AAN.V · 2017-11-20 12:00:00

Aton Announces Its Intention to Issue a Declaration of Commerciality at the Hamama Project Within Its Abu Marawat Concession Area, with Its Goal of Building Egypt’S Second Operating GOLD MINE

Corporate Updates

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

ATON ANNOUNCES ITS INTENTION TO ISSUE A DECLARATION OF COMMERCIALITY AT

THE HAMAMA PROJECT WITHIN ITS ABU MARAWAT CONCESSION AREA, WITH ITS

GOAL OF BUILDING EGYPT’S SECOND OPERATING GOLD MINE

November 20, 2017 Aton Resources Inc. (the “Company”) (TSX‐V: AAN) through its

wholly owned subsidiary, Aton Mining Inc. and in accordance wit h article IX of its Abu

Marawat Concession Agreement recognized as Law 96 of 2007, has today officially

notified the Egyptian Mineral Resources Authority (EMRA) of its i n t e n t i o n t o m a k e a

declaration of commerciality at its Hamama Project and its inte ntion to move towards

its goal of construction of a producing mine on or before the e nd of year 2019. In this

Aton, as per its Concession Agreement, will finalize its study in support of its commercial

d i s c o v e r y o n o r b e f o r e M a y 2 0 , 2 0 1 8 . T h e H a m a m a P r o j e c t s t u d y will encompass an

open pit heap leach mining operation, with production commencing f r o m t h e “ g o l d

oxide cap” at Hamama West.

Extension of Exploration License Period

The Company plans to continue its regional exploration program o v e r t h e h i g h l y

prospective Abu Marawat Concession (the “Concession”). In this regard and in

recognition of the work being carried out to begin mining at Ha mama, EMRA have

a g r e e d t o g r a n t A t o n a t w o ( 2 ) y e a r e x t e n s i o n u n t i l J u l y 3 1 , 2 020 of the Company’s

exploration license covering the balance of the Abu Marawat Con cession area not

covered by the Hamama exploitati on license in recognition of th is accelerated intention

to declare c o mmerci alit y. EMRA an d the Ministry o f P etro leum (MOP) realize the long

term nature of mineral exploration and development, far longer than in oil and gas. As

Aton’s partner, EMRA are fully aware that this continued explor ation work is critical to

the potential development of the Abu Marawat Concession area, a nd that this will

unlock the overall potential of the Concession, as well being a driver in the development

of the economy and will increase employment in Upper Egypt.

“This is a historic day for Egypt and Aton, as we are only the second company, after

Centamin back in 2001, to issue it’s intention to declare a com mercial discovery, and we

will now move towards our goal of building only the second new producing gold mine in

Egypt in more than 90 years” says Mark Campbell, President and CEO of Aton Resources

Inc. “Thanks to the forward thinking of EMRA, the 2 year extension to our exploration

license they are granting allows Aton to continue carrying out the critical exploration

that will lead to the potential development of the rest of the Abu Marawat

Concession. We believe that this will enable Aton sufficient t ime to evaluate the

potential to develop other gold deposits in the Concession area , which we are currently

exploring, and to increase the overall production from the Conc ession in the longer term.

This will not only greatly impact our local region and the new Golden Triangle Authority,

but it will lead to increased employment and training, and will positively affect the

overall economy of Upper Egypt”. To echo what The Minister of Petroleum and The

Chairman of EMRA have recently stated, that the goal is now to encourage investment

to build the mining industry here and make it a ‘Pillar of the Egyptian Economy’ and one

that competes in the global mining industry. Their granting us this extension is certainly

a step in that direction.”

Hamama Project

T h e H a m a m a P r o j e c t r e f e r s t o t h e H a m a m a A r e a , w h i c h e n c o m p a s s e s t h e H a m a m a

West, Hamama Central, Hamama East zones and the newly discovered West Garida

zone (see Fig. 1). The heap leach pad and circuit will be located in easy access of all

zones and production will begin on the “gold oxide cap” at Hamama West.

