘primary’ samples , 67 were grab samples and 7 were channel
samples, ta ken over nominal 2m intervals . Samples were analysed for gold by fire assay and a 33
element geochemical suite;
• Samples returned gold assay grades of up to 321 g /t Au , and included further grades of 22.3 g/t
Au, 20.6 g/t Au and 18.6 g/t Au;
• The 74 samples averaged 7.61 g/t Au , of which 7 samples (9% of total ) returned gold assay grades
above 10 g/t Au, 48 samples (65% of total ) returned grades above 1 g/t Au, and 61 samples (82% of
total) returned grades above 0.5 g/t Au;
• High grade zinc assays were also returned, with 9% of all samples returning assays greater than 5%
Zn, including 2 very high grade samples which assayed 37.9% and 36.7% respectively;
• Samples also returned assays of up to 146 g/t silver, 1.75% copper and 2.18% lead;
• The initial sampling programme confirm s the potential at Rodruin for a large “ Hamama style”
carbonate hosted body of gold -zinc mineralization, as well as a later phase of high grade shear zone
hosted gold mineralization.
“This is an exciting day for Aton as these results confirm the potential for Rodruin to be come a major gold
discovery in Egypt , and the biggest discovery to date by the C ompany” said Mark Campbell, President and
CEO. ”These samples were taken from the large Rodruin prospect, over an area covering at least 7 00m x
300m, and over a vertical elevation range of more than 100m , where the ancients were working, and have
come back with some highly significant grades. We are doing more surface sampling, and will imm inently
start access road construction, to assist us in laying out a drilling program at Rodruin, which we hope to
begin by April. Our goal is to fast track Rodruin along with our development project at Hamama. ”
Rodruin Prospect
The Rodruin prospect (see Figure 1) was discovered in early December 2017 by AAN’s field geologist s (see
news release dated December 14, 2017), and is located approximately 18km east of the Company’s
Hamama West mineral deposit . The Rodruin site is located in an area of 2 major roughly E-W trending
mountain ridges in a remote and rugged location. It is currently only accessible on foot , but can be reached
via driveable desert tracks which pass within about 3km of the prospect.
The Rodruin prospect was first identified as a clay -Fe spectral target during the detailed Concession wide
Landsat-ASTER remote sensing study undertaken during 2016 -17, with further inspection of satellite
imagery suggest ing possible signs of ancient mining activity in the general area. Field inspection of the
Rodruin prospect immediately led to the identification of major ancient workings over a large area ,
occurring within a series of carbonate rocks. The ancient workings are the largest and most significant
ancient workings identified to date in the Concession. The ancient workings are spread over an area of at
least 500m x 400m in size, and over a vertical elevation range o f more than 100m, and occur on both the
northern and souther n ridges of the Rodruin prospect. The ancient miners exploited gossanous oxide
mineralization, presumed to be very high grade in places, with the workings frequently localized along
structural or shear zones . The ancient miners are believed to have been mining gold, as evidenced by
archaeological remains in the general area , and the identification of coarse gold in hand specimens .
Figure 1: Abu Marawat regional geology, showing the location of the Rodruin prospect
December 2017 surface sampling programme
A short programme of surface sampling was carried out in mid- December 2017, with 67 grab samples and 7
channel samples , over nominal 2m intervals, collected . These samples were selectively taken , with the
intention of c onfirming whether the mineralization identified in the field at Rodruin carried grades or not.
All samples were crushed to - 4mm at the Company’s onsite sample preparation facility at Hamama, with c.
500g splits shipped to ALS Mine rals at Rosia Montana, Romania for analysis. Samples were analyzed for
gold by fire assay using analytical code AA -Au23 (repeated by AA -Au25 and Au -GRA21 for samples which
returned gold grades greater than 10 g/t and 100 g/t Au, respectively). Samples were also analyzed for Ag,
Cu, Pb and Zn as part of a 33 element suite by ICP atomic emission spectrometry, using analytical code ME -
ICP61. Samples with Cu, Pb and Zn assays greater than 10,000 ppm (1%) were re -analyzed using ore grade
analytical codes Cu -OG62, Pb-OG62, and Zn- OG62 respectively, and samples assaying greater than 30% Zn
were re-analyzed using analytical code Zn- AA46.
