Aton intersects 1.00 g/t gold over 129.5m at Rodruin , further confirming wide zones of surface mineralisation
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Aton intersects 1.00 g/t gold over 129.5m at Rodruin ,
further confirming wide zones of surface mineralisation
Vancouver, British Columbia, March 7, 2022: Aton Resources Inc. (AAN: TSX-V) (“Aton” or the “Company") is
very pleased to update investors on the latest tranche of results from the Phase 2 diamond drilling programme
at its advanced Rodruin gold exploration project . Rodruin is located in the Company’s 100% owned Abu
Marawat Concession (“Abu Marawat” or the “Concession”), in the Eastern Desert of Egypt.
Highlights:
• Diamond drilling is ongoing at Rodruin, with 21 drill holes having been completed to date, ROD-048
and ROD-051 to ROD-070, for a total of 1,992 metres;
• Drill holes ROD-056 to ROD-061 were drilled to test the Central Buttress Zone, an outcropping body
of gossanous and mineralised carbonate rock;
• Drill hole ROD-056 was mineralised over its entire length from collar to end of hole and returned a
mineralised intersection of 129.50m grading 1.00 g/t Au and 8.8 g/t Ag;
• Other drill holes also returned wide mineralised intersections including 86.60m grading 0.76 g/t Au and
6.3 g/t Ag (hole ROD-057), 45.93m grading 0.93 g/t Au and 3.8 g/t Ag (hole ROD-059), and 85.40m
grading 0.66 g/t Au and 10.2 g/t Ag (hole ROD-061);
• These results continue to confirm that a substantial block of predominantly gossanous carbonate
hosted oxide gold mineralisation outcrops at surface at the Central Buttress Zone at Rodruin.
“We continue to be very pleased with the assay results from the Rodruin diamond drilling programme as they
come in” said Tonno Vahk, Interim CEO . “These latest results again back up our long held interpretation of
there being zones of bulk open pittable oxide mineralisation at Rodruin, starting from surface, and we are
working hard to quantify these in a maiden MRE as soon as practically possible. We are also very excited by
some of the strong copper-zinc sulphide mineralisation which we are currently drilling at depth, and this gives
us the belief that there is also going to be a really quite substantial primary sulphide resource at Rodruin, which
we are now starting to unlock.”
Rodruin diamond drilling programme
The Rodruin prospect was discovered in December 2017 by Aton geologists (see news release dated
December 14, 2017), and is located approximately 18km east of the Company’s Hamama West mineral
deposit (Figure 1). During 2018 Aton constructed a c. 4.5km access road to the prospect, and undertook a
highly successful 50 hole Phase 1 reverse circulation percussion (“RC”) drilling programme at Rodruin , which
returned mineralised intersections including 36m grading 12.47 g/t Au and 9.3 g/t Ag, from 5m downhole depth
(hole ROP-003, see news release dated October 1, 2018) and 61m grading 1.55 g/t Au and 8.9 g/t Ag , from
111m (hole ROP-050, see news release dated January 29, 2019).
The Phase 2 diamond drilling programme at Rodruin commenced in late November 2021, and results reported
to date include 48.00m grading 1.97 g/t Au and 5.3 g/t Ag, from 27.0m in hole ROD-052 (see news release
dated January 25, 2022), and 88.25m grading 1.74 g/t Au and 9.7 g/t Ag, from 25.75m in hole ROD-055 (see
news release dated March 1, 2022).
Discussion of results
Drill holes ROD-056 to ROD-061 were all drilled horizontally or at shallow angles at the Central Buttress Zone
(“CBZ”) at Rodruin, and were designed to test near -surface gossanous carbonate associated mineralisation
(Figure 2). Collar and survey details of the holes are provided in Table 1.
Hole ID
Collar co-ordinates 1
Dip 2 Grid
azimuth 2
EOH
depth (m) Comments
X Y Z
ROD-056 552685 2912801 780 -5.3 355 125.90 CBZ / Spiral Pit Zone
ROD-057 552693 2913013 722 -1.1 192 106.00 Lower CBZ
ROD-058 552689 2913015 722 -24.4 208 80.00 Lower CBZ
ROD-059 552715 2912977 723 -0.9 285 82.80 Lower CBZ
ROD-060 552650 2913045 724 -5.3 181 109.20 CBZ
ROD-061 552723 2912910 733 -0.9 286 125.60 Lower CBZ
Notes:
1) Collar co-ordinates as laid out using handheld GPS
2) Collar surveys of drill holes undertaken at c. 5-6m depth, using Reflex EZ-Trac survey tool
3) All co-ordinates are UTM (WGS84) Zone 36R
Table 1: Collar details of diamond drill holes ROD-056 to ROD-061
Figure 2: Plan projection of horizontal holes ROD-056 to ROD-061
All holes, except ROD-060, intersected wide zones of gold(-silver) mineralisation on the CBZ, with hole ROD-
056 returning a mineralised intersection of 129.50m grading 1.00 g/t Au and 8.8 g/t Ag, over its entire length
from collar to end of hole (Figure 2). Details of intersections from holes ROD-056 to ROD-061 are provided in
Table 2. This intersection confirms the results from channel sampling profile ROC -031, which returned a
mineralised intersection of 127m grading 1.33 g/t Au and 7.3 g/t Ag from the same area (see news release
dated November 3, 2021).
It is also noted that hole ROD -056 encountered a wide zone of voids and cavities between 107.5- 118.5m,
believed to be related to collaps ed and back -filled ancient mine workings. For the purposes of intersection
calculation such zones with poor core recovery were allocated zero grades, although the backfill within the
ancient workings is typically w ell mineralised, as has been demonstrated by previous surface sampling at
Rodruin. In total, 14.3m of voids and backfilled cavities from hole ROD-056 related to the ancient mine workings
were allocated zero grade.