Figure 1: Location map of the Hamama Project, showing the Hama ma West, Central and East

and the West Garida zones (modified from Google Earth)

Abu Marawat Concession

The Company has identified mineral resources at the Hamama West and Abu Marawat

deposits (see news releases dated January 24, 2017 and April 16, 2012 respectively)

within its Abu Marawat Concession (see Fig. 2). The Concession is over 738 km 2 in size,

and extends 45 km east to west. Within the Concession there ar e also 2 historic British

gold mines, which were worked during the early 1900’s at Semna and Sir Bakis, and a

British tungsten mine at Abu Garida, which was worked during the middle of the 20th

Century. There are also many ancient workings in the Concessio n, both alluvial/placer,

and primary lode gold workings, dating back to as early as the New Kingdom period,

more than 3,000 years ago.

The Concession is located within the Central Eastern Desert which is located in the

northern part of the Nubian or African portion of the Arabian‐Nubian Shield (the “ANS”).

The ANS is host to several world class gold and VMS deposits, including Centamin’s

Sukari gold mine, 200 km to the south of Hamama, the Mahd adh D ahab gold and Jabal

Sayid copper mines in Saudi Arabia, the Hassai and Hadal‐Awatib V M S d e p o s i t s i n

Sudan, and the Bisha copper‐gold‐zinc mine in Eritrea.

Figure 2: Regional geology of the Abu Marawat Concession, showing the locations of the

Hamama and Abu Marawat projects, historic mines, and exploration prospects

The geology in the Concession area consists of a series of late Neoproterozoic age

volcano‐sedimentary sequences, an d granitic basement or older “ grey” granites, which

formed in island arc volcanic settings. Ultramafic rocks also outcrop in the south‐

eastern part of the Concession, and were formed in oceanic crus t, and later thrust into

and accreted onto the island arc sequences. These older rocks have been intruded by a

series of distinctive late, pink “Younger” or Gattarian granite s , w h i c h a r e s p a t i a l l y

associated with much of the gold mineralization in the Eastern Desert of Egypt.

The Company has identified numerous different styles of gold mi neralization within the

Concession, and has been actively exploring regional prospects during 2017. At

Hamama the mineralization consists of hybrid VMS‐epithermal gol d‐silver‐zinc

mineralization, while at Abu Mara wat the mineralization occurs in epithermal style

polymetallic gold‐silver‐copper‐zinc veins. During 2017 the Co mpany has also

discovered new VMS style mineralization at Waayrah (see news re lease dated June 27,

2017), as well as identifying a belt possibly favorable for VMS mineralization extending

from Waayrah in the south‐east to Miranda SE, and potentially f urther north to the Abu

Marawat deposit. Extending south‐west from the Abu Marawat dep osit to Miranda SW

i s a z o n e o f i n t e n s e l y a l t e r e d l a r g e l y f e l s i c v o l c a n i c r o c k s w hich host copper and gold

mineralization. This Abu Marawat‐Miranda corridor has been ide ntified as having

potential to host further epithermal and potentially IOCG vein styles of mineralization.

The Company has also identified a large zone that has the potential to host reduced

intrusion related (“IR”) gold mineralization, predominantly hos ted in granitic rocks, and

spatially related to the Younger Granites, extending east from S i r B a k i s i n t h e w e s t t o

Semna East, and including the Bohlog, Massaghat, and Zeno prosp ects (see news

releases dated September 13, 2017 and June 7, 2017). This zone also hosts structurally

controlled or orogenic gold mineralization at Semna and Black G aharish. The high grade

vein at the Semna mine was the widest mined during the British era of mining in Egypt,

and reaches 6m in width. The Company has also identified high grade structurally

controlled or orogenic style gold mineralization at Abu Gaharish (see news release dated

June 7, 2017), and is currently investigating very extensive ancient workings recently

discovered at Eradiya East, both of which are again spatially r elated to Younger Granite

intrusives. The Company has also recently discovered high grad e quartz veins at West

Garida, which will be included in the Hamama Area (see news rel ease dated October 17,

2017)

The Company has just commenced a deep ground penetrating radar (GPR) survey, which

is being undertaken by Terravision Radar, at the Sir Bakis, Waa yrah, Miranda South, Abu

Gaharish, Semna, Bohlog, and Eradiya East prospects.