A breakdown of the sample results , excluding QAQC samples, is provided below in Table 1, and full details
of all the samples are provided in Appendix A , including Au, Ag, Cu, Pb and Zn assays.
Gold Silver Copper Lead Zinc
Assay No. % Assay No. % Assay No. % Assay No. % Assay No. %
>100g/t 1 1% >250g/t 0 0% >5% 0 0% >5% 0 0% >25% 2 3%
>10g/t 7 9% >100g/t 1 1% >1% 3 4% >1% 1 1% >10% 3 4%
>5 g/t 14 19% >50g/t 1 1% >0.5% 11 15% >0.5% 5 7% >5% 7 9%
>2.5g/t 26 35% >25g/t 7 9% >0.25% 16 22% >0.25% 16 22% >1% 14 19%
>1g/t 48 65% >10g/t 25 34% >0.1% 26 35% >0.1% 22 30% >0.5% 29 39%
>0.5g/t 61 82% >5g/t 47 64% >0.25% 47 64%
Average grade :
7.61 g/t Au
Average grade :
11.07 g/t Ag
Average grade :
0.20 % Cu
Average grade :
0.14 % Pb
Average grade :
2.10 % Zn
Table 1: Summary of gold, silver, copper, lead and zinc surface sample assays
Significant gold assay s were returned from most of the samples with 9% assaying more than 10 g/t Au, 65%
of the samples assaying over 1 g/t Au, and 82% of the samples assaying over 0.5 g/t Au (see Figure 2). The
overall average grade of all the samples was 7.61 g/t Au , but this was biased by a single sample from the
North Ridge, which assayed 321 g/t Au (and 146 g/t Ag). Even if this sample was excluded from the dataset,
the remaining 73 samples still averaged 3.32 g/t . These initial gold results compare very favorably to the
Hamama area, which has produced only a handful of gold assay values above 10 g/t, in comparison to gold
grades of 321 g/t, 22.3 g/t, 20.6 g/t and 18.6 g/t from the Rodruin samples .
Figure 2: Sample locations and gold assay results
Assay values for silver, copper, lead and notably zinc were also significantly elevated (see Table 1) . Silver
averaged 11.07 g/t across the complete dataset, which reduces to 9.22 g/t when the significant 146 g/t
outlier is excluded from the data . Zinc values also showed significant mineralization, as was expected with
the identification of hemimorphite -rich gossan at Rodruin, with 9% of all samples averaging greater than
5% Zn, including 2 very high grade samples, which assayed 37.9% and 36.7% Zn respectively. Copper and
lead assays were also elevated, but were significantly lower than the Zn values, as was to be expected from
the sampling – only limited amounts of copper supergene minerals were seen and identified. This metal
association is similar to Hamama.
Discussion
The mineralization at Rodruin is interpreted as belonging to 2 fairly distinctive and separate styles, and has
been sampled over an area of at least 700m x 300m (Figure 2): background carbonate/gossan hosted
“Hamama style” mineralization, and shear zone ho sted mineralization.
The first style of carbonate and/or gossan hosted mineralization carries lower levels of Au (average 2.18 g/t
Au) and Ag, and is considered to be broadly similar to that at Hamama. It also contains strongly elevated
levels of Zn, Cu, Pb, As, Cd, Sb, and Bi (see Table 2) . This mineralization is likely to be of a low temperature,
acidic, and probably magmatic ally derived nature, and is similar to the hybrid VMS-epithermal
mineralization interpreted at Hamama, and has a wide areal extent at Rodruin.
A very strong correlation between Au and Ag grade s, and significantly higher grades of Au (shear zone style
samples averaged 20.45 g/t Au), as well as Ag, Cu, Pb and Zn, are seen in the second shear zone style of
mineralization interpreted a t Rodruin (see Table 2) . This style of mineralization appears to have
represented the main target of the ancient miners, and is potentially very high grade in places, but is areally
more restricted relative to the background gossan hosted mineralization.