Hole ID
Intersection (m) 1 Au
(g/t)
Ag
(g/t)
Cu
(%)
Pb
(%)
Zn
(%) Comments
From To Interval
ROD-056 0.00 129.50 129.50 1.00 8.8 0.03 0.01 0.60 Entire length of hole,
includes 14.3m voids/
workings, not sampled.
Voids/collapsed workings
between 107.5-118.5m
incl. 3.13 37.05 33.92 1.19 10.0 0.09 0.03 1.76
incl. 53.96 94.70 40.74 1.54 8.9 0.01 0.02 0.25
incl. 118.50 125.90 7.40 1.47 24.7 0.01 0.00 0.25
ROD-057 12.65 99.25 86.60 0.76 6.3 0.01 0.01 0.13 Includes 0.75m of
voids/workings incl. 14.70 20.96 6.26 3.67 3.0 0.00 0.00 0.16
incl. 82.22 99.25 17.03 0.87 10.2 0.01 0.02 0.25
ROD-058 23.29 65.10 41.81 0.47 5.8 0.04 0.12 0.47
ROD-059 22.57 68.50 45.93 0.93 3.8 0.04 0.08 0.51 Includes 3.38m of
voids/workings incl. 44.80 68.50 23.70 1.45 5.3 0.07 0.14 0.89
77.92 82.80 4.88 0.48 13.1 0.02 0.18 0.17 To EOH
ROD-060 29.85 37.20 7.35 0.38 6.7 0.01 0.08 0.11 NSA > 0.95 g/t Au
77.70 80.70 3.00 0.81 2.1 0.06 0.20 0.22
ROD-061 15.70 101.10 85.40 0.66 10.2 0.01 0.02 0.18
incl. 15.70 31.50 15.80 1.11 11.2 0.01 0.01 0.20
incl. 50.60 59.60 9.00 1.16 13.7 0.04 0.13 0.37
112.80 115.95 3.15 1.17 13.0 0.07 0.01 0.73
Notes:
1) Intersections calculated at a nominal cutoff grade of 0.3 g/t Au in runs of continuous mineralisation
2) Zones of poor (or no) recovery through ancient mining voids/workings were not sampled, and allocated zero grade
Table 2: Mineralised intersections from diamond drill holes ROD-056 to ROD-061
Other notable intersections from the holes being reported include 86.60m grading 0.76 g/t Au and 6.3 g/t Ag,
from 12.65m (hole ROD-057), 45.93m grading 0.93 g/t Au and 3.8 g/t Ag, from 22.57m (hole ROD-059), and
85.40m grading 0.66 g/t Au and 10.2 g/t Ag, from 15.70m (hole ROD-061).
The results from this latest set of holes being reported again confirm the presence of wide zones of near-
surface gold(-silver) mineralisation associated with gossanous carbonate rocks at Rodruin. It is anecdotally
noted that grades appear to be increasing towards the southern and upper CBZ, higher up on and towards the
top of the South Ridge. Previous RC drill intersections included 31m @ 2.45 g/t Au and 12.5 g/t Ag (hole ROP-
034, see news release dated January 3, 2018) and 34m @ 2.00 g/t Au (hole ROP -033). These latest results
again confirm the potential for a significant volume of oxide mineralisation at the Central But tress Zone at
Rodruin. This mineralisation outcrops over a wide area at surface and this near -surface mineralisation will be
readily amenable to open pit mining methods with very low strip ratios.
The current diamond drilling programme has been designed wi th the objective of testing the potential near
surface open pittable resources at the CBZ as well as the Aladdin’s Hill area (see news release dated March
1, 2022), and the GF Zone (Figure 2), which has not yet been drilled in this programme. The drilling is currently
focussed on testing the deeper primary sul phide expressions of the near surface mineralisation, and strong
primary copper-zinc sulphide mineralisation has now been identified in a second deep hole. The Company will
continue to release new drill results as they become available.
Sample processing and analytical procedures
Drill core was logged by Aton geologists and marked up for cutting and sampling at the Rodruin core farm.
Samples were typically selected over nominal 1m intervals, but as determined by the logged lithologies. The
core was half-cut by Aton staff onsite at the recently constructed onsite Rodruin sample preparation laboratory.
Full half-core samples were collected and bagged up in cloth bags, weighed and crushed to -4mm onsite, and
split to a nominal c. 250- 500g sample size. The coarse crushed reject samples are retained onsite at the
Rodruin sample prep lab.
The c. 250-500g dried, crushed and split samples were shipped to ALS Minerals sample preparation facility at
Marsa Alam, Egypt where they were pulverised to a size fraction of better than 85% passing 75 microns. From
this pulverised material a further sub-sample was split off with a nominal c. 50g size, which was shipped on to
ALS Minerals at Rosia Montana, Romania for analysis.
Samples were analysed for gold by fire assay with an atomic absorption spectroscopy (“AAS”) finish (analytical
code Au-AA23), and for silver, copper, lead and zinc using an aqua regia digest followed by an AAS finish
(analytical code AA45). High grade gold samples (>10 g/t Au) were re- analysed using analytical code Au -
GRA21 (also fire assay, but with a gravimetric finish ). High grade Ag and base metal samples (Ag >100 g/t,
and Cu, Pb and Zn >10,000ppm or >1%) were re-analysed using the ore grade technique AA46 (also an aqua
regia digest followed by an AAS finish).
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 wi thin 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), Explor ation 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: [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 results
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.