The Hamama West Deposit

The Hamama West deposit is one of a series of three contiguous zones hosting

stratabound gold‐silver‐zinc mineralization (Hamama West, Hamam a Central, and

Hamama East), which along with the Western Carbonate zone occur within a silica‐

carbonate unit which constitutes the “mineralized horizon”, and i s m i n e r a l i z e d a t

surface over an exposed strike length of approximately 3 km (see Fig. 3). The high grade

West Garida quartz vein mineralization is located in felsic and intermediate volcanic

rocks in the structural footwall of the mineralized silica‐carbonate horizon. Of these

zones only Hamama West has been significantly tested, and only very limited drilling has

been undertaken at Hamama Central and Hamama East to date.

Figure 3: Schematic geology of the Hamama area

In January 2017 the Company announced the maiden resource estimate for Hamama

W e s t ( s e e n e w s r e l e a s e d a t e d J a n u a r y 2 4 , 2 0 1 7 ) . H a m a m a W e s t h osts an Inferred

Mineral Resource of 341,000 ounces gold equivalent (“AuEq”) (see Table 1) and an

Indicated Mineral Resource of 137,000 ounces AuEq (see Table 2). T h e C o m p a n y h a s

also undertaken further successful diamond drilling at Hamama W est during 2017, the

results which will be incorporated into the next mineral resour ce estimate at Hamama

West.

Weathering

type Tonnes Au

(g/t)

AuEq

(g/t)

(koz)

AuEq

(koz)

Oxide &

Transitional 2,580,000 0.87 28.1 1.28 72 2,334 106

Sulphide 5,630,000 0.87 30.4 1.30 157 5,503 235

Total 8,210,000 0.87 29.7 1.29 230 7,836 341

Table 1: Inferred Mineral Resources at Hamama West

Weathering

type Tonnes Au

(g/t)

AuEq

(g/t)

(koz)

AuEq

(koz)

Sulphide 3,805,000 0.72 27.6 1.12 88 3,376 137

Table 2: Indicated Mineral Resources at Hamama West

1. Mineral resources are not mineral reserves and do not demonstrate economic viability.

2. All tonnage, grade and ounces have been rounded and minor discrepancies in additive totals may occur.

3. Weathering classification is based on visual assessment of drill core by geologists and does not represent a definitive geo‐

metallurgical classification.

4. The mineral resource are quoted at a minimum cut‐off grade of 0 .5 g/t Au equivalent, where the silver contribution has been

based on a silver:gold ratio of 70:1.

5. Reasonable prospects of eventual economic extraction have been determined using assumptions based upon some African

open pit projects of similar scale, and have included a gold pr ice of US$1250/oz, generic open pit mining and processing costs

and generic metallurgical recoveries for gold and silver. At this stage of the property's development, no detailed economic,

mining or metallurgical studies have been completed. The classification does not infer that mineral resources demonstrate

economic viability.

At Hamama West the mineralization occurs as an overturned strat iform and

stratabound tabular deposit, hosted within a silica‐carbonate r ock unit, associated with

altered felsic tuffaceous rocks. The footwall stratigraphy con sists of altered and weakly

mineralized andesites. The hangi ngwall is dominated by unminera l i z e d t u f f s a n d

argillites, which contain numerous thin beds of jasper. The cu rrent interpretation is that

the Hamama West deposit displays many of the characteristics of the ‘VMS‐epithermal

hybrid’ sub‐class of VMS deposits, which are essentially the sh allow marine equivalent

of subaerial epithermal systems.

The Hamama West deposit comprises primary hypogene sulphide min eralization

o v e r l a i n b y a n o x i d i z e d z o n e o f g o ld ‐ b e a r i n g g o s s a n o r a “ g o l d oxide cap” (see Fig. 4).

Outcrop mapping and drilling have defined the deposit to date with a strike length of

approximately 700m, and an average outcropping width of around 60m at surface.

Drilling has intersected mineralization to a depth of 275m below surface, to date.