Average grades
Element All samples Shear zone style Gossan hosted style
Au (ppm) 7.61 20.45 2.18
Ag (ppm) 11.15 21.23 6.88
Cu (%) 0.20 0.45 0.10
Pb (%) 0.14 0.30 0.07
Zn (%) 2.10 4.78 0.96
Table 2: Average assay grades of Rodruin samples
The results from the December 2017 surface sampling support the initial interpretation that the Rodruin
prospect potentially hos ts a large body of Au (-Ag-Zn) mineralization, of a similar style to that at Hamama,
hosted in a distinctive , probably replacive, carbonate unit. The new assay results, coupled with the
presence of significant ancient processing sites in the general East Eradiya/Rodruin area, the high grade
nature of the tailings previously sampled at East Eradiya (see news release dated December 14 , 2017), the
presence of major ancient underground mine workings, the limited presence of significant copper
mineralization or staining, and the identification of visible gold in hand specimens all combine to strongly
suggest that the Rodruin prospect repr esents a major ancient mining site from which gold was exploited
from high grade gossanous structures and veins , localized within a large body of background carbonate
hosted Au-Zn mineralization.
The December 2017 surface sampling programme at Rodruin has successfully indicated the potential of
the target, and has confirm ed the existence of both Hamama style carbonate/gossan hosted
mineralization, as well as high grade structurally controlled shear zone hosted mineralization . As
originally interpreted from field observations it appears that the overall gold grade at Rodruin is potentially
significantly higher than that at Hamama. The background gossan/carbonate hosted mineralization appears
to be ve ry similar to Hamama, but with potentially significantly higher gold grades. Mineralization at
Rodruin is directly spatially related to the outcropping gossanous carbonate unit, as it is at Hamama (see
Figure 3). The area of the outcropping mineralization hosting carbonate rocks at Rodruin can be seen to be
much larger than that at Hamama, i ndicating the potential for a considerably larger body of mineralization
than that identified to date at Hamama.
Rodruin will immediately become the prime focus of the Company’s exploration efforts, going forwards
into 2018, with further surface sampling having been commenced, and work planned to start imm inently
on the construction of a road into the prospect, with the aim of allowing drilling to commence by April
2018.
Figure 3: Comparison between the extent of the carbonate outcrops at a) Rodruin prospect, and b) Hamama area
About Aton Resources Inc.
Aton Resources Inc. (AAN: TSX -V) is focused on its 100% owned Abu Marawat Concession (“Abu Marawat”),
located in Eg ypt’s Arabian-Nubian Shield, approximately 200 km north of Centamin’s Sukari gold mine. Aton
has identified a 40 km long gold mineralized trend at Abu Marawat, anchored by the Hamama deposit in
the west and the Abu Marawat deposit in the east, containing numerous gold exploration targets, including
three historic British mines. Aton has identified several distinct geological trends within Abu Marawat,
which display potential for the development of RIRG and orogenic gold mineralization, VMS precious and
base metal mineralization, and epithermal -IOCG precious and base metal mineralization. Abu Marawat is
over 738km 2 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.
Qualified Person
The technical information contained in this News Release was prepared by Roderick Cavaney BSc, MSc
(hons), MSc (Mining & Exploration Geology), FAusIMM, GSA, SME, Vice President, Exploration, of Aton
Resources Inc. Mr. Cavaney 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:
Mark Campbell
President and Chief Executive Officer
Tel: +202-27356548
Email: [email protected]
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 re sults in each case could differ materially from those currently anticipated in such
statements.
Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the
TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
Appendix A – Sample Results
Sample
ID Easting Northing Sample
Type
Au
(ppm)
Ag
(ppm)
Cu
(%)
Pb
(%)
Zn
(%) Sample Description
18751 552315 2912989 Grab 1.43 10.5 0.32 0.63 36.70 Hemimorphite -rich loose gossan
18752 552315 2912989 Grab 22.30 22.5 0.67 0.40 3.38 Siliceous material - gossan with
Fe/Cu
18753 552375 2913051 Grab 0.68 3.0 0.01 0.01 0.20 Gossan - some concentric
zonation
18754 552636 2913005 Grab 1.12 5.4 0.04 0.31 0.29 Gossanous horizon - possible
bedding-parallel shear?
18755 552783 2912745 Grab 2.19 10.3 0.00 0.00 0.05 Gossanous carbonate
18756 552788 2912792 Grab 0.75 0.6 0.01 0.01 0.29 Chocolate brown gossan, with
carbonate
18757 552786 2913135 Grab 0.02 0.3 0.01 0.00 0.01 Gossanous tuffs - irregular
replacement along fracture?
18758 552725 2913058 Grab 1.50 10.9 0.15 0.45 0.64 Gossanous material, from
ancient working
18759 552773 2913043 Grab 1.69 5.4 0.12 0.27 0.39
Gossanous material with
carbonate, from ancient
working
18760 553056 2913011 Grab 321 146 0.69 0.63 1.07 Brown gossanous vein, from
ancient working
18761 553029 2913005 Grab 18.60 12.3 0.37 0.01 0.85 Gossanous vein material, from
ancient working, 12m depth
18762 553045 2913012 Grab 12.75 27.2 0.78 0.32 9.81 Hemimorphite rich gossan, from
ancient underground working
18763 13.40 25.8 0.84 0.32 10.25 Duplicate of AHA-18762
18764 553081 2912930 Grab 0.73 17.7 0.11 0.24 0.09 FeOx-rich quartz vein
18765 552660 2912842 Grab 12.60 15.2 1.05 0.00 37.90 Hemimorphite -rich gossan
18766 552846 2912718 Grab 0.03 1.1 0.01 0.00 0.08 Outcrop of carbonate-replaced
tuffs
18767 552753 2912681 Channel 0.15 7.2 0.01 0.01 0.06 Gossanous sheared contact (2m
channel sample)
18768 552734 2912690 Grab 0.21 2.0 0.01 0.00 0.17 Fresh carbonate, with patches
of gossan
18769 552716 2912726 Grab 0.40 4.9 0.01 0.01 0.08 Soft brown carbonate gossan at
small ancient working
18770 552676 2912817 Grab 3.40 19.5 1.00 0.03 1.69 Cu-stained gossan, from ancient
working
18771 552680 2912839 Grab 9.54 20.4 0.36 0.00 0.40 Gossan in shear zone, from big
ancient working
18772 552660 2912846 Grab 20.60 26.2 0.47 0.01 0.97 Red gossan, from ancient
underground workings
18773 552661 2912843 Grab 1.04 29.2 0.68 0.02 1.80
Loose quartz veined yellow
gossan, from ancient u/g
workings
18774 552793 2912780 Grab 1.65 3.8 0.04 0.07 0.87 Very friable brown gossan, from
ancient pit
18775 <0.005 <0.5 15 ppm 2 ppm 39 ppm Blank sample
18775 552794 2912787 Grab 3.78 4.1 0.02 0.02 0.60 Soft brown gossan, from ancient
pit
18777 552791 2912814 Grab 0.33 1.7 0.01 0.01 0.10 Gossan in silica-carbonate
outcrop, at ancient pit
18778 552792 2912826 Grab 1.66 7.2 0.05 0.05 0.31 Soft brown gossan
18779 552792 2912824 Grab 0.94 2.4 0.05 0.00 0.14 Outcrop at ancient working of
carbonate gossan
18780 552796 2912843 Grab 0.99 4.7 0.03 0.04 0.26 Dark brown friable carbonate
gossan, from ancient working
18781 552803 2912834 Grab 0.82 2.3 0.01 0.00 0.11 Gossanous material, from top of
ancient shaft
Sample
ID Easting Northing Sample
Type
Au
(ppm)
Ag
(ppm)
Cu
(%)
Pb
(%)
Zn
(%) Sample Description
18782 552821 2912827 Grab 3.72 1.7 0.03 0.00 0.17 Brown gossan from ancient
"cave"/working
18783 552806 2912837 Grab 1.42 9.3 0.01 0.00 0.13 Gossanous material, from
ancient working
18784 552806 2912832 Grab 1.98 5.0 0.01 0.00 0.08 Gossanous material, from
ancient working
18785 552704 2912918 Grab 0.48 7.4 0.01 0.00 0.35 Weakly mineralized quartz vein,
with traces of Cu
18786 552769 2912924 Grab 0.28 5.1 0.01 0.01 0.14 Gossan with quartz vein
18787 552721 2912940 Grab 3.03 11.0 0.01 0.03 0.08 Outcrop of carbonate, with
brown gossan
18788 552702 2912923 Grab 6.06 12.2 0.04 0.05 0.26 Outcrop of carbonate with
abundant brown gossan
18789 552680 2912934 Grab 4.14 21.9 0.05 0.05 0.49 Soft brown gossanous material
from small, ancient pit
18790 552662 2912951 Grab 0.30 32.7 0.10 0.51 0.57 Soft brown/yellow gossan with
some hematite, from small pit
18791 552644 2912935 Grab 1.20 24.9 0.03 0.12 0.23 Soft brown gossan, from large
ancient working
18792 552639 2912941 Channel 0.57 3.8 0.01 0.02 0.12
2m channel sample from big
working, red-brown gossan with
narrow quartz vein
18793 552637 2912934 Grab 0.81 10.3 0.05 0.40 0.57 Red-brown gossan from large
ancient working
18794 552637 2912934 Grab 0.17 6.0 0.05 0.15 0.29 Red-brown-yellow gossan, from
wall of ancient working
18795 552652 2912961 Grab 1.46 2.6 0.06 0.07 0.10 Outcrop of hematite, with some
gossan
18796 552624 2912922 Grab 9.05 28.1 0.04 0.04 0.36 Soft brown gossan, from ancient
working
18797 552622 2912913 Grab 2.66 4.2 0.04 0.04 0.14 Red-brown gossan from ancient
working
18798 <0.005 <0.5 2 ppm 1ppm 8 ppm Flushing sample
18799 552676 2912886 Grab 0.81 2.5 0.06 0.02 0.40 Hard brown gossan, from
ancient working
18800 552676 2912886 Grab 1.45 5.0 0.04 0.02 0.53
From ancient working, Soft
brown gossan with some hard
carbonate gossan, from ancient
working
18801 552671 2912923 Grab 0.32 2.2 0.03 0.02 0.23 Outcrop of hard red hematite
gossan
18802 552608 2912890 Grab 5.16 7.5 0.01 0.01 0.24 Red-brown gossan from ancient
working
18803 552615 2912889 Grab 2.72 9.8 0.02 0.00 0.31 Outcrop of red-brown gossan
18804 552588 2912892 Grab 9.59 5.1 0.01 0.01 0.06 Yellow -red gossan on the top of
ridge
18805 552584 2912908 Grab 0.36 2.7 0.03 0.09 0.08 1m wide hard red gossan
18806 552733 2912993 Grab 1.20 5.2 0.03 0.10 0.53 Red-brown gossan, from ancient
working near gully
18807 552356 2913031 Grab 1.63 9.9 0.04 0.02 0.82 Soft brown gossan from ancient
working
18808 552351 2913034 Grab 4.63 4.4 0.17 0.00 2.14 Hard brown gossan from
ancient working
18809 552356 2913026 Grab 2.62 6.0 0.16 0.01 1.63 Hard red-brown gossan from
ancient working
18810 552349 2913020 Channel 2.35 5.8 0.05 0.00 0.66 Hard brown/yellow/red gossan
(2m channel sample)
18811 552364 2913023 Channel 2.21 3.4 0.03 0.01 0.42 Hard brown/yellow/red gossan
(2m channel sample)
18812 552345 2913025 Channel 7.17 6.9 0.04 0.00 0.33 Hard brown/yellow/red gossan
(3m channel sample)