Figure 4: Looking north‐east to the Hamama West “gold oxide cap”

T h e “ g o l d o x i d e c a p ” i s c h a r a c t e r i z e d a s a 3 0 ‐ 4 0 m t h i c k go s s a n ous zone of weathered

and oxidized material. This “gold oxide cap” is quite variable, consisting of zones of

r e d d i s h ‐ b r o w n i r o n o x i d e ‐ r i c h m a t e r i a l ( a s s e e n i n F i g . 4 ) , a n d o t h e r z o n e s o f l e s s

weathered greyish‐brown silica‐ca rbonate‐iron oxide rock. Gold and silver are typically

quite strongly enriched in the uppermost 3‐5m of the profile, b ut occur throughout the

weathered “gold oxide cap” (see Fig. 5).

Figure 5: Cross‐section 534280E, showing representative grades through the “gold oxide cap”

About Aton Resources Inc.

A t o n R e s o u r c e s I n c . ( A A N : T S X ‐ V ) i s f o c u s e d o n i t s 1 0 0 % o w n e d Abu Marawat

Concession (“Abu Marawat”), located in Egypt’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 deposi t in the wes t and

the Abu Marawat deposit in the east, containing numerous gold exploration targets,

including three historic British mines. Aton has identified sev eral distinct geological

trends within Abu Marawat, which display potential for the development of intrusion

related and orogenic gold minera lization, VMS precious and base metal mineralization,

and epithermal‐IOCG precious and base metal mineralization. Abu Marawat is over 738

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.

Qualified Person

The technical information contained in this News Release was prepared by Roderick

C a v a n e y B S c , M S c ( h o n s ) , M S c ( M i n i n g & E x p l o r a t i o n G e o l o g y ) , F AusIMM, SEG, GSA,

SME, Vice President, Exploration, of Aton Resources Inc. Mr. Ca vaney is a qualified

person (QP) under National Instrument 43‐101 Standards of Discl osure for Mineral

Projects.

For further information regarding Aton Resources Inc., please v isit us at

www.atonresources.com or contact:

Mark Campbell

President and Chief Executive Officer

Tel: +1‐936‐689‐2589

Email: [email protected]

Forward Looking Statements.

C e r t a i n i n f o r m a t i o n c o n t a i n e d i n t h i s p r e s s r e l e a s e c o n s t i t u t e s “forward‐looking

information”, within the meaning of Canadian legislation. Gener ally, these forward‐

looking statements can be identified by the use of forward‐look ing terminology such as

“will try”, “with the goal of” “intends”, or variations of such words and phrases or

statements that certain actions, events or results “may”, “coul d”, or “potentially” could

occur. Forward looking statements c o n t a i n e d i n t h i s p r e s s r e l e ase may include

statements regarding the future operating or financial performance of the Company

which involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties which ma y n o t p r o v e t o b e

accurate. Actual results and outcomes may differ materially from what is expressed or

forecasted in these forward‐looking statements. Such statements are qualified in their

entirety by the inherent risks and uncertainties surrounding fu ture expectations. Among

those factors which could cause actual results to differ materia l l y a r e t h e f o l l o w i n g :

market conditions and other risk factors listed from time to ti me in our reports filed with

Canadian securities regulators on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. The f orward‐looking

statements included in this press release are made as of the date of this press release

and the Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward‐

looking statements, whether as a result of new information, fut ure events or otherwise,

except as expressly required by applicable securities legislation.

The Company's most recent technical report, "Hamama West Deposit, Abu Marawat

Concession, Arab Republic of Egypt" dated January 24, 2017 and prepared for the

Company by Matt Bampton, B.Sc. (Hons.) M.Sc. MAusIMM MAIG of Cu be Consulting Pty.

Ltd. is available under the Com pany's profile at www.sedar.com, and discloses the most

recent resource estimates for Ha mama West and Abu Marawat, whic h are comprised of

indicated and inferred mineral re s o u r c e s ( i n t h e c a s e o f H a m a m a W e s t ) a n d i n f e r r e d

m i n e r a l r e s o u r c e s ( i n t h e c a s e o f A b u M a r a w a t ) . N e i t h e r H a m a ma W e s t n o r A b u

Marawat presently have any mineral reserves, and the Company has not obtained a

either a preliminary economic assessment or a technical report demonstrating the

economic and technical viability of any potential mining operations at either project.

There is uncertainty as to wheth er the Company will be able to produce gold at either of

its projects.